The last federal stimulus checks were sent out about a year ago after President Joe Biden approved the American Rescue Plan Act. After this, the monthly child tax credits were the only federal stimulus checks available, but that too expired in December. Despite some serious efforts to revive monthly stimulus checks, a lack of consensus among lawmakers has thwarted its approval. Over the past few months, however, Sen. Mitt Romney has been quietly pushing for a new version of the child tax credit that could get bipartisan support.
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How Does Romney Aim To Revive Monthly Stimulus Checks?
Romney (R-Utah) is pushing for a monthly payment for families as part of the Family Security Act. A point to note is that Romney‘s proposal, if approved, wouldn’t extend the child tax credit program that ended in December 2021.
Rather than extending the enhanced child tax credit program for one more year, Romney wants to make available a monthly child allowance to eligible families. Romney’s aim is to come up with a Republican-friendly version of the enhanced child tax credit program that is able to get the support of both sides.
Under Romney’s proposal, eligible parents would get $350 for each young child, while pregnant mothers would be eligible for a payment of up to $350 for up to four months. Also, parents and guardians of school-aged children would qualify for $250 per child. The maximum payment under Romney’s proposal is limited to $1,250 per month per family.
Moreover, Romney plans to make these monthly stimulus checks available to a larger percentage of the population than the enhanced Child Tax Credit payments, which had lower income caps. Under Romney’s proposal, single filers with incomes of up to $200,000 per year (joint filers with incomes up to $400,000 per year) would qualify for the payment.
Romney’s Proposal: How Is It Different?
Apart from the monthly payment amount and income brackets, Romney’s proposal also lays down a few requirements to qualify for the payment that weren’t there with the enhanced child tax credit program.
Romney's proposal requires parents and guardians to be employed to qualify for the extra monthly payments. Moreover, the parents and guardians would also need to show proof of employment to get the monthly payments.
Romney's proposal also calls for repealing the Temporary Aid for Needy Families (TANF) program. TANF is a federal assistance program that offers temporary cash assistance to vulnerable families. It is estimated that about 3% of families receive benefits under this program.
Moreover, the proposal includes provisions to consolidate some tax benefits, as well as eliminate the State and Local Tax Deduction. If approved, the program would be managed by the Social Security Administration and not the IRS, which was responsible for the enhanced child tax credit.
As of now, it is too early to tell if Romney’s proposal would gain bipartisan support or not. The proposal does contain a few provisions that would appeal to conservative lawmakers, but it also carries a few controversial components, like the end of the TANF program, which may make it hard to sell.
