Pro-family, pro-life, and pro-marriage plan would streamline existing policies for working families into a monthly cash benefit
WASHINGTON—Policy leaders and writers have expressed support for the Family Security Act 2.0 proposed by U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Steve Daines (R-MT) last week. The pro-family, pro-life, and pro-marriage plan would modernize antiquated federal policies into a fully paid-for, cash benefit for working families starting during pregnancy, amounting to $350 a month for each young child, and $250 a month for each school-aged child. A one-pager of the Family Security Act 2.0 can be found here.
“Building a culture of life takes creativity and rethinking the status quo. We applaud Senators Romney, Burr, and Daines for doing so and for including support for parents of unborn children in their Family Security Act 2.0 framework. We look forward to continuing to work together to find real solutions to help parents as they prepare for the arrival of their babies.” — Hon. Marilyn Musgrave, VP of Government Affairs, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America
“National Right to Life applauds Sens. Mitt Romney, Richard Burr, and Steve Daines for their work on the Family Security Act 2.0. The plan would permit pregnant mothers to receive a monthly payment starting several months prior to a child’s due date. This life-affirming provision not only empowers mothers, but acknowledges that life begins before birth. This funding would directly support mothers and their unborn children to help prepare for the arrival of the baby.” — National Right to Life
“On balance, the new proposal advances the two core goals shared by all on the right who have been engaged in this debate: support for Americans looking to build families and support for Americans looking to rise out of poverty. It helps to show that those two goals need not be in tension; they can reinforce each other and be pursued together.” — Yuval Levin and Scott Winship, National Review
“Senator Romney’s Family Security Act 2.0 relies on conservative principles to provide direct support for the cornerstone of a healthy society—the institution of the family. By encouraging work, rewarding marriage, and affirming the sanctity of unborn life, it would improve the lives of millions of working-class and middle-income families, while doing so in a fiscally responsible manner. It deserves to become a signature policy adopted by a GOP intent on being the party of parents.” — Patrick T. Brown, Fellow, Ethics and Public Policy Center
“I’m thankful to Sen. Romney for his taking the lead in proposing a significant step forward in helping the most vulnerable among us, especially those who are mothers and their children. I hope the rest of the Congress will address quickly the need for such measures.” — Dr. Russell Moore, Director of the Public Theology Project, Christianity Today
“Children raised in families perform better on standardized tests, are more likely to graduate high school, and are less likely to be arrested or incarcerated, or engage in self-harm. There is no argument that the married family is the necessary building block for healthy communities and a free people. However, marriage rates are at an all-time low while out-of-wedlock births are at an all-time high. For too long, we have presumed the family would always be there to strengthen society while spending little effort to support its health. With the Family Security Act, Sens. Romney, Burr, and Daines are leading the way on what can be one of the most important efforts to support the family in nearly thirty years. If we do not take concrete steps to strengthen the family, we’ll have no chance of addressing the social problems most on Americans’ minds—educational failure, poverty, and crime.” — Patrick Purtill, Director of Legislative Affairs, Faith and Freedom Coalition
“…Romney’s doing the right thing by looking for a compromise that could make this a default pro-life bill.” — Ross Douthat, Opinion Columnist, New York Times
“The Family Security Act 2.0 is an essential first step in fleshing out how the tax code can be reformed and improved to better support families as the cornerstone of a healthy society.” — Family Research Council
“It’s time to pass the Mitt Romney child allowance plan. It’s pro-life (the benefits start before birth). It dramatically eases child poverty. It provides working families with additional margin. And it’s revenue neutral.” — David French, Senior Editor, The Dispatch
“Most importantly—and if anything, this is undersold by Romney—his plan eliminates the existing marriage penalties in the EITC and CTC programs. By eliminating these marriage penalties in the tax code, Romney’s bill delivers ‘greater support’ for ‘the traditional family.’” — Conn Carroll, Commentary Editor, Washington Examiner
“The new proposal from [Senator Romney], [Senator Burr], and [Senator Daines] looks to be the most thoughtful CTC reform offered by policymakers to date.” — Scott Winship, Senior Fellow and Director of Poverty Studies, AEI
“The new Family Security Act from [Senator Romney], [Senator Burr], and [Senator Daines] is a well-designed, landmark proposal. It’s generous, focused squarely on working families, fully paid for, and should earn broad conservative support.” — Oren Cass, Executive Editor, American Compass
“Republicans may be starting to realize that a practical anti-abortion agenda has to include policies that make raising children a viable proposition for more people, and to develop an agenda that addresses the economic, and not just the moral, dimensions of family life. Not a moment too soon.” — Ramesh Ponnuru, Editor, National Review
The Family Security Act 2.0 is endorsed by: Family Research Council, Democrats for Life, Priests for Life, CatholicVote, American Principles Project, Lutheran Center for Religious Liberty, Live Action, and Feminists for Life of America.