Romney, Burr, Daines Announce Family Security Act 2.0

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Steve Daines (R-MT) today announced the Family Security Act 2.0, an updated version of Romney’s Family Security Act to create a new national commitment to American families. 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.

“Despite being the bedrock of our country, there’s perhaps never been a more challenging time than today to raise a family,” Senator Romney said. “It’s no coincidence that fewer and fewer people are getting married and having children. We must do better to help families meet the challenges they face as they take on the most important work any of us will ever do—raising our society’s children. This proposal proves that we can accomplish this without adding to the deficit or creating another new federal program without any reforms. I look forward to working with my colleagues in the coming months to continue improving this plan to best meet the needs of families across the country.”

“Over the last few years, American families have faced unprecedented difficulties that have disrupted their daily lives – from a global pandemic to widespread school closures to historic inflation,” Senator Burr said. “These challenges made it clear that too many parents lack the financial and social support necessary to provide security for their children. Possibly even worse, many Americans want to start a family, but feel they simply can’t afford to. Strong families are not a luxury; they’re essential to a healthy, stable society. We need to update our family support system to reflect the problems parents face today and to encourage more people to start thriving marriages and families. I’m glad to join Senator Romney in this effort, and hope the Senate will consider the timely and important ideas proposed in this framework.”

“Families are the building blocks of our communities—we must ensure parents and children are receiving the support they need. Our plan will ensure family policies are working for real families, while not adding to the national debt.” Senator Daines said. “This framework will strengthen our commitment to help working American families grow and thrive, while also recognizing that the costs of a new baby begin even before that child is born.”

Background:

American families are facing an extraordinary amount of financial strain, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the historic spike in inflation. Marriage rates in the United States have fallen to all-time lows, and birth rates have dropped 20% since 2007. Yet, the average desired family size has remained stable for the last 40 years. As the modern economy seems to discount the merits of raising children, federal family policy remains scattered across the tax code and dozens of different programs. Each year, an average working family has to wait until tax season rolls around to pay a tax preparer a few hundred dollars in order to find out how much of the Child Tax Credit or Earned Income Tax Credit they will receive. Our country should make transparent investments in American families that leave the family in charge, not federal bureaucrats.

The Family Security Act 2.0 creates a new national commitment to working American families by modernizing and simplifying antiquated federal policies into a monthly cash benefit. Expectant parents would receive the benefit mid-pregnancy, helping them tackle the expenses that start even before a baby is born. This plan is fully paid for by consolidating existing federal spending.

Benefits of this new proposal:

• Supports families from pregnancy through childhood;
• Encourages work;
• Promotes marriage;
• Provides equal treatment for both working and stay-at-home parents; and
• Fully offsets the cost of the proposal by reforming and consolidating outmoded federal programs.

“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

“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

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. A summary of the framework can be found here.