User:Jaydavidmartin/Family Security Act

The Family Security Act is a proposal by United States Senator Mitt Romney to replace the child tax credit with a monthly child allowance administered by the Social Security Administration. The proposal also includes simplifying and reducing the earned income tax credit, eliminating the head of household filing status, and eliminating several tax credits and deductions.

Romney released the first version of the Family Security Act in 2020. A modified version, called the "Family Security Act 2.0", was released in 2022.

History
The head of household status was created in 1951 by Congress through the Revenue Act of 1951. It was created to provide tax relief to single-parent households, who previously faced the same tax rates as single people without children despite the additional financial obligations inherent in raising children. It did this, in effect, by extending a "portion of the tax benefits that two-parent families received under the marital income splitting regime adopted nationally in 1948".

Original proposal
To fund the child allowance, Romney proposed:
 * Simplifying and reducing the earned income tax credit (EITC) (see chart)
 * Modifying Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, colloquially referred to as the food stamps program) eligibility rules
 * Eliminating Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
 * Eliminating the head of household filing status
 * Eliminating the child and dependent care credit
 * Eliminating the state and local tax deduction

Romney described most of these changes as "consolidat[ing] overlapping and often duplicative federal policies" into the child allowance. He also advertises that the reformed EITC would largely eliminate marriage penalties that exist under the current EITC (however, two people, each with dependents of their own, could still face a penalty if they married).

Second proposal
In 2022, Romney released a second version of his plan, called the Family Security Act 2.0, which included several changes:
 * Including a phase-in for families with very low incomes
 * Removing the elimination of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
 * Substantially restructuring the way in which benefits are administered

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that the number of children living in poverty would be reduced by roughly 1.3 million under the plan, and roughly 20 million children in families making less than $50,000 would be left better off. However, because the plan includes substantial cuts to the earned income tax credit, as well as the elimination of the head of household filing status, roughly 10 million children would live in families who would see the value of their benefits decreased.