Surprise, a bipartisan and pro-life bill does exist in 2024
It has become increasingly rare to see Congress do something that is both important and bipartisan, and even rarer when legislation advances a pro-life, pro-family agenda. The Tax Relief for American Workers and Families Act of 2024 does exactly that.
The House Ways and Means Committee, led by Chairman Jason Smith, overwhelmingly approved it, with every Republican and all but three Democrats supporting it. Speaker Johnson is to be commended for bringing the bill to a vote a week later, where it was approved on a supermajority vote of 357-70 at the end of January. It now awaits a vote in the Senate, where its fate is less sure.
The bill has the support of a broad range of groups that don’t always work together, including the National Association of Evangelicals, the National Council of Churches, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, National Hispanic Pastors Association, Sojourners, Students for Life, and Concerned Women for America, among many other groups.
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These groups have come together because we agree that America’s families need help with the high cost of raising kids and that parents who embrace the joys and challenges of raising families are a national treasure. H.R. 7024 strengthens the child tax credit for over 60 million American children, and in ways that are especially beneficial to low-income families and parents with more than one child. These are the families that most need our support.
The National Association of Evangelicals believes that every human life from conception to death bears the image of God and has inestimable worth (Genesis 1:27). We are responsible for doing all we can to protect those who are most vulnerable, including the unborn, the very young and those living in poverty. Evangelical Christians live out these convictions by forming strong families, serving as foster and adoptive parents, supporting pregnancy resource centers, and giving generously to charities, among many other ways.
The child tax credit tells expectant parents that they are not alone and that they do not have to shoulder the burden of raising a child on their own. It creates no new federal bureaucracy. It allows parents, who know best what their children need, to decide how best to support their children, free of government interference. It lightens the tax burden on those who are already contributing so much.
A few critics fret about a supposed work disincentive in the “look back” provisions that allow parents to qualify for the credit based on last year’s income. Anyone who has raised children, of course, knows that there are few jobs more difficult than parenting, and few responsibilities that are more costly. But even if we only consider work outside the home, few parents are going to permanently give up a regular paycheck because they can qualify for a $2,000 tax credit based on last year’s earnings. They might, however, be able to take more parental leave and spend more time with their infant during the critical bonding period when the baby’s brain is developing rapidly.
The bill now moves to the Senate where Leader Schumer and Leader McConnell have both expressed support. But the Senate is struggling to agree on funding the government and approving much-needed aid for our allies and for strengthening our immigration system. While continuing to work on those issues, they should not neglect this bipartisan opportunity to support children and parents.
Looking ahead to 2025, we hope that even more will be done to strengthen a pro-life, pro-family tax policy, centered around a much larger child tax credit, and the universal charitable deduction championed by Senators Coons and Lankford. By incentivizing both family formation and charitable giving, we can strengthen the nonprofit sector that is so critical to healthy families and communities. Until then, the bi-partisan package that just passed the House is a vitally needed down payment on larger reforms. The Senate should pass it now.
Galen Carey is VP of Government Relations at the National Association of Evangelicals.
