Democrats are set to release a $3,000-per-child direct benefit plan for families
- Democrats are set to unveil a plan to issue monthly payments to families with children.
- Families would get a maximum of $3,600 per child under 6 years old and $3,000 per child aged 6-17.
- GOP Sen. Mitt Romney released his own monthly cash benefit proposal last week.
Top Democrats on Monday will release the details of legislation that would issue $3,000 per child to millions of American families, a key element of President Joe Biden's plan to fight childhood poverty across the country, according to The Washington Post.
The plan, which is part of Biden's $1.9 trillion economic rescue package, would expand the direct child benefits distributed to families.
In the proposal, the Internal Revenue Service would issue $3,600 annually per child under six years old, or $300 a month; $3,000 would be provided per child aged six to 17, or $250 every month.
The benefit size would gradually phase out for taxpayers who make more than $75,000 annually, along with couples with a combined annual income above $150,000.
Payments would be distributed to families monthly starting in July, the timeline driven by the need for the IRS to prepare for the new measures.
Democratic Rep. Richard Neal of Massachusetts, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, will launch his bill in the midst of the party attempting to move quickly in advancing Biden's rescue package through Congress via the budget reconciliation process.
"The pandemic is driving families deeper and deeper into poverty, and it's devastating," Neal said in a statement. "This money is going to be the difference in a roof over someone's head or food on their table. This is how the tax code is supposed to work for those who need it most."
The bill comes after GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah unveiled a proposal last week to send more direct payments per child to families.
Romney's proposal, called The Family Security Act, would allow for monthly payments of $350 for each young child and $250 a month for school-aged children.
"Now is the time to renew our commitment to families to help them meet the challenges they face as they take on most important work any of us will ever do-raising our society's children," Romney said in a statement. "This proposal offers a path toward greater security for America's families by consolidating the many complicated programs to create a monthly cash benefit for them, without adding to the deficit."