Curt Smith: Family support takes the stage in presidential race

Family policy is inserting itself into the presidential campaign, with the Trump camp proposing tax credits to address the “birth dearth” and the Harris campaign upping that proposal to $6,000 per child.

It is a welcome development and one introduced by Indiana’s senior U.S. senator, Todd Young, a Republican, in 2019. We appreciated his early leadership and work as part of the Bipartisan Bicameral Paid Family Leave Congressional Working Group, as any serious conversation on national family policy must address paid family leave for new parents. We are also encouraged with a new bipartisan, bicameral congressional coalition taking center stage this month as Congress attempts to pass parts of the federal budget and prepare for a larger bill next year.

A variety of options abound to achieve the policy goal of supporting parents when children are born or adopted. It is agreed there should not be a mandate on employers, although various incentives might be considered to assist employers that are assisting growing families.

The coalition of legislators and advocates has developed a framework for considering legislative initiatives called The Blueprint for Life. The Blueprint is built around seven core policy pillars, including:

◗ providing flexible resources to parents to help cover birth and early childhood costs;

◗ making childcare more affordable;

◗ supporting healthy moms and babies;

◗ expanding resources for adoptive and foster parents;

◗ increasing information availability;

◗ broadening partnerships with faith-based organizations and not-for-profits;

◗ strengthening opportunities for mentorship and community.

This conversation is also important to the pro-life community as the nation works toward a consensus—or at least a truce—on abortion laws. A recent YouGov poll found two-thirds (65%) of Americans favor some or significant restrictions on abortion. Pro-family policy leaders anticipate that this sentiment, as it works itself in to state laws, will lead to higher birth rates. They want the tax code to do even more for those families.

And speaking of the tax code, the group is also developing budget alternatives so that any new assistance will be budget-neutral—meaning it won’t deepen the deficit. Budget writers know that a series of tax-policy changes pushed through by former President Donald Trump will provide up to $3 trillion in “savings.” As those tax policies expire (typically on a seven- or 10-year cycle), Congress has the opportunity to set new priorities that could include additional commitments to pro-child and pro-family policies.

Another novel proposal, but one fraught with political risks, is to allow young families to fund certain designated benefits from their Social Security accounts. It shifts resources to younger families, allowing them to make investments now. There would need to be safeguards and much public education before such an option would be politically palatable, but it shows creative thinking by the advocates. This proposal would also need budget offsets to be deficit-neutral.

Both the growing focus on family policy and the fact that it is a bipartisan conversation in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate offer some encouragement.

This presidential campaign so far has its own dearth—a deficit of policy specifics. But by highlighting the challenges of rearing children, among our most selfless acts, our political leaders provide the citizenry with opportunities to become better informed.

That awareness enables a deeper, richer conversation, one that welcomes the faith community, other not-for-profits and government to fashion supports for our modern economy and our modern family.

This will strengthen families, lessen abortion, invest in the next generation and let parents know their selfless decisions are honored and respected by their fellow citizens. So a hat tip to Young for joining this conversation to strengthen families in Indiana and beyond.•

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Smith is chairman of the Indiana Family Institute and author of “Deicide: Why Eliminating The Deity is Destroying America.” Send comments to ibjedit@ibj.com.

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