Thread by @TXProChild

Interesting points by @DavidAFrench, including his support for @MittRomney’s Family Security Act 2.0 with @SenatorBurr and @SteveDaines.

However, that bill creates some pretty awful and tragic disparities in how it adds pregnant women to the Child Tax Credit. (1)

https://twitter.com/TheAtlantic/status/1540681518674092033

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines First, it adds pregnant women but excludes parents who do not have Social Security numbers.

How are parents defined? How do you prove that in the womb? What about the child who, if born here, is a citizen?

This rather tragically undermines adding the CTC to pregnant women. (2)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines Second, the summary reads, “A family must have earned $10,000 in the prior year to receive the full benefit…..”

This harms young adults, single moms, people with disabilities, families who survived an economic recession, farmers dealing with a crop failure, etc. (3)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines Third, I am no economist but the summary says “the earnings threshold will be annually indexed to inflation.”

FYI…poor people livingin an economic recession, etc. do NOT get cost-of-living raises. It harms more and more people (emphasis on CHILDREN) every subsequent year. (4)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines Fourth, this so-called “work requirement” would clearly disproportionately harm rural, Black, Hispanic, and Native American children, children with single moms, and families who have children with disabilies and/or special health care needs like mine. (5)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines Fifth, The CTC that just expired had cut child poverty by 4 million or more than 40%.

According to Romney 2.0 analysis, “The net impact…would be to lift over 1.1 million children out of poverty, a 12.6% reduction in the child poverty rate.”

That is FAR WORSE for children. (6)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines Sixth, there is massive inequity in Romney 2.0.

A pregnant woman with an income of $2,000 gets the full CTC while pregnant and again after birth.

In contrast, kids of a young family married just out of college or kids in low-income families get nothing or partial CTC. (7)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines Seventh, the Child Tax Credit should help CHILDREN.

Why is it that shortchanging and punishing children living in poverty a goal of this legislation?

It even punishes kids for their parent(s) income status in both the current year AND a prior year! (8)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines Eighth, after Dobbs, a child who is rapped or is pregnant due to incest with have to carry a baby to term (I am #ProLife but believe in those exceptions but some states will not), whose income counts toward income threshold? (9)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines Under Romney 2.0, does the rapist’s or the person who commits incest have their income count toward the income threshold?

What about the new SSN requirement?

Is the requirement one of marriage?

No matter the answer, it is really awful and mostly punishes the child! (10)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines And last, do the parents of a pregnant teen qualify for the CTC but the child of a pregnant teen would not?

Again, policy that punishes children for their parents’ income, their status, etc. is terrible policy. It fails children. (11)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines Stop subjecting children to ridiculous adult “deservedness” criteria. The real people harmed by such policies are the kids.

Child policy should be governed by a “best interest” standard. (12)

@DavidAFrench @MittRomney @SenatorBurr @SteveDaines It is tragic and unacceptable to harm children in public polcy, particularly the most vulnerable in a policy with child in the title. #ChildTaxCredit

I urge Romney 2.0 authors to do better by our kids.

Work with @SenatorBennet @SenSherrodBrown @CoryBooker and @RonWyden. (13)