Two key pieces of the reconciliation bill being moved by congressional Republicans will be marked up this afternoon, one by the House Energy and Commerce Committee and one by the House Ways and Means Committee.
Neither enter those markups with cuts directly targeting child welfare and youth justice. Youth Services Insider heard that elimination of the Social Services Block Grant (10% of all federal child welfare funding) and cuts to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (19%) were on the table, but neither appear in the first mark.
But it is likely to be a long affair with plenty of amendments offered. Youth Services Insider will follow up if anything drastically changes.
The Energy and Commerce Committee’s markup will largely focus on proposed cuts to Medicaid that the Congressional Budget Office said would “reduce the number of people with health insurance by at least 8.6 million in 2034,” while reducing the deficit by $715 billion in that time span.
One of the major changes involves a “community engagement” requirement for adults without dependents who are on Medicaid. They would be on the hook to perform 80 hours of work, worker training or community service every month as a condition of eligibility. Current and former foster youth up to age 26 are among those specifically exempted from this requirement.
Following are a few pieces of interest from the Ways & Means bill…
Child Tax Credit: The bill would make $2,000 per child the new permanent baseline for the credit, and boost it to $2,500 for the next four years. But as currently constituted, the bill would not do anything to change the income requirements that keep many low-income households from being able to claim the credit. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that about 17 million children are left out of the credit every year.
Adoption Tax Credit: Adoption advocates have long sought to make the federal tax credit refundable, meaning it can be received as a refund if the person does not owe taxes or if the credit exceeds their tax liability. This bill would make the credit refundable up to $5,000, and pegs that amount to inflation.
MAGA Accounts: Several states, and a few members of Congress, have either passed or considered legislation on baby bonds, which create interest-earning accounts for children at birth to provide for their entry into adulthood. This has largely been aimed at children in low-income households; Connecticut, for example, instituted baby bonds for any child born to a mother who is on Medicaid.
This bill establishes a more universal take on this concept called Money Accounts for Growth and Advancement — hence, MAGA Accounts — which can be privately managed and can receive up to $5,000 in tax advantaged contributions until a child’s 18th birthday. This program would begin with federal funds for a nationwide pilot program whereby the Treasury will contribute $1,000 into an account for every U.S. citizen child born between January 2024 and December 2028.
In addition to parental and family contributions to the accounts, tax-exempt organizations including foundations could help fund them, and that money could be on top of the annual contribution limits. There’s one significant caveat: the support has to be universal to some qualified group of children. For example, a foundation could contribute to all the children in a state, or school district; but could not direct their support only to the girls in a school district, or only low-income children in a state.