Ilhan Omar Proposes Bills to Support American Families with Guaranteed Income and Universal Child Benefit

Minnesota Congresswoman, Ilhan Omar, has called for the implementation of two proposals that could greatly benefit American families.

Cong. Ilhan Omar proposed two bills for Americans. (Photo: The Hill)

Proposed Bills that Will Benefit Americans

The first is a proposed bill, the SUPPORT Act, which would give $1,200 a month to every adult and $600 to every child through local governments, for a five-year period. This follows the success of guaranteed income pilot programs in areas like Minneapolis and St. Paul.

The second proposal is the re-introduction of the End Child Poverty Act, a bill that aims to replace the child tax credit (CTC) and the child provisions in the earned income tax credit (EITC) with a Universal Child Benefit. This would be a federal-level program and would include no income phase-ins or phase-outs.

It would mean children would be automatically enrolled at birth and families would receive a monthly payment distributed by the Social Security Administration for every child they are currently caring for, up until the age of 18, according to a published article in GO BANKING RATES.

State Child Tax Credit

Congresswoman Omar also commended Minnesota’s own proposal, which would give families earning less than $50,000 a $1,000 per child payment through the state child tax credit, regardless of their tax liability. This would expand the child and dependent care credit to help families afford childcare, up to $4,000 per child under age 5, with a maximum of $10,500 for childcare. The estimated total cost of this program would be $3.9 billion and would benefit 2.5 million Minnesota families.

However, while there is widespread support for these initiatives, there is currently no majority support for them in Congress. Despite this, Omar’s support for these ideas provides hope for those who still hope for further stimulus payments. The conversation around aid and further support remains ongoing. The End Child Poverty Act could reduce childhood poverty by almost two-thirds, according to Omar.