His administration should reflect his new coalition by prioritizing pro-family policies that address their needs.
His administration should reflect his new coalition by prioritizing pro-family policies that address their needs.
T he Republican Party is not the same party it was when we served on the Hill, because the party’s base is not the same. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that the concerns and needs of the voters who gave Republicans a likely trifecta are different than in the past. Rather than resist this reality, we need to develop, promote, and prioritize policies that reflect conservative values, while addressing their needs.
One of the areas that we’ve worked on together has been the issue of family affordability and stability. With the decline in birth rates, the breakdown of marriage, and the strain of the cost of child rearing, this policy area is particularly personal for many of the party’s working-class voters, as well as lower-income and hourly wage earners.
For too long the Republican Party has been dismissive of the needs of struggling low-income families, and due to his outreach, President-elect Donald Trump has tapped into this with his “no tax on tips” and “no tax on overtime” pledges. In his previous administration, he also embraced policies landing squarely in the center of our new voters’ felt needs as well, with Senator J. D. Vance doubling down (literally) on several of them. Together, these policies could be the most important issues he could advance in the next Congress. And ironically, these are issues that also have bipartisan support, which will be necessary to pass them in the Senate even with the majority:
- Expand the Child Tax Credit. Recognizing the sacrifices and hard work of American parents, Trump doubled the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to $2,000. His next administration can do more, increasing its size to stop further erosion from Bidenomics’ inflation and remove penalties for larger working families. The Republican-controlled House passed the Tax Relief for American Workers and Family Act this year with strong bipartisan support. It made the credit fully refundable, indexed it to inflation, and gave the full credit to all children in larger families. On the campaign trail, Senator Vance supported raising the CTC from the current $2,000 per-child limit to $5,000.
- Incentivize paid family leave. Trump campaigned in 2016 on passing a federal paid-leave policy and expanded paid family leave for military families allowing new parents to spend time bonding with their newborns. His Tax Cuts and Jobs Act created a new, historic tax credit for businesses providing paid leave for their workers. Due to his leadership, there are now bipartisan House and Senate working groups crafting paid-leave policies that he can help pass, including for new families and to help care for seniors.
- Propose a Baby Bonus. The Trump-Vance campaign called for a “Baby Bonus” for parents navigating the joy and challenges of the early months after birth. Framework for such a policy has been articulated by conservative think tanks such as American Compass where details suggest parents could receive $2,000 when registering for a Social Security number once a baby is born. Like the CTC but less complicated, the bonus could be used immediately to defray newborn baby costs such as car seats, formula, diapers, cribs, etc.
- Remove marriage penalties. Trump’s previous administration reduced marriage penalties in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. They should consider additional opportunities to remove marriage penalties in the tax code and federal welfare programs as have been proposed by Brad Wilcox at the Institute for Family Studies and Patrick Brown at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
- Provide greater access to postpartum health care and resources. The last Trump administration worked to reduce regulatory burdens for new mothers to increase their access to health care by year two through Medicaid, WIC, and SCHIP. Before being nominated as Trump’s running mate, Senator Vance had planned to introduce a bipartisan measure to ensure that families on commercial health-insurance plans faced zero out-of-pocket costs associated with pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum health care — just as Medicaid recipients currently do.
- Ensure coverage for child-care expenses. Although he was not fully able to implement his plans to loosen regulations and increase access for child care, President Trump worked on increasing access to child-care options by increasing financial support, giving states more flexibility and encouraging faith-based provider options. During the campaign, Senator Vance voiced support for finding alternatives for traditional child care, including more faith-based options and home-based care.
- Expand adoption tax credits. The first Trump administration’s executive order on child welfare unlocked opportunities for thousands of foster and adopted children, and he can do even more in his next.
President-elect Trump appealed to black, Hispanic, first-generation legal immigrant, blue-collar, non-college-educated and hourly wage-earning households in historic numbers for a Republican. His administration should reflect this reality by prioritizing the policies that address their needs. This is not just good politics for the party; it is good for the country.
Mark Rodgers is the principal of the Clapham Group and formerly a staff director of the Senate Republican Conference and chief of staff to Senator Rick Santorum. Kiki Bradley, a partner with Chartwell Policy Solutions, is formerly a GOP House leadership aide and a presidential appointee at the Department of Health and Human Services in the Office of Family Assistance.