A younger generation of Republicans is committed to making theirs the parent party, and getting creative to do it. Take, for instance, Sen. J.D. Vance's amendment that didn’t make it into the $2.5 trillion debt limit deal Congress passed last week, which would have eliminated the marriage penalty on the Earned Income Tax Credit program.
Eliminating the EITC marriage penalty would be a simple fix, but a costly one. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it would cost $5 billion a year. Vance saw an opportunity to pay for the end of the EITC marriage penalty by repealing President Joe Biden’s electric vehicle tax credits. If adopted, this policy would transfer money from wealthy people who want to drive expensive cars to working families where parents want to cement and strengthen their union in marriage.
But Republicans shouldn’t stop there. Sen. Marco Rubio has offered a parental leave plan that incentivizes marriage, helps working families, and doesn’t add to the federal debt. Under the plan, co-sponsored by Reps. Ann Wagner and Dan Crenshaw , parents could take up to three months of paid parental leave in exchange for delaying their Social Security benefits by six months.