Family Security Act
Latest action. Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
Family Security Act
This bill increases the child tax credit and provides a new tax credit for pregnant mothers. The bill also makes changes to the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, earned income tax credit (EITC), heads of household filing status, tax exemption for dependents, and deduction for dependent care expenses.
This bill increases the child tax credit for 2026 to $3,000 or $4,200 for each child, depending on the child’s age, makes the tax credit fully refundable (currently a portion is refundable), and allows taxpayers to receive the tax credit in advance monthly payments. Under the bill, the child tax credit is limited to six children and phases out once a taxpayer’s income exceeds a certain threshold.
The bill provides a new refundable tax credit for pregnant mothers of $2,800, which phases out once a taxpayer’s income exceeds a certain threshold. Taxpayers may receive the tax credit in advance monthly payments.
The bill permanently extends the SALT deduction for individuals (currently, the SALT deduction for individuals expires in 2026) and increases the limit to $30,000 from $10,000 (or to $15,000 from $5,000 for married taxpayers filing separately).
The bill permanently eliminates the tax exemption for dependents. Under current law, a tax exemption for dependents is available starting in 2026.
This bill also eliminates the
• head of household filing status,
• tax credit for dependent care expenses for children under 13 years old, and
• different percentages that apply based on the number of qualifying children in the EITC calculation.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on September 25, 2024. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on September 25, 2024: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 118th Congress (2023-24), 274 of the 16,565 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 1.7 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Mitt Romney (R-UT) introduced it on September 25, 2024. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on September 25, 2024, 715 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 715 days ago, on September 25, 2024.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 118th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2025 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers