A fetus would count as a dependent for Michigan taxes under a bill getting hearing Tuesday before the state House Finance Committee.
The bill would apply to people who are at least 10 weeks pregnant by the end of the tax year. A doctor would have to verify that pregnancy status.
State Representative Gina Johnsen (R-Lake Orion) sponsors the bill. In an interview, Johnsen said she hopes it encourages more people to start families.
“Everything costs more to just survive, raise a family, take care of yourself. But, even starting at pregnancy, the costs go up. And this bill is to recognize that that's when the costs start, not just when a child is born,” Johnsen said.
The personal exemption allowed under Michigan tax law is adjusted each year. For the 2024 tax year, it added to $5,600 for each person and dependent.
Critics of the bill question whether it would truly provide enough support for new families.
Danielle Atkinson is the founder of the group Mothering Justice. Atkinson said she’s skeptical the bill would provide meaningful help for mothers.
“If this was in good faith, we would definitely be looking at the true cost of care, money that's lost when you are out of work. And just overall what it takes to raise a child in this society,” Atkinson said.
She estimated it costs upwards of $14,000 each year to raise an infant, when accounting for childcare, food, clothes and other costs. Meanwhile, she raised concerns that the legislation could also have implications for talks around access to abortion.
In 2022, Georgia became the first state that offers such a tax emption for fetuses after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. That legislation was tied to Georgia’s fetal heartbeat law.
Johnsen said her bill, however, was based on the federal WIC program. That program offers food assistance to low income pregnant people, nursing mothers, and families of young children.
“I just want the moms to have an opportunity to have some assistance here and recognize that this is financially more difficult than not having a baby,” Johnsen said.
But Atkinson said expanding other programs, like Rx Kids, which gives checks to mothers of newborns are better uses of time and money.
“We have to think in the totality of when we're talking about moms and families and babies, what does the most good and we need to put our attention and our resources behind those initiatives,” Atkinson said.
The bill is inching along in the state legislature at a time when House Republicans are also calling for across-the-board income tax cuts, setting aside more funding for roads, and cutting back budget spending.
Democrats have pushed back, arguing that those policies could put public services and social safety net spending at risk. Senate Democrats, however, have still called for the creation of what they describe as a “working parents tax credit.”
Johnsen defended her push for another cut, saying there are places to cut waste in the budget.
“We say we're looking out for the most vulnerable. Well, the most vulnerability are the babies and the pregnant moms and the elderly and the veterans. They have to come first. Or we don't have a thriving and strong society,” Johnsen said.
She said she expects the bill to come to a vote in the Michigan House of Representatives within the coming weeks.
