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House Passes 'Family Savings Act': Savings Plan Bill for Unborn Children Goes to Senate

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Click the player to watch CBN News' Mark Martin interview with David Christensen, the Family Research Council's vice president of government affairs.

While the nation was riveted with the testimonies of Christine Blasey Ford and Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh last week, the US House of Representatives was busy passing a legislative package known as "Tax Reform 2.0."  

The legislation included in the package is the Family Savings Act of 2018 (H.R. 6757). US Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced it last month. The new legislation contains many of the same provisions as a bipartisan bill previously introduced by Rep. Kelly.

The Family Savings Act gives parents, grandparents or other relatives the opportunity to open a 529 savings plan for an unborn child to begin saving for their future education.  

"It would allow parents to start an account while they are pregnant," Family Research Council Vice President of Government Affairs David Christensen told CBN News. "It's really a pro-life policy from the standpoint of the tax code. It recognizes the child as an unborn child."

"One interesting thing to note, this is really not an anti-abortion provision," he continued. "This is just pro-life and pro-family.  It allows parents and grandparents to start earlier for their kid's education."

The act also gives individuals the ability to withdraw their retirement funds without penalty if the money is used to pay for the costs of raising or adopting a child. The amount can be up to $7,500 for each spouse or $15,000 combined.

The legislation also finally allows families who homeschool their children to participate in 529 education savings accounts to cover their costs for schooling their children.  The act also allows up to $10,000 for use in homeschooling children, just like the 2017 tort reform law that allowed the deduction for private, public and religious schooling from kindergarten through high school.

"It gives all parents equal opportunity to use those kinds of accounts for the education of their children," Christensen told CBN News. "It is a great piece of legislation from the pro-education, pro-family standpoint."

Read the Family Savings Act.

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About The Author

Steve Warren is a senior multimedia producer for CBN News. Warren has worked in the news departments of television stations and cable networks across the country. In addition, he also worked as a producer-director in television production and on-air promotion. A Civil War historian, he authored the book The Second Battle of Cabin Creek: Brilliant Victory. It was the companion book to the television documentary titled Last Raid at Cabin Creek currently streaming on Amazon Prime. He holds an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Oklahoma and a B.A. in Communication from the University of