How Might Equity Scoring Apply to Federal Legislation? Examples from Recent Family Policy Proposals

In the past year alone, some policy researchers and funders have increased calls to score federal and state legislative proposals for equity, resulting in the launch of new scoring initiatives. These initiatives have taken different forms: a year-end scoring of state legislative proposals for how they advance equity, 1 a score for related legislative proposals specific to issues such as housing or the criminal legal system,2 and scoring individual legislative proposals for their ability to improve equitable access or outcomes. 3 What this past year has demonstrated is that equity scoring is both feasible and desirable. These initiatives show demand and interest in using equity assessments to influence policy as it is designed, not just to offer a postmortem after new policies are in place. Scoring legislation for equity will require establishing and using robust analytical frameworks to deliver results for the 100 million people in this nation with low incomes (living on income at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level). To further test the scoring concept, this paper considers the potential equity impacts of an expanded child tax credit and the Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act. These familyfocused policy interventions have been proven effective at improving outcomes for low-income families and families of color. For example, our analyses find that full expansion of the child tax credit would help lower poverty rates experienced by families of color while benefiting all families receiving the credit regardless of racial and ethnic background. Similarly, expanding paid family leave coverage through the FAMILY Act would increase access to paid family and medical leave for all workers while reducing gaps in access for Hispanic and Black workers. Our impact analyses and forecasts of these policies help demonstrate the combined benefit of reviewing the systemic effects of policies on current inequities and then determining the most opportune levers to reduce them. As we will discuss throughout the paper, this kind of diagnostic assessment can help policymakers evaluate whether equity-focused policies or amendments to policy interventions could achieve benefits for all.