WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., on Thursday joined other officials at a Working Families Summit, where she discussed legislation designed to help such families.
Capito joined a small group of federal officials, including fellow Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah; Dr. Laurie Todd-Smith, director of the Women’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor; and Ivanka Trump, advisor to President Donald Trump.
The summit was held at the White House Thursday morning.
“Today’s summit was about bipartisan solutions that address the fact that in many households across America, both parents work,” Capito said. “Raising a child is a tremendous expense. We want to create stronger families, and study after study shows that taking time off at the beginning of a child’s life is beneficial not only to the child, but also the parents."
Capito discussed a bill recently introduced in the Senate, which she cosponsored — the Advancing Support for Working Families Act.
The bipartisan bill is designed to help working families by allowing them to receive an advance of up to $5,000 on the Child Tax Credit during the first year of a child’s life or the first year after a child is adopted.
Capito said she was “particularly pleased” to receive support from the Trump Administration on the legislation.
“I thank Ivanka Trump for her passion and her ability to bring both Republicans and Democrats to this table on this important issue.”
The bill was introduced into the Senate Dec. 4 by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La. In addition to Capito, the bill was also cosponsored by fellow West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, D., as well as Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.