Joint Resolution Urging Congress to Eliminate Marriage Penalties

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Joint Resolution Urging Congress to Eliminate Marriage Penalties
2026 GENERAL SESSION
STATE OF UTAH
Chief Sponsor: Melissa G. Ballard
Senate Sponsor: Heidi Balderree
LONG TITLE
General Description:
This resolution urges Congress to eliminate marriage penalties in federal law.
Highlighted Provisions:
This resolution:
recognizes the role of marriage in promoting an optimal environment for children and
helping to ensure economic mobility and well-being;
discusses the extent to which federal tax policies and assistance programs create marriage
penalties and impact Utah's tax policies and assistance programs as a result; and
urges Congress to pass legislation eliminating all marriage penalties, both direct and
indirect, that are embedded within federal tax policies and assistance programs.
Money Appropriated in this Bill:
None
Other Special Clauses:
None
Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah:
WHEREAS, social science evidence shows a strong correlation between stable and healthy
marriage and multiple positive life outcomes for adults;
WHEREAS, a stable and healthy marriage is the optimal environment for rearing thriving
children and promoting greater intergenerational economic mobility;
WHEREAS, stable and healthy marriages provide important benefits that strengthen
neighborhoods, communities, and nations;
WHEREAS, data from the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that marriage rates in the United
States have significantly dropped from roughly 71% of all households in 1970 to about 47% of
all households in 2022;
WHEREAS, marriage rates in the United States are expected to decline even further in the
future, with recent studies projecting that one in three of America's young adults will not marry
by age 45 and may never marry;
WHEREAS, research shows that federal tax policies and assistance programs can create
financial disincentives, both directly and indirectly, for couples to marry or form a stable
two-parent home in which to rear their children, otherwise known as marriage penalties;
WHEREAS, marriage penalties or disincentive effects can arise within state-administered
tax policies and assistance programs, including Utah's, solely because the state policies and
programs are aligned with federal policies and programs that contain marriage penalties;
WHEREAS, in a 2015 study, 31% of the participants surveyed knew of people who chose
not to marry due to concerns about the loss of safety net benefits, followed by a more recent
study in which roughly 10% of those receiving such benefits explicitly stating they did not
marry to avoid losing such assistance;
WHEREAS, another study from 2022 estimated that without marriage penalties in both the
tax code and assistance programs, an additional 13.7% of low-income single mothers would
choose to marry each year and an additional 7.5% would be married by age 35;
WHEREAS, research suggests that 97% of young adults who follow the success sequence,
which applies to individuals who attain at least a high school education, work full-time, and
marry before having children, will not experience poverty by the time they reach their prime
adult years;
WHEREAS, eliminating marriage penalties from federal tax policies and assistance
programs would promote equality for parents and families, as parents and families will receive
equal treatment for critical tax relief and government assistance programs regardless of
household composition or status;
WHEREAS, eliminating marriage penalties at the federal level would automatically
eliminate marriage penalties from the many state-administered tax policies and programs that
are aligned with federal law, which include many of Utah's tax policies and assistance
programs; and
WHEREAS, eliminating marriage penalties from federal tax policies and assistance
programs would eliminate a perverse public policy obstacle on the path to prosperity and
happiness for Americas families and children:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah urges
Congress to pass legislation eliminating all marriage penalties, both direct and indirect, that are
embedded within federal tax policies and assistance programs by:
(1)
modifying income caps and benefit levels in a manner that ensures married individuals
do not face financial disincentives in comparison to non-married individuals;
(2)
making income thresholds exactly proportional for each additional member of the
household; and
(3)
phasing out the head of household status while adjusting other tax credits, including the
child tax credit, to offset any negative impacts on single parents.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that that a copy of this joint resolution be sent to the
Majority and Minority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority
Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and the members of Utah's
congressional delegation.
3-7-26 1:26 AM