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Michigan House Republicans are calling for stricter scrutiny of the taxpayer-funded cash assistance program for new mothers, questioning its benefits and raising concerns about how millions of dollars are spent.
Scrutiny intensified during a June 2 House Oversight Committee hearing, where GOP lawmakers referred to “Rx Kids”—a measure billed as the nation’s largest cash assistance program for prenatal and infant care.
“I think there was a belief that there was this little inspection program that was going to be done properly,” said House Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, during the hearing. “When I saw that there was a $250 million allocation for Rx Kids … and you found out that it’s not actually a drug program for kids, it’s a cash donation, then you realized that maybe we need to look at this a little bit more.”
A heated debate about the merits of the plan has been raging for months. House Republicans have previously described the measure as a “vote money initiative.” In an interview with local media after last week’s hearing, DeBoyer went further, saying the program “tracks the voter information of people who receive benefits.”
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The Michigan Capitol is seen, May 24, 2023, in Lansing, Michigan. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)
Michigan House Speaker Matt Hall, R-Richland Township, also criticized the move, previously calling it a “scam.”
Republicans increased their oversight during last week’s hearing, which featured strong testimony from Rx Kids founder and director Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha. Lawmakers have asked the director a number of questions, from the effectiveness of eligibility requirements and increased administrative overhead to whether illegal immigrants are receiving money.
“There are no federal funds going to undocumented immigrants — nothing,” Hanna-Attisha said.
DeBoyer argued that the low barrier to entry raises red flags for taxpayer accountability. To be eligible, applicants must complete a 30-minute application (available in English, Spanish or Arabic), be an adult living in the participating community, and be at least 16 weeks pregnant.
First launched as a pilot program in Flint, Michigan, in 2024, Rx Kids has since expanded to several cities in the state, including Detroit. To date, we have helped 5,600 families, donating more than $22 million in direct support.
The program is designed to provide an unsecured $1,500 to expectant mothers, followed by $500 per month during the child’s first year.
The program comes amid a growing national trend of local municipalities providing a guaranteed basic benefit or similar cash assistance to low-income households. While Hanna-Attisha previously told Fox News Digital that the plan is modeled after traditional “child benefit programs” instead of basic income, DeBoyer warned of a broader ideological agenda.
“This is a trial balloon for a very large program that will begin to be validated as a basic income for children up to age 18,” DeBoyer warned. “Then if we can convince the general public to buy into this, then we’ll turn it into a guaranteed income.”
The lawyer took issue with the complete lack of restrictions on how recipients spend the money.
“You have to ask the question, what are we doing, taking $300 million and putting it in a bowl on the patio and telling people they can just come by and grab a handful?” DeBoyer said. “When we pressed that issue, we asked the question, ‘How do we know they don’t buy alcohol and marijuana and other things? The answer was, ‘We just trust them.’ It’s nice to say that, but the problem is that we’re giving them other people’s money.”
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Rx Kids Director Dr. Mona Hanna told Fox News Digital that the program wants to expand nationwide. (Fox News Digital)
Hanna-Attisha, who also serves as a professor at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine, cited Rx Kids’ internal research to highlight the program’s early success in reducing infant poverty. However, DeBoyer pushed back, questioning the validity of the data compiled by the very people running the project.
“All the information was provided by Dr. Mona, and most of the research that was done to compile the information was done by Dr. Mona,” DeBoyer said. “Well, that’s not independent research. It’s those people who get paid and get paid for doing research.”
In a statement sent to Fox News Digital, the Rx Kids team defended its scientific integrity, noting that “their methods are transparent” and their findings “have withstood scientific scrutiny.”
“While I was working as the founder and director of this program, research was conducted by a diverse team of investigators from many institutions and disciplines, including economists, epidemiologists, public health researchers, physicians and policy experts,” said Hanna-Attisha, adding that the data is subject to strict peer review standards.
DeBoyer also trained his eyes on the billions of dollars currently being spent on administration.
“Currently about $40 million of that money has gone to Michigan State as well [nonprofit charity] Give Directly to administrative fees,” DeBoyer said. “We’ll look at how that money is spent at Michigan State. We will look at how that money is spent at GiveDirectly because $250 million is a lot of money for Michigan taxpayers. “
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A cash assistance program designed for new and expectant mothers wants to expand across the country and be implemented at the federal level. (Getty Images)
Hanna-Attisha strongly rejected the description of those funds as mere “funds”, arguing that the system is very efficient and takes taxpayer accountability seriously.
“This program has also had the last two years of federal funding. If you consider 5-6 years of federal funding, program management is about $7-8M/year,” he told Fox News Digital, noting that Rx Kids is a public-private partnership that has raised nearly $90 million from private sources.
“Funds are distributed through established systems with extensive safeguards, eligibility verification, fraud prevention protocols, audit procedures, data use agreements, and independent oversight,” he added. “A lot of money goes directly to families – about 15% of federal funds go to the administration of the program – that’s an amazing level of efficiency.”
While Hanna-Attisha told Fox News Digital that she eventually hopes to see the program expand statewide, Michigan Republicans made it clear that any future funding will face an uphill battle.
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DeBoyer’s office did not immediately respond to a follow-up request for comment.
