The Hearing

*Rep. Matt Hall, Michigan House Speaker from Richland Township, led Republican lawmakers in a pointed questioning of Dr. Mona Hanna, founder of Rx Kids*, during a Tuesday House Oversight Committee hearing in Lansing.

The hearing focused on how the state's cash-for-moms program spends taxpayer money and whether recipients face any restrictions on what they purchase with the funds.

"I think they're on the wrong track with the Rx Kids program," Hall said at a recent press conference. "They're administering welfare to illegal aliens and they're paying out unconditional income with no strings attached."

Hall has previously called Rx Kids "a scam," arguing the program incentivizes undocumented migrants to have children in Michigan for citizenship purposes, according to Bridge Michigan.

The Numbers Behind Rx Kids

Rx Kids has enrolled more than 11,700 families as of May 27, according to News From The States. The program provides:

  • $1,500 to pregnant women starting at 16 weeks gestation
  • $500 per month for up to 12 months after birth

The legislature allocated $300 million for the program in 2024, expected to be spent over three years, according to WWMT. The state also provided $250 million through the Healthy Michigan grant to support the program over three birth years, according to WLNS.

Republican Lawmakers Press on Spending Rules

Rep. Angela Rigas, R-Caledonia Township, asked Hanna whether mothers could spend Rx Kids funds on alcohol, marijuana, or flat-screen televisions.

"How do you ensure that the funds are actually helping the babies? Or are these funds able to be spent on items such as alcohol, weed, flat screen TVs — those that actually don't benefit the child?" Rigas asked, according to WLNS.

Hanna said the program is designed without spending restrictions.

"This is a program built on trust, trusting women, trusting mothers, trusting families to best meet their needs," Hanna said. "This is how the child tax credit is based, this is how social security is. We're not asking seniors who get social security what they're spending their funds on."

Rigas pushed back. "That's a little different. (Seniors) actually paid into it," she said, according to Bridge Michigan.

Rep. Josh Schriver, R-Oxford, asked if the program framework would prevent a pregnant mother from receiving the $1,500 prenatal payment and then obtaining an abortion at 25 weeks.

"There is nothing in the framework that does that, but it's highly unlikely to have an abortion at that time," Hanna said, according to WWMT.

Hanna added that Rx Kids has actually seen a decrease in abortions in communities where the program operates, according to News From The States.

Undocumented Immigrant Funding Questioned

Hall's central criticism centers on whether taxpayer dollars support undocumented immigrants through Rx Kids.

Hanna told the committee that no state or federal funds go to undocumented recipients. Those payments come from philanthropic sources only.

"Only philanthropic funding, not any taxpayer dollars from any level of government is supporting undocumented immigrants," Hanna said, according to WWMT.

She said Rx Kids has raised about $86 million from non-governmental sources to cover those cases, according to Bridge Michigan.

Democrats Defend the Program

Democratic lawmakers pushed back against the Republican line of questioning.

"I am really uncomfortable with how we behaved in front of the parents and their babies who are here," said Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia. "I personally can't imagine finally having trust in a government program just to be told that you can't be trusted with that program, particularly by people whose entire salaries are taxpayer-funded."

Rep. Matt Longjohn, D-Kalamazoo, defended the program's outcomes.

"Rx Kids, for example, decreases evictions, decreases child welfare visits, etc," Longjohn said, according to WWMT. "You can't cut services to infants and moms and see that as a way to solve the budget problem because it will cause downstream costs."

What the Data Shows

Hanna presented data to the committee showing program outcomes:

  • 90% reduction in evictions among participants, according to News From The States
  • 45% decrease in neonatal infant mortality in the first month of life, according to News From The States
  • Preliminary data linked to decreased neonatal mortality, increased birth weights, and a decline in NICU admissions, according to a study published in the Lancet Public Health journal, as reported by Bridge Michigan

"We're seeing improvements in maternal mental health," Hanna said. "Moms repeatedly saying 'I can breathe,' 'I feel a weight's been lifted off my shoulders,' 'I'm less stressed… I can be present'."

What Comes Next

Committee Chair Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay, said the program needs oversight guardrails despite its noble intentions.

"We put guardrails in place with every other program that we have, whether it be a social welfare program, whether it be a tax component," DeBoyer said, according to WWMT. "There's guardrails and there's verifications."

Hanna said Rx Kids already has identity verification, residency verification, pregnancy verification, and childbirth and vaccination attestation in place. She argued that adding spending monitoring would be expensive and would divert money away from families, which currently receive 85% of the funding provided.

Rx Kids expanded to seven more counties on Monday, including Jackson County and Calhoun County, according to WLNS. Another expansion is planned for July, according to WWMT.

Hall and House Appropriations Chair Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Township, have threatened to end state funding for Rx Kids, which would mean a $20 million cut to the program, according to News From The States.