COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — An Ohio lawmaker has introduced a bill offering a state income tax credit to businesses that provide financial bonuses to employees who get married, framing it as part of a broader push to strengthen family structures. 

House Bill 342, titled the “Invest in Marriage Act,” would grant employers a nonrefundable tax credit of up to $50,000 per year if they implement a “qualifying marriage bonus policy.” Under the bill, employers would be eligible for a $1,000 credit for each employee who receives a marriage bonus of at least that amount.

To qualify, employers must provide the bonus to any employee who submits a marriage license or marriage record. The legislation allows unused credits to be carried forward for up to five years.

Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania), the bill’s primary sponsor, said the legislation is intended to incentivize marriage by engaging employers in supporting family formation.

“We’ve been looking at the studies, not only studies from conservative groups like [the Center for Christian Virtue] but also from BGSU on the outcomes of children that are raised in single parent households, specifically single mother households, and the detrimental impact that it can have,” Williams told NBC4. “Our society has been getting away from incentivizing marriage.”

Williams added that the bill is also a response to what he said are disincentives built into public assistance programs, which he argues discourage two-parent households.

“We have, you know, the marriage penalty when it comes to other public assistance programs,” he said. “We just thought of a way to be able to incentivize marriage here in the state of Ohio, and we wanted to make sure that the employers were engaged in that encouragement.”

Williams said the $1,000 minimum bonus was chosen to ensure it would be meaningful to employees and could potentially influence hiring or employment decisions.

“We thought $1,000 minimum seems like a reasonable bonus amount, and something that an employer will be kind of vested in to provide,” he said. “Maybe Company A offers this bonus, and Company B does not. And a qualified employee wants to make the decision on where he wants to be employed at.”

H.B. 342 is part of Williams’ “Family First Agenda,” a suite of proposals focused on strengthening nuclear families in Ohio. Other bills include a measure to designate the weeks between Mother’s Day and Father’s Day as Natural Family Month, a tax credit for in vitro fertilization, and others aimed at supporting parenthood and marriage.

“It is a group of bills that we intentionally designed to promote family units here in the state of Ohio,” Williams said. “We want Ohio to be a place where people want to… meet their spouse, get married, plant their roots right here in Ohio, and raise a family.”

Democratic lawmakers and policy analysts have not yet publicly commented on H.B. 342. Critics of similar proposals in other states have expressed concern that tax-based marriage incentives can marginalize unmarried people and may not address deeper economic or social challenges facing families.

The bill has been referred to the Ohio House Ways and Means Committee but has not yet received a hearing.