Now that the COVID clouds have cleared and just about everything is open again, people are going back to work. Businesses are up and running at full capacity, if they can help it. Government agencies may even start functioning again at some point.

Because of all this, the issue of child care keeps coming up. This issue is a big one that’s directly related to the workforce. Where are children, who aren’t in school, going to go when both of their parents are working?

The overall lack of providers is one big part of the problem. Another, ironically, is that the Oregon Legislature keeps trying to address it. The solution they keep trying is to pay the providers more. But if you raise those waves, you end up increasing the costs and that doesn’t end up helping.

I think the solution is to empower families. Who should be taking care of children? Their parents!

As such, I’m proposing a $7500 per child tax credit to be used for education and child care. This tax credit will ease the financial burden faced by parents. It would incentivize some of them to stay at home with their kids. It would make it easier for stay-at-home moms. And it would also relieve some of the strain on the system.

School choice is the cornerstone of my education policy. That includes the freedom for parents to home school their children.

The pandemic taught many parents that they’re better off educating their children themselves. Enrollment at public schools is dropping all over the United States. But the system is more concerned with the fact that this will mean less public funding, because it is tied to the number of students involved.

If there are fewer students in public schools, you don’t need as many teachers or administrators. You can reduce class sizes for those who are willing to keep their kids in public schools, instead of throwing more money at a failed system.

A child tax credit that encourages and enables more home schooling means that parents will have ore control over what their children are being taught. That’s been a huge concern for many parents.

The money saved by not sending those students to schools goes back to their parents to make it easier for them to take care of their children. This will result in Oregon having stronger families.

At the end of the day, children belong with their parents. The state government needs to get out of the way and help facilitate it.

I believe that my proposed child tax credit will go a long way towards restoring the most basic building block of our entire society—the family. For far too long, we’ve built up the state at the expense of the family and it’s time to reverse that disturbing trend. Instead of focusing on what we can do to prop up another system, we should put power back in the hands of parents. As your next governor, I intend to put those kinds of policies in place and make it a top priority.

*If you’d like to find out more about or support the Brandon Merritt for Oregon Governor campaign, please check out our website at https://www.merritt22.com/