Guest Opinion: Lawmakers can do right
by Oregon’s children
By Tyler Mac Innis
Ending poverty is doable. That’s what our nation learned after Congress temporarily strengthened the Child Tax Credit.
It’s a lesson Oregon lawmakers should heed right now, as they have before them an opportunity to establish a state child tax credit — the Oregon Kids’ Credit. It’s a policy that would do a great deal to improve the economic security of Oregon’s most vulnerable children.
In 2021, with the nation still reeling from the pandemic, Congress passed a final emergency package containing an upgrade to the Child Tax Credit. It increased the size of the credit; made it payable on a monthly basis, rather than in a lump sum paid at tax time; and made it available to the lowest-paid families, who previously had been denied all or part of the tax credit.
The impact was immediate. Thanks mainly to the enhanced Child Tax Credit, the nation’s child poverty rate plunged, falling by nearly half compared to the prior year. Child poverty dropped to the lowest level on record.
For cash-strapped families, the enhanced Child Tax Credit was just what they needed. Families used it to pay for essentials like food and rent. They spent it on things like school supplies and after-school programs. As making ends meet became a little easier, levels of depression and anxiety among low-income parents declined.
The enhanced Child Tax Credit also proved capable of reducing racial inequities. Because of our nation’s long and shameful history of racial exclusion, Black, Indigenous and other people of color are more likely to endure poverty. While most children who benefited from the enhanced federal credit were white, it narrowed the gap in poverty rates experienced by white children and children of color. The enhanced Child Tax Credit lifted up children of all races, while moving the nation in a more equitable direction.
But tragically, these gains were not to last. The improvements to the federal credit were temporary. And so far, Congress has failed to reinstate them, even as millions of children across the country fall back into poverty.
In the absence of federal action, it’s up to Oregon lawmakers to show leadership. They can do so by enacting the Oregon Kids’ Credit.
The Oregon Kids’ Credit would provide a $1,200 per child tax credit to low- and moderate-income families, those struggling the most to pay for essentials — a challenge made worse by rising prices. The legislation would lift up more than 200,000 children in Oregon. That’s more than all the children living in Central and Eastern Oregon, combined.
Research going back decades shows that growing up in poverty undermines the life prospects of children, from their chances of graduating from school, to their earnings as adults, to their overall health. Poverty stacks the deck against kids.
We know what works in the fight against poverty. We know that putting cash in the pockets of struggling families goes a long way in reducing economic hardship. The Oregon legislature must heed that lesson and enact the Oregon Kids’ Credit.
— Tyler Mac Innis is a Policy Analyst with the Oregon Center for Public Policy (ocpp.org). The Center’s mission is to achieve economic justice for all Oregonians through research, analysis, and advocacy.
Growth Challenges
Friday’s Bulletin led with a feature on the growth challenges of the Old Farm District as residents see more ponderosa pine and juniper removed by developers to make room for more houses. With required hookups to new sewer lines, the area is being urbanized and many residents feel helpless to do anything about it.
A survey of Bend residents in the same paper shows that residents rate the quality of life down 20 points from 2014. Only 41% of residents believed the city was headed in the right direction. Satisfaction with police and fire services also dropped. Probably few are surprised by these results. City and county councils have concentrated their efforts on building more homes with little attention to the side effects of rapid growth. (For one, clearcutting of native trees.) As cities grow, it is predictable that traffic congestion will increase as well as crime, crowding of recreation areas and a loss of a sense of community. It has been shown that growth does not pay its way causing taxes for services to increase. In spite of this, our city and county councils focus on more houses because it is what the business community demands and it increases the tax base. Promises to retain a high quality of livability ring hollow.
I predict the next survey will show a continued drop in quality of life. We need to elect councilors unencumbered by the tunnel vision of building more houses and having sensibility to the negative side effects of growth.
— Larry Nelson
RE: For the GOP and Oregon’s Two Most-Junior Congresspeople, Pistol Packin’ IRS Agents are Top Priority Opinion 1/26
Republicans in Congress are embracing their chaotic and Quixotic assault on windmills. Much of what they try to do will die a well-deserved death in the Senate. They will continue to take on “issues” and vendettas that the overwhelming majority of voters don’t care about. I do hope they go after Medicare and Social Security because they won’t succeed, except to expose their callousness. Remember Gingrich’s “Contract On America”? Sometimes the opposition can be your best organizer.
— Michael Funke via bendsource.com
Letter of the Week:
Thanks for the commentary, Michael! You get Letter of the Week. Come on by for your gift card to Palate!
—Nicole Vulcan
This article appears in Source Weekly February 9, 2023.
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