Lexy Doherty, a Democratic congressional candidate in Georgia’s 10th District, began introducing her agenda for working families to Georgia voters last week.
Doherty, 31, is running for the seat currently held by Republican Representative Mike Collins.
“I’m running on a platform of freedom for families here in Northeast Georgia,” Doherty said.
“Families are not truly free if they’re trapped living paycheck-to-paycheck and can’t plan for the future. Families are not truly free if they can’t set their children up for a better life.”
Doherty’s working families platform includes a range of policy proposals designed to ease the economic burdens felt by parents. The plan is anchored by a working families refundable tax cut that would deposit $300 per child each month into the parents' bank accounts.
The raft of proposals also includes paid maternity and paternity leave, affordable childcare capped at $10 a month for most Georgia families, and housing initiatives to reduce housing costs.
Doherty pointed to survey data showing broad bipartisan popularity of the refundable tax credit of $300 for each child under 18.
A similar federal program ran briefly in 2021, with Republicans, Democrats, and Independents expressing substantial majority support for the family aid package.
“At a time when inflation and skyrocketing housing costs are squeezing our families, $300 a month per child can really ease that,” Doherty said. “There’s no applying for it, no hoops to jump through. It’s simply deposited into your account or sent as a check. It’s real help at a time when folks really need it.”
Doherty cited decades of bipartisan policy in Washington that resulted in jobs going overseas and wages and salaries not keeping up with the cost of living as creating a need for financial help for Georgia families.
“So many families in our part of Georgia have been left behind,” she stated. “After decades of failed ‘trickle-down’ policies out of Washington, I want to put families first, not the rich. So many families find themselves stuck in an economic rut that’s hard to escape. And once you’re stuck like that for too long, you’re no longer entirely free. I’m running on a new freedom for American families.”