There’s been plenty of chaos coming out of Washington lately. A three-week long quest to find a MAGA GOP House Speaker. A near-shutdown of the government. A loudly ticking clock until the next potential shutdown (less than a month away).
But I’m working to make sure another big issue doesn’t get lost in the shuffle: child care. Because, on October 1, emergency federal funding for child care expired and fell off a cliff.
Add your name if you agree that child care funding can’t fall by the wayside, and let’s fight side by side to extend this critical support for families — addressing this short-term crisis while we keep working towards universal child care.
When the pandemic started, I fought alongside Senator Tina Smith to get emergency resources to child care centers across the country.
We won, and it made a huge difference. Funding reached more than eight out of every 10 child care providers nationwide, providing them with enough money to raise wages temporarily for workers without raising costs for parents. That support also meant millions more parents could go to work knowing their children were in good hands.
But House Republicans didn’t lift a finger to extend that funding. Without it, millions of families could have to scramble to find new child care, not be able to go to work, or not be able to take a full shift. And working families who need to arrange child care have barely been hanging on as it is — struggling to preserve houses of cards that could fall apart with just one light breeze. I’ve been there. When I had two little ones and started my first big teaching job, I thought I was going to have to quit, until my Aunt Bee moved in and rescued me, staying for 16 years.
I’ve been ringing every alarm bell I can find and calling on Congress to extend this funding. And the Biden-Harris administration is in this fight, too. This week, they’ve requested emergency supplemental funding for child care as an ASAP priority — before the next shutdown deadline. I’ll do everything I can to get this done for families and climb back up the child care cliff.
But we can’t stop there. We had a child care crisis in America before the pandemic, and we must take bold action to ensure access for every family in the long run, after addressing this short-term crisis. I’ve got a plan for that. Under my bill, half of all families would pay no more than $10 a day for child care, costs would be capped for everyone, and child care workers would get a raise — recognizing how they do some of the most powerfully important work in the country.
Universal child care is good for working parents. It’s good for kids who’ll lay the foundation for their education. It’s good for our economy. It’s a win-win-win.
If you’re with me, please add your name to let me know you agree that we must extend critical child care funding. It’s important to show that supporters in Pennsylvania and across the country are demanding that this is prioritized.
I’m staying on this — and I know that it’s only possible because I’m fighting alongside people like you.
Thanks for being a part of this,
Elizabeth  |
