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Friends, 

At the end of July, Iowans faced the expiration of two key provisions of bipartisan coronavirus relief that Congress approved in the early days of this pandemic: a protection from eviction for tenants of federally backed properties, and $600 per week in federal unemployment benefits for Iowans who are out of work to help keep food on their tables.

We’ve known for months that these provisions would expire at the end of July, and the crisis would likely continue to impact our communities. That’s why the House acted to extend both of these provisions back in May, and why I’ve urged my Senate colleagues to extend these provisions and provide emergency funding that would protect our schools, businesses, and communities still dealing with this crisis.

I shared my thoughts on the negotiations over the next COVID-19 aid package on KMA last week. Listen to the full clip here. 

I’m deeply disappointed it took the Senate until days before the end of July to introduce any sort of solution, and that their bill failed to contain the aid I believe our hardest-hit families need to stay afloat. While there are provisions in the bill I’m supportive of, it’s clear that we need more action – and fast.

While I continue to push for a solution that will help those who are out of work and still hurting, I wanted to share this brief update on what else has been happening in the last few weeks.

Securing Investments in Health, Education, and Economic Prosperity for Iowa

I cosponsored an amendment that blocks any taxpayer funding from being used to support a Department of Justice lawsuit that seeks to dismantle the Affordable Care Act. Watch my remarks here.

Every year, Congress is charged with writing and passing appropriations bills that provide the funding for federal programs and investments for the coming year. As your voice in Washington, I’ve been advocating for investments that will help Iowa families and communities – and over the past few weeks, the House passed a number of those priorities with my support.

The legislation we passed includes multiple provisions I fought for, including an expansion of grants for child care services, funding to rapidly expand rural broadband services and update broadband maps, and the first-ever inclusion of language highlighting the need to address the mental health needs of America’s teachers.

Passing these bills two months before the final deadline also ensures that we avoid a government shutdown in September. As someone who first came to Congress in the middle of a government shutdown, I am committed to ensuring we don’t add an avoidable crisis like a government shutdown to the long list of challenges we’ve faced this year.

With these bills and the passage of other investments earlier last month, the House has now passed the bills necessary to fund over 90% of the federal budget with two months to spare. Learn more about the bills here.

Promoting Safe and Affordable Child Care for Iowa Families

Access to safe and affordable child care options was critical before this pandemic hit, but now it has become an imperative that will determine whether we can get our economy back on track. Without access to child care, Iowa families will be unable to return to work – and parents who work every single day to provide for their children will be put in an impossible position.

I’m pleased to share that last week, the House passed two bills I introduced earlier this year to help preserve the child care savings of Iowa families who used dependent care assistance plans (DCAPs) – which allow pre-tax dollars to be used for child care. My legislation doubles the amount of money that can be contributed to these accounts (the first increase in over two decades) and ensures that unused contributions from this year will roll over into 2021.

In addition to my provisions, the bills we passed in the House make the child and dependent care tax credit (CDCTC) fully refundable, create a new refundable payroll tax credit for eligible employee dependent care benefits paid by employers, and invest billions in improving child care infrastructure and ensuring child care facilities have the resources they need to safely reopen during this public health crisis.

Learn more about the bills here.

I Need Your Vote To Determine the Winners of the Third Congressional District Photo Contest

We have our finalists for the Third Congressional District Photo District - but I need your help picking the winners!

Find and like your favorite photos in the album on my Facebook page, encourage your friends to like their favorites, and the photos with the most likes will be selected as the new cover photos for our social media pages.

The contest closes soon, so make sure you like and share today! 

You can find the full album by clicking here.

Thank you, 

Cindy