Tell the new Congress to get moving on COVID-relief and let the Biden
Administration know that we are here advocating for change too!
[ [link removed] ]Take Action Now
[ [link removed] ]SIGN NOW

Dear Friend,

“We not only have an economic imperative to act now, I believe we have a
moral obligation. In this pandemic in America, we can not let people go
hungry. We can not let people get evicted. We can not watch nurses,
educators, and others lose their jobs, we so badly need them. We must act
now and act decisively. My fellow Americans, the decisions we make in the
next few weeks and months are going to determine whether we thrive in a
way that benefits all Americans or that we stay stuck in a place where
those at the top do great, while economic growth for most everyone else is
just a spectator sport and where American prospects, dim, not
brighten.”-President-elect Joe Biden, January 14, 2021

Last night, President-elect Joe Biden laid out a bold, comprehensive plan
to bring our country back from the personal, health, and economic despair
brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ [link removed] ] From vaccines to childcare to
paid family leave to addressing the staggering levels of hunger in this
country to raising the minimum wage, the Biden Rescue Plan is the type of
approach our country so desperately needs.

The direction of the country is changing, [1]but President-elect Biden
can't do it alone! We need YOU to speak up right now! 

[ [link removed] ]→ Tell Congress to get moving and let the Biden Administration know
that we are here advocating for change too! (When you click, you’ll
automatically sign on if we already have your information)

Words hold power. So we stood up and applauded when President-elect Biden
said these words last night (and now we need to raise our voices to make
this vision a  shared reality!):  “Imagine millions of jobs in our
caregiving economy to ease the financial burden of caring for young
children and aging loved ones. Let’s make sure our caregivers, mostly
women, women of color, and immigrants, have the pay and dignity they
deserve.” - President-elect Joe Biden

[ [link removed] ]***SIGN OUR LETTER NOW calling on the new Biden Administration and
Congress to take immediate action to turn those words into policy that
helps our families, communities, and economy deal with COVID! (When you
click, you’ll automatically sign on if we already have your information)

We have no time to waste. COVID relief must be the first priority of the
new Biden Administration and Congress next week -- and relief must move
forward as soon as possible. Why? Because women and especially moms and
moms of color are hurting. As the latest jobs report shows, women of color
are bearing the brunt of the economic devastation the pandemic has
brought: Some 82,000 Black women and 31,000 Latinas lost their jobs in
December and there are indications that white women made gains. [2] Many
more women and moms were forced to leave the labor force in the face of
virtual schooling, dwindling child care options, and our nation’s lack of
paid sick days and paid family leave. Overall, there are nearly 2.1
million fewer women in our country’s workforce today than were in it
before the pandemic began, and even more women and women of color working
part-time because they cannot find full-time jobs. Our economy will never
thrive if women are not fully represented in the workforce.

The pandemic has shown the gaping holes in our system that leave women,
and especially moms of color, behind. Our failure to make real investments
in childcare, universal paid leave and sick days, and fair wages, along
with anti-discrimination policies, has meant this pandemic has buried
women financially and set them back decades, as more and more women lose
their jobs or are forced to drop out of the workforce to attend to
caretaking demands.  It doesn’t have to be this way.

This discrimination and failure to advance change has to stop now! Our
elected leaders must do better! We need comprehensive COVID relief,
including real policy change now!  And together we can make that happen.

[ [link removed] ]**Add your name to our letter, which we will deliver to the new
Congress and Biden Administration in the coming days. (When you click,
you’ll automatically sign on if we already have your information)

At the end of 2020, after political infighting and endless negotiations,
we were able to get some COVID relief. But many of our families are still
struggling, had to wait too long, faced gaps in their unemployment
payments, and too many families still face evictions, utilities shutoffs,
or inability to pay their bills. And not enough has been done to make sure
families can still access emergency paid leave, our childcare
infrastructure is saved and supported, or states have the funding they
need to robustly roll out the COVID vaccine.

Action is needed and it is needed now! Our letter to the new Congress and
Biden Administration states the following:

“Members of Congress and Biden Administration -  As we enter 2021, COVID
still rages on with hospitals throughout the country reaching capacity,
vaccinations falling far behind the amount needed to protect vulnerable
populations, children still out of school and businesses closed, and
jobless numbers still at a record high, predominantly impacting women,
especially women of color. This is all at the same time that 1 in 4
children are living in hunger because of the impacts of COVID and over
389,000 lives have been lost to this virus.

We call on our elected officials to take immediate action to help protect
all of our families regardless of immigration status, children,
communities, and economy and put an end to this deadly virus. Any
COVID-relief legislation should include:

* Help for parents to support their families, including extended and
strengthened unemployment benefits, an extension of emergency paid
leave and paid sick days, and protections from evictions and utility
shut-offs;
* A minimum of $50 billion dedicated to a childcare stabilization fund
through the passage of the Child Care is Essential Act to stabilize
the childcare industry, support and ensure programs don’t close
their doors permanently and can reopen, safely meeting all new
regulations, and ensure parents, particularly moms, aren’t pushed
out of the workforce because of childcare breakdowns;
* Financial relief in the form of direct payments of at least
$2,000/person, including for immigrant families and an expansion of
the Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC);
* Funding to support a scaled-up distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine,
with the federal government taking on a key leadership role and
achieving a goal of 1 million doses a day in the first 100 days.
This includes vital aid to state, local, territory, and tribal
governments;
* Ensure struggling families can access nutritious food during this
economic crisis by boosting SNAP and increasing funds for school
meals and other nutrition programs that are in unprecedented demand.

What our families and economy are facing continues to be a crisis and our
elected leaders must treat it as such. We expect your support and
immediate action!”

[ [link removed] ]***Can you sign on to our letter calling on Congress and the new Biden
Administration to take immediate action on COVID relief? (When you click
here, you’ll automatically sign on if we already have your information)

There is no time to waste! Once you sign on to our letter please forward
this email to your friends and family so they can sign on as well. You can
also post our action
link: [ [link removed] ][link removed] on social
media. We plan to deliver our petition to the new Congress in the coming
days, so the more people who sign our letter the better!

I know these are tough times. But we so appreciate you continuing to raise
your voices and speak out for the things that really matter to our nation,
families, and economy!

-Elyssa, Ruth, Nina, Felicia, Sara, Hanna, Donna, Kristin, and the entire
MomsRising.org/MamásConPoder team  

P.S. We have a much more comprehensive document with our full COVID
priorities for the new Congress and Administration, which you can find
[ [link removed] ]here.

P.P.S Are you still out of working and relying on unemployment benefits?
Did you lose your emergency paid leave at the end of the year? Are you
struggling with childcare/virtual schooling? MomsRising wants to hear from
you! [ [link removed] ]Share your COVID story with us here.

 

[1] [ [link removed] ]“Joe Biden Speech Transcript on COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan.”
January 14, 2021.

[2] [ [link removed] ]“The US economy lost 140,000 jobs in December. All of them were
held by women.” CNN, January 8, 2021.


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