Across the country — including right here in Northwest Washington — most families have started receiving child tax credit payments. This $250 - $300 per child monthly amount is a critical investment in getting our economy back on track.

After all, if families are unable to find child care, they are unable to get back to work.

Consider this: Before the pandemic, there were a half-million children in Washington state alone whose families could not find affordable, licensed child care. And it has gotten much, much worse over the last 18 months.

That is why I am pushing Congress to make a sustained investment in child care. That means making the child tax credit permanent.

It also means that we must cap out-of-pocket costs at 7% of a family's income, ensure that child care workers earn a living wage and benefits, reduce the barriers that keep low-income families and communities of color from accessing child care programs, and provide assistance to child care facilities that need to retrofit and expand their buildings to serve more families.

Bottom line? We must guarantee affordable, accessible child care for every family that needs it.

We have a lot of work to do to make sure that we are able to create and sustain jobs in the post-pandemic economy. And child care is right in the middle of it.

Rick