From Moms Rising (https://www.momsrising.org/):
Earlier today President Biden spoke from Pittsburgh announcing a major investment in infrastructure and services and care workforce supporting the aging and people with disabilities, paid for by making our tax code more equitable and making sure mega-corporations pay their fair share. This is how we start to #BuildBackBetter!
We need to build on President Biden’s momentum and make sure the next recovery package includes major investments in the care economy. Join us in raising our voices to make sure his message is heard loud and clear—our country, economy, and families cannot fully recover from the destruction of COVID-19 if the next recovery package doesn’t center and focus on the needs of struggling families and the care economy.
Join in taking a high-impact action of sending a Letter to the Editor to your local paper calling on Senators Robert P. Casey, Jr. and Patrick J. Toomey to make sure our families and caretakers are included in the next recovery package. (When you go to https://action.momsrising.org/lte/RecoveryRecess_LTE/ we’ll walk you through all the easy steps to submit a letter to the editor)
The clock is ticking — and a window of opportunity for change is opening! Members of Congress are back in the states right now for recess and believe it or not, one of the most visible ways to get their attention is to get a letter to the editor printed in your local paper. We want to raise our voices up and make sure they know that we need them to focus on our families and the care economy in the next recovery package. Investments in the care economy will finally put us on the path to shared prosperity. In order for our families, communities, and economy to fully recover, leaders in Congress must quickly pass universal childcare, adopt national paid leave for all, raise the minimum wage and enact fair pay legislation, make permanent improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, invest in caregiving options for people with disabilities and aging adults, and create a pathway to citizenship for immigrant workers, who have been crucial in combating the pandemic.
Why do letters to the editor matter so much? Simply put—U.S. Senators read their local papers! By submitting a letter you are helping us raise the profile on this very important issue and ringing the alarm bells that we expect the U.S. Senate to take immediate action to help struggling families and strengthen our economy. Now is the perfect time to do this because once recess is over and our Senators return to Washington, D.C. they are going to start negotiations on this bill.
Don’t worry—sending the Letter to the Editor is super easy! When you click on the link above, we’ll lead you through a quick process to write a Letter to the Editor to your local newspaper. This tool is pretty magical—you can easily edit our pre-drafted letter, if you wish (inserting your personal story if you have one!), and send it to your paper with just a few clicks.
The pre-drafted letter (which you can edit and add your personal story when you click through to the link!) simply says:
“Passage of the American Rescue Plan is giving our community the lift we need after a year of loss, stress, and heartache. This historic legislation means we’ll be able to get the vaccines and health care we desperately need. More families will get unemployment checks large enough to cover their food, shelter, and other essentials. Our childcare system will be stronger. More schools can reopen safely. And perhaps most important, the expanded Child Tax Credit will help us cut childhood poverty in half!
But to make sure we can all recover — especially women, moms, and communities of color who have been bearing the brunt of COVID’s impact— we will need long-term investments that lift working families and our local economy. We need to reverse decades of underinvestment, which made the pandemic so disastrous for these communities. And it’s not just moms, women of color, and their families, but also our economy overall. When moms are pushed out of the labor force and reduce work hours in order to assume caretaking responsibilities – it costs us $64.5 billion per year in lost wages and economic activity.
It’s not enough to go back to where we were. We demand the resources that will finally put us on the path to shared prosperity. That will require investments in the care economy. In order for my family and community to fully recover, leaders in Congress, including Senators Robert P. Casey, Jr. and Patrick J. Toomey must quickly pass universal childcare, adopt national paid leave for all, raise the minimum wage, make permanent enhancements to the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit, invest in caregiving options for people with disabilities and aging adults, and create a pathway to citizenship for immigrant workers who have been crucial in combating the pandemic.”
After you submit your own Letter to the Editor, please forward this email to friends—and also post the action link on Twitter and Facebook, including in any Facebook groups you are in. The more of us who send letters, the bigger the impact will be.
Thank you so much for continuing to take action and speak up for all families during this pandemic. Your actions are making a difference!
P.S. President Biden, Vice President Harris, and leaders in Congress passed the American Rescue Plan a few weeks ago and already millions of families are feeling the positive impact of this historical legislation. It included funding to safely reopen schools, vaccines, and childcare assistance; a continuation of unemployment benefits; student loan and eviction protections, and stimulus checks. We want to hear from YOU how your family is being boosted by this new law (or how you anticipate it helping your family in the future) or what needs your family is still struggling with. Click here and share your thoughts with MomsRising.
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