Tell Congress Their Priorities Should Include Expanding Investments in Children and Families

From the Economic Policy Institute (http://www.epi.org/):

The American Rescue Plan, signed by President Biden in March, made substantial investments in children, youth, and families―cutting child poverty in half. But these investments only last one year. A coalition of partners has come together to tell Congress that, just because we are starting to see signs of economic recovery, now is not the time to pull back essential investments in our children.

At EPI we also understand that one of the best ways to support children is by making sure working families have the resources and tools to support themselves. This includes a good job with benefits, paid family and medical leave, sick leave, and access to affordable health care and quality childcare services.

Go to https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-congress-reduce-child-poverty-permanently/ to write your Members of Congress and tell them that their priorities this year should include expanding and continuing necessary investments in our children and families. Specific steps that Congress can take include:

• Make the increases in the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers without dependents permanent.
• Expand affordable, high-quality child care through vouchers and refundable tax credits.
• Provide universal preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, free community college, and more financial aid and supports to increase college completion.
• Increase access to nutritious food through expanded summer food EBT cards for children and greater availability of free school meals, as well as increased SNAP benefits and ending the ban on eligibility for formerly incarcerated people.
• Increase the supply of affordable housing and offer more rental subsidies for families with low incomes.
• Expand access to affordable health care, including early intervention, mental health and developmental disabilities services.
• Develop comprehensive paid family and medical leave and sick leave.

In addition to the above, we urge Congress to prioritize policies for raising worker’s wages and creating new quality well-paying jobs as essential steps to strengthening families’ economic security. For example, EPI research has shown that an EITC expansion is more effective at supporting low-income families when combined with a minimum wage increase than either policy is on its own. Recent EPI estimates found that raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour would also lift somewhere between 600,000 and 1.3 million children out of poverty. And the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would strengthen workers’ rights to form a union and negotiate with their employers for better wages and working conditions.

We are approaching over 25,000 letters sent to Members of Congress from our coalition and we need your help to put us over the top. Please click here to write to your representatives today and demand that, as they negotiate over their priorities for this year, they make permanent and expand investments in children, youth, and families.

Thank you for everything you do to help ensure our economy will work for everyone and that we provide economic security to working families.