4.5+ Million People Call on Congress to Support Home Care for Seniors & People With Disabilities, Affordable Childcare, Paid Family & Medical Leave, Monthly Cash Payments for Families
October 8, 2021
Democrats, Republicans, and Independents in Every State Agree: We Cannot Build Back Better Without Investing in Care
Advocates, Grassroots Activists Show Solidarity With Progressive Democrats: No Infrastructure Vote Without Investments in Care
WASHINGTON, DC -- More than 4.5 million people from across the United States have signed petitions calling on Congress to support families by making investments in our nation’s social infrastructure by funding home care for seniors and people with disabilities, affordable child care , a historic paid family and medical leave program, and monthly cash payments for families.
As Congress gets closer to voting on the Build Back Better budget reconciliation package, care advocates representing dozens of organizations delivered the signatures earlier today. The advocates also expressed solidarity with progressive Democrats in Congress, who are refusing to vote on the bipartisan infrastructure package until Congress passes legislation that invests in the U.S.’ care economy.
Signifying widespread support for investments in the U.S. care economy, the collection of petitions are supported by a majority of voters across the political spectrum - Democrats, Republicans and Independents - in every state who agree that we cannot Build Back Better without these investments.
VIEW MORE PHOTOS OF THE PETITION DELIVERY HERE: https://dam.gettyimages.com/paid-assignments-full-takes/full-take-activists-deliver-millions-of-signatures
Among the petitions are collections of signatures from Main Street Alliance, Paid Leave for the U.S. (PL+US), MomsRising, Health Care Voices, Paid Leave for All, ParentsTogether Action, and SEIU.
Chanda Causer and Stephen Michael, Co-Executive Directors, Main Street Alliance: "Small businesses are demanding programs like paid leave and child care that will help ease the burden of high costs on working families and support entrepreneurs. It's past time to level this playing field. An investment in our overall care economy is an investment in small businesses, and our local community. It is important to move both pieces of infrastructure legislation together. One without the other will limit an equitable or sustainable recovery. Small businesses are watching closely to make sure any investments in our economy are truly investments in an equitable recovery and future.”
Molly Day, Executive Director of Paid Leave for the U.S. (PL+US): “All across the country working people are looking to Congress to seize the moment, pass the Build Back Better package, and deliver on the historic opportunity we have right now to ensure that everyone has access to paid family and medical leave and other key investments in our care economy. As the last 18 months of COVID have made painfully clear, our country’s caregiving infrastructure is fundamentally broken. As these millions of signatures underscore, voters aren’t going to take no for an answer. Now is the time for Members of Congress to fulfill their obligation to voters and pass the Build Back Better package.”
Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO of MomsRising: “Gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures from moms across the country hasn’t been difficult because moms are fired up and determined to convince lawmakers to invest in the care infrastructure America urgently needs. We must finally end the days when families can’t afford child care, working people lose their jobs when a baby comes or illness strikes, people with disabilities and the aging are forced into institutions because they can’t access in-home care, and tens of millions of children are raised in poverty. A robust care infrastructure will lift families, support businesses, boost our economy, make it possible for moms and parents to work, and create millions more good jobs. It will allow for a just recovery from the pandemic and make our country stronger. It’s time.”
Dawn Huckelbridge, Director of Paid Leave for All: “We are facing a once-in-a-generation opportunity right now — and also some of the greatest challenges of our lifetimes. There is no recovery from an ongoing crisis and there is no real rebuilding without real investments in care. Paid leave is a tool for public health, economic security and growth, and racial and gender equity. Paid leave is also one of the most widely supported policies in the country, in battlegrounds and beyond. And yet, we remain one of the only countries in the world without it. We know that passing care policies would yield millions of jobs, billions in wages, and trillions in GDP, and would be a profound legacy for this Administration and Congress. These are issues that unite the country, meet the moment, and will support every working family in America. These are the overdue policies that our country needs and the voters demand.”
Ai-jen Poo, Executive Director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance: “From voters across the political spectrum, to caregivers and economists, we all agree on one thing -- care investments are what we need to Build Back Better. And the people are making their voices heard once again by delivering petitions to congress that urge them to seize this opportunity to strengthen our economy and lift American families. For home care workers -- who earn just a little over $18,000 a year -- a robust investment in home and community-based services could mean not making critical choices between putting food on the table or paying basic bills—one in six live below the poverty line. And with our growing aging population, we’ll need a stronger care workforce than ever before. A full investment in HCBS will ensure care jobs are good jobs with good pay, support working family caregivers to get back to work, expand access to services for our elderly and people with disabilities, and lower costs for families. It not only makes sense, but it’s also the thing we need to make sure people aren’t making impossible decisions just to live.”
Stephanie Bonin, owner duo Restaurant Denver, CO and Change.org Petition Author: “I launched my petition after needing to close the doors of my restaurant, laying off my staff and not knowing what would come next. At the time I so clearly knew I was not alone in my fear and so I took action on behalf of my neighbors, my staff, any fellow American who were finding themselves in increasingly precarious financial situations. The need is still strong. We’re at nearly 3 million signatures, and the number continues to climb every day. We’ve heard from countless families across the country about how paying for child care, affording time off to care for loved ones, and making ends meet is a constant struggle. The Child Tax Credit is succeeding at delivering monthly checks to families, providing stability we can count on. It is these types of ongoing cash payments that 2.9 million of us are calling for, we must not move backward. The Build Back Better agenda has potential to bring stability to so many of us.
April Verrett, SEIU 2015 President: "Care work is the cornerstone of the American economy and is at the center of our communities across the country and throughout our family life. And it’s long past time we expand access to care for those who need it and reward the contributions of caregivers, especially women of color who have been carrying us through this COVID crisis and who have shown up and delivered change at the ballot box."
Natalie Foster, co-chair of the Economic Security Project: “We cannot pretend that the millions of voices calling for increased access to financial stability in these trying times have been at all unclear. We cannot pretend that we do not have the resources to directly and effectively enable more reliable access to food, housing, and basic care for millions of families and children. With the Build Back Better plan we have a proven policy roadmap that can chip away at the unconscionable inequality that predated the pandemic in America and has only been exacerbated by it. Look at the Child Tax Credit, a once in a generation anti-poverty policy that is proving to be as popular as it is effective. In its first three months, it has helped families fend off eviction, pay off debt, buy healthy foods and afford child care, allowing millions to plan for their kid’s future and take better care of one another. Congress can choose to give more Americans stability and peace of mind by voting to pass the entirety of this package, CTC, childcare and all.”
Laura Packard, founder of Health Care Voices: “We need Congress to vote for Build Back Better with all the care economy pieces intact: from providing seniors and people with disabilities with access to home care, to paid medical and family leave for families, and making health care more affordable for many more Americans for years to come. The bipartisan infrastructure bill is not enough. Roads and bridges need people too. Care can’t wait, and neither can we.”
Justin Ruben, co-Director of ParentsTogether: "Families across the country have struggled to get by for far too long, but right now we have a once in a generation chance to get them the support they need. We know that policies in the Build Back Better plan work -- after just a few months of the expanded Child Tax Credit, parents across the country are expressing gratitude and relief that Child Checks have allowed them to better stay on top of their bills, enroll their kids in extracurricular activities, and start saving for their children’s futures. And it isn't just good policy, but its wide popularity shows that it’s also good politics. It’s now up to Congress to listen to the families they represent and pass this historic investment in families.”
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