Sunday, July 3, 2022
North-JerseyNews.com
  • Home
  • Washington
  • Trenton
  • County
  • Court
  • Roundup
  • Opinion
  • Search
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Washington
  • Trenton
  • County
  • Court
  • Roundup
  • Opinion
  • Search
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
North-JerseyNews.com
No Result
View All Result
Home County

Rep. Sherrill Pushes to Include Childcare Provisions in $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill

Congresswoman high childcare cost ‘a big problem for our economy’

Liz Grover by Liz Grover
September 24, 2021
in County
0 0
1
North-JerseyNews.com
0
SHARES
141
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Rep. Mikie Sherrill is urging U.S. House Democratic leaders to ensure that expanded child care provisions are included in the final $3.5 trillion spending bill that moves through Congress.

Sherrill, a Democrat who represents New Jersey’s 11th district, wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) Sept. 21 highlighting working women’s struggle to pay child care costs and advocating for bill language aimed at ensuring no family or individual pays more than 7% of their income for child care.

The Democratic spending bill in question seeks to tackle a wide range of priorities outlined by President Biden in areas that include the economy, social welfare, the environment, education, and foreign policy.

Sherrill’s letter to congressional Democratic leaders comes on the heels of House Democratic leaders signaling that they may scale back the House bill’s $3.5 trillion price tag. Democrats in both chambers are struggling to keep their own caucuses together, given the very narrow margins by which they control both the House and Senate, widespread Republican opposition to the bill, and the sometimes divergent priorities of Democratic moderates and progressives.

Childcare Cost Keeping Millions Out of Work

Additionally, the legislation suffered a blow on Sept. 19 when the Senate’s parliamentarian ruled out the inclusion of immigration provisions that would have provided a path to U.S. citizenship to millions of undocumented immigrants.

“Millions of Americans, particularly women, are continuing to leave the workforce, hesitating to form small businesses, and forgoing promotions because child care is unaffordable for most families,” Sherrill wrote in the letter, which she co-authored with Reps. Katie Porter (D-CA), Mondaire Jones (D-NY), and Jahana Hayes (D-CT). A total of 102 House lawmakers signed the letter.

“Our entire economy continues to suffer as a result. Businesses cannot effectively recruit because child care accounts for nearly all of an entry-level employee’s pay. Women have stagnated in achieving leadership positions, and women’s workforce participation is at a 30-year low. Jobs during non-traditional hours are dominated by men. These realities are a big problem for our economy,” the letter continued.


Thank you for relying on North-JerseyNews.com to provide you the stories from Washington and Trenton that affect us. Please consider supporting North-JerseyNews.com with a voluntary donation.


Earlier this month, Sherrill and Porter led more than 100 colleagues in drafting another letter to Pelosi and House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA) seeking to ensure a place for child care provisions in the spending bill as Scott’s committee prepared to mark up bill provisions in its jurisdiction.

7% Language Is Key, Letter Says

In their Sept. 21 letter to Pelosi and Schumer, Sherrill and the others sought to preserve “the necessary investment in child care” provisions that Scott’s committee approved.

“Specifically, the Committee’s vote to ensure that no family pays more than 7 percent of its household income on care for young children recognizes the economic benefits of protecting our economy from the financial instability and workforce reduction caused by unaffordable child care. We urge you to preserve this provision in the final passage of this bill,” Sherrill and the others wrote.

‘Universally Affordable’

Additionally, Sherrill and the other lawmakers urged Pelosi and Schumer to avoid bill language that would limit child care assistance solely to low-income families, and to instead “create a universally affordable child care program.”

Sherrill and her colleagues wrote: “we must give every American access to child care by maintaining the provision to cap out-of-pocket child care costs as a percentage of income. Abruptly cutting off eligibility at specific income levels fails to recognize that the costs of child care disrupt the financial security of nearly all parents with young children, particularly single mothers who need more care, people living in states with high costs of child care, and people with more than one young child. It is important to underscore that more families will be served by the current 7 percent formula, as passed by the House Committee on Education and Labor.”

The average American family spends nearly $10,000 a year per child on child care, they wrote. Additionally, in more than half of states they said child care tuition can exceed the cost of in-state college tuition.

“To make matters worse, about half of all parents planning to enroll their children in child care say they are planning to accumulate credit card debt to pay for the expense. This is unacceptable. No parent should go into debt to provide quality care for their child while working a full-time job,” they wrote.

Education and Labor Provisions Include Universal Pre-K

According to a Sept. 10 fact sheet on the House Education and Labor Committee’s approved provisions in the bill, the measure included provisions ensuring that “the vast majority of families would not pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.

The measure also would provide for “universal pre-K” for three and four year olds. Additionally, the measure includes provisions to raise wages for child care workers.

Overall, the fact sheet from committee Democrats said provisions to reduce the cost of child care and provide for universal pre-K carried a total price tag of $450 billion.

Sherrill, a mother of four and a member of the Education and Labor Committee, has urged inclusion of universal pre-K provisions in the measure as well.

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Tags: $3.5 trillion budget bill11th Congressional Districtaffordable child careBreaking News New JerseyBreaking News NJbudget reconciliationBuild Back BetterChild careEconomyHouse Education and Labor CommitteeHouse Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott (D-VA)House Speaker Nancy PelosiLive News New JerseyPresident BidenRep. Jahana HayesRep. Katie PorterRep. Mikie SherrillRep. Mondaire JonesSenate Majority Leader Chuck SchumerU.S. Congressuniversal pre-KWomen in the Workforce
Previous Post

OPINION: Progressive Democrats On Verge of Destroying Biden Presidency 

Next Post

North-JerseyNews.com Roundup for Sept. 24, 2021

Next Post
North-JerseyNews.com

North-JerseyNews.com Roundup for Sept. 24, 2021

Comments 1

  1. Pingback: Rep. Sherrill Pushes to Include Childcare Provisions in $3.5 Trillion Spending Bill | North-JerseyNews.com - PostX News

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Join 10,000+ other subscribers

Select list(s) to subscribe to

support-Local

Recent Post

North-JerseyNews.com

Latest North Jersey COVID-19 Update

by North-JerseyNews.com
July 1, 2022
0

North-JerseyNews.com

Murphy Signs Bill Approving Liberty State Park Design Task Force

by Nathan Resso
July 1, 2022
1

North-JerseyNews.com

North-JerseyNews.com Roundup for July 1, 2022

by North-JerseyNews.com
July 1, 2022
0

Popular

North-JerseyNews.com

Latest North Jersey COVID-19 Update

by North-JerseyNews.com
2022/07/01
0

North-JerseyNews.com

Murphy Signs Bill Approving Liberty State Park Design Task Force

by Nathan Resso
2022/07/01
1

North-JerseyNews.com

North-JerseyNews.com Roundup for July 1, 2022

by North-JerseyNews.com
2022/07/01
0

Subscribe now

Join 100,000+ other subscribers

Select list(s) to subscribe to

ss-tp
2107.JG.FightForJersey

North-JerseyNews.com

When it comes to breaking news North Jersey, North Jersey local news or live news North Jersey, We all look for a reliable source that can give us authentic North Jersey news or local Jersey news.

© Copyright 2021 North-JerseyNews.com

Design and Developed By MOZWEBMEDIA

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Washington
  • Trenton
  • County
  • Court
  • Roundup
  • Opinion
  • Search
  • Donation

© Copyright 2021 North-JerseyNews.com
Design and Developed By MOZWEBMEDIA

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Finance-Currency-Financial-World-Dollar-Funds-634901

Add Your Heading Text Here

Pop-up Design 1 (1)

%d bloggers like this: