October 16, 2021
Dear Friends,
Our communities are facing a child care crisis; and it has lasting ramifications for our kids, families and economies.
Millions of parents are paying exorbitant prices for child care—costs that in some cases dwarf those of mortgage payments—even as teachers and child care workers are forced to leave their positions because they are not paid a living wage. These rising costs and staffing shortages leave parents few options and cause many to reduce work hours or leave the workforce entirely.
Fortunately, Democrats have taken strong action to tackle this crisis and provide the support our kids and communities need. This action includes the expanded Child Tax Credit advanced through our American Rescue Plan. The fourth payment for this monthly benefit was sent to millions of households and bank accounts beginning yesterday. Just in New York State, nearly 3.3 million kids qualified for this tax cut. Across the nation, it is helping families put food on the table, pay for internet and utility bills, afford school expenses and pay for child care.
I am thrilled to see the undeniable benefit of this program that is working to cut child poverty in the U.S. in half. We have made a historic step forward to build a better future for our kids. But our work is just starting.
At this moment, Democrats are pushing to advance the Build Back Better Act to unlock the full potential of parents in the workforce with historic investments in child care, universal pre-K, and paid leave—creating jobs, putting people back to work and growing our economy.
Earlier this week, I held a press conference with my friend and fellow NY delegate, Representative Hakeem Jeffries, to discuss our efforts to deliver relief to our kids and families. We were joined by local leaders, child care experts and advocates to speak to the needs of our communities and highlight the substantial benefits delivered to New York kids and families in our Build Back Better agenda.
This legislation would extend the Child Tax Credit beyond 2021 and go further to make critical investments in our human infrastructure. Among many vital investments, the Build Back Better Act:
- Ensures that families earning less than 75% of state median income pay nothing for child-care and that no one pays more than 7% of family income on child-care.
- Delivers child-care providers the resources they need to raise wages for child-care workers and hire more workers to meet the growing need.
- Guarantees access to high-quality and free preschool services for all three and four-year-old children on a voluntary basis.
It is difficult to overstate how important these new pillars of support would be for our nation’s future. That fact becomes even more clear with the knowledge that we invest less in early education and child-care than almost any other developed county.
Here in the richest nation in the world, there is simply no excuse for us to abandon any of America’s children.
I for one will not stop pushing in Congress for these much-needed reforms to build a brighter future for our families and kids. And I remain hopeful that Congress will rise to the occasion to bring these transformative investments to workers and families in New York and across the country.
As always, thank you for reading.
Your friend,
DID YOU KNOW?
Throughout this pandemic, my office and I have worked to make sure you remain informed with the latest local, state and federal updates and recommendations. With that in mind, here is some information that may be of interest to you:
- An estimated 70 million Americans will receive a 5.9% boost in Social Security benefits and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments in 2022.
- This cost-of-living adjustment, commonly called COLA, is the largest rise in decades and will help beneficiaries pay for groceries, gas and other goods that have seen a rise in inflation amidst the COVID pandemic.
- The Social Security Administration will be mailing notices about the COLA at the end of the year—during the month of December—to retirees, disability beneficiaries, SSI recipients and representative payees.
- You can learn more about this benefits by accessing you ‘my Social Security’ account at https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/.
- If you don’t have an account yet, you must create one by November 17, 2021, to receive the 2022 COLA notice online.
- Find out more information about the 2022 COLA HERE.