Democratic Women’s Caucus Statement on the Build Back Better Act
January 24, 2022
CONTACT: Michelle Moreno-Silva
Washington, D.C. – Today, Democratic Women’s Caucus (DWC) Co-Chairs Congresswomen Jackie Speier (CA-14), Lois Frankel (FL-21), and Brenda Lawrence (MI-14), and Vice Chairs Congresswomen Veronica Escobar (TX-16) and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), and Freshman Representative Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-53) issued the following statement on the Build Back Better Act.
“Last week marked the anniversary of the first Women’s March on Washington, an important moment to celebrate and also recognize what’s at stake for women across this country. The President and Vice President have achieved a record first year in office for job creation, reducing child poverty, expanding access to health care, and importantly, putting forward their historic Build Back Better Agenda with unprecedented and long overdue investments in the care economy to support families and women in the workforce. The spectacular success of the bipartisan infrastructure agreement must not be overlooked, but the fact remains that it will create jobs historically filled by men. The Build Back Better Act is a jobs bill for women. As we honor the call for equality and respect heard around the world since that first Women’s March in 2017, we must not allow the progress that we’ve made on the Build Back Better Act to end,” said the Members. “Women across the country are continuing to struggle because our investments in child care and universal pre-K, paid family and medical leave, home and community-based care are woefully inadequate and we’re struggling to address critical maternal health disparities. Just last month, the child care sector lost 3,700 jobs. With the expiration of the monthly expanded Child Tax Credit payments, millions of families could soon fall back into financial strain. As we enter the third year of the pandemic, we cannot neglect the women who have been hit the hardest by this pandemic, yet continue to work to keep the country united as teachers, doctors and nurses, essential workers, caregivers, and mothers. We will continue advocating and pushing for meaningful investments in the care economy throughout this process so that all working women and their families have the opportunity to succeed.”
The House-passed Build Back Better Act included:
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Universal pre-k for all 3- and 4-year olds;
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Historic investments in expanding access to affordable, quality child care so that families making up to 250% of their state median income pay no more than 7% of their family income towards child care – this will extend assistance to nearly all families of 4 making under $300,000 and make child care free for families making under 75% of their state median income;
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Raising wages for the child care and early education workforce so they make a livable wage in line with elementary educators with similar credentials and experience;
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$150 billion to expand access to quality home-based services and care for millions of older adults and people with disabilities – increased funds for home-based services will also strengthen the direct care workforce by improving provider payment rates and giving states the resources to improve their care infrastructure;
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Permanent authorization for the first-ever, universal, comprehensive paid leave benefit for all U.S. workers by offering 4 weeks of annual paid family and medical leave for new parents, workers dealing with their own serious medical conditions, and workers who need leave to care for a loved one with a serious medical issue;
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Making the refundability of the Child Tax Credit permanent, ensuring that Americans who are most in need can benefit from the credit in the same way that all other families do, and extends for another year the expanded Child Tax Credit so that eligible families receive a total of $3,000 per child under 18 or $3,600 per child under six;
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All provisions from the Black Maternal Health Momnibus eligible for reconciliation, which is critical for addressing the tragic reality that the United States ranks as the worst place in the developed world on maternal mortality, and Black women are 2.5 times more likely than White women to die due to complications resulting from childbirth.
Also accomplished during the Biden-Harris Administration’s first year to advance gender equity:
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Gender Policy Council: President Biden created the Gender Policy Council to advance gender equity and equality both at home and abroad and issued the first-ever National Strategy for Gender Equity and Equality.
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Advanced Safety from Violence: The American Rescue Plan directed $1 billion in supplemental funding for domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and services. This includes $49.5 million for culturally-specific community-based organizations that help survivors from marginalized communities access the services and support they need.
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Enacted Sexual Assault Reforms in the Military: The National Defense Authorization Act included sweeping reforms to the military justice system – the most significant since the Uniform Code of Military Justice was established more than seventy years ago. This bipartisan, historic law adopts core recommendations of the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault, as called for by President Biden. These reforms will fundamentally alter how the military prosecutes and investigates sexual assault, domestic violence, sexual harassment, and other serious crimes.
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Expanded Access to Health Care: The Administration has taken critical steps to ensure access to comprehensive health care, including reproductive health care, for all women and girls. The President issued a Presidential Memorandum to protect and expand access to comprehensive reproductive health care and to revoke the Mexico City policy (“global gag” rule) that prohibits federal funding for organizations providing abortion counseling or referrals. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a final rule to strengthen the Title X family planning program to ensure that low-income people can access family planning and other preventive health care. The Biden-Harris Administration has also taken steps to eliminate racial disparities in maternal health including efforts to reduce complications and mortality in the year following birth. And, the President’s FY 22 budget removes the Hyde Amendment restriction from government spending bills, reflecting the President’s support for expanding access to reproductive health care, through Medicaid and other federally-funded programs.
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Advancing Gender Equality Around the World: The Biden-Harris Administration is stepping forward to advance human rights, democracy and the rights of women and girls around the world. At the United Nations' Generation Equality Forum, the Administration announced bold commitments to advance women's economic security, gender-based violence prevention and response, and sexual and reproductive health and rights at home and abroad, including a new Gender Equity and Equality Action Fund focused on women’s economic security.
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