The countdown has begun….again!

I know it seems like we are always up against a critical deadline, and that’s often the case – and this critical deadline is a really, really big one! Congress needs to take action to keep the government funded by November 17th….and they also MUST pass emergency child care and WIC funding at that time or millions of families, along with businesses and our economy, will be harmed. [1]

***SIGN OUR LETTER now calling on Congress to take action to protect our families and economy ASAP by passing a budget package that includes WIC and child care emergency funding.

Here’s what’s going on: Remember back in September when the Republican leaders in the House of Representatives almost shut down the entire United States government? (How can one forget!) Well the deadline they temporarily extended the government funding to will expire on November 17th. Right now key Congressional leaders are negotiating a deal that will not only keep the government funded but will hopefully also include emergency funding we desperately need to address the child care cliff and the funding shortfall for WIC. Without these 2 key provisions millions of families across the country could suffer.  

*The childcare situation: Critical child care stabilization funds that saved an already broken child care industry from total collapse during the pandemic expired in September, putting 3.2 million children at risk of losing access to child care, increasing costs for families and worsening the ongoing crisis of early educators being pushed out of the workforce, further exacerbating the lack of access to the care families need. [2] This is why Congress must prioritize providing at least $16 billion in emergency child care dollars in the November package to prevent the flood of child care centers closing down which is making it even more difficult for parents to work. .

*The WIC situation: WIC provides nutritional assistance, breastfeeding assistance, and formula to 7 million pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and young children. Unless immediate action by Congress is taken in November, WIC will experience a funding shortfall early next year which will lead to many women and children being waitlisted for the program and/or their benefits being cut. This hasn’t happened since the 1990s! So far both the House and Senate have failed to provide enough funding for WIC to protect eligible women and children who apply for WIC. [3]

There are other things in the mix too. Congress might try to attach a tax package that could include an expansion of the Child Tax Credit (good!!) and some Republican Members of Congress are attempting to misuse the negotiations process to make cruel, ineffective, and radical changes to our immigration and asylum system  (really bad!!). 

As you can see, really important things are happening on Capitol Hill in DC right now and we need your help making sure the priorities of moms, parents, children, families, and workers are included in this November funding package. **SIGN our letter now and then share our action page with all your friends and family! 

The letter to Congress that you will sign on to will state the following:

***Don’t forget to sign on to our letter NOW because we are sending it up to your U.S. Senators and Representative in the coming days before the November 17th deadline.

Thank you so much for all you are doing to raise your voice and protect our families! It’s so important right now that we continue to speak out.