Happy Halloween Week! Know what's scarier than a bump in the night? Not speaking out about issues that matter to women and families! Please checkout our list of top 5 Actions from the past week below, which makes it easy to scroll and catch up. Please be sure to share this with family and friends too! Thank you. Here's the list => 

1. Let's Increase Funding for Child Care and Head Start This Year!

BACKGROUND: The struggle is real when it comes to finding high-quality, affordable care for our children. The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the major federal child care program, helps families with the cost of child care and supports states to improve the quality and supply of care. Families deserve enriching child care options that won’t break the bank and will work for them, and child care assistance is essential for helping families find and afford the high-quality care they need! SIGN NOW to urge  Congress to increase funding for Head Start and the Child Care Development Block Grant (CCDBG) in the FY 2020 budget!

2. Can You Drop Off a Letter to Your Local Regions or Citizens Bank Branch on November 14?

BACKGROUND: Sign on and we’ll email you everything you need to do a drop-off. It only takes a few minutes, it will make a big impact, and is urgently needed. Whether for storing sticky snacks, toy race cars, or holding our leaders accountable, moms know the power of the purse. Now let’s also use the power of our consumer voices to end bank financing of private prisons! There can be no business in abuse. Join us in urging Regions and Citizens Bank to stop financing private prisons!

3. Tell Senator McConnell: SHUT DOWN the Legislative Graveyard!

BACKGROUND: This year, Halloween is off-the-charts frightening because of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s LEGISLATIVE GRAVEYARD that is actively harming women, working families, the LGBTQ+ community, the immigrant community, and our democracy. Tell Senator Mitch McConnell to SHUT DOWN his legislative graveyard! Here is a snapshot of some of the many important bills that currently sit in U.S. Senator McConnell’s legislative graveyard:

• H.R. 1 - For the People Act would expand voting rights, limit partisan gerrymandering, strengthen ethics rules, and limit the influence of private donor money in politics.
• H.R. 5 - Equality Act would extend civil rights protections to LGBTQ+ people.
• H.R. 6 - American Dream and Promise Act would provide Dreamers and immigrants eligible for Temporary Protected Status and Deferred Enforced Departure with a pathway to citizenship and permanent protections from deportation.
• H.R. 7 - Paycheck Fairness Act would strengthen equal pay protections for women by expanding upon the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Fair Labor Standards Act.
• H.R. 582, Raise the Wage Act would raise the federal minimum wage in six steps to $15 per hour by 2024.
• H.R. 986, Protecting Americans with Preexisting Conditions Act would prohibit the Trump Administration from implementing guidance released in 2018 that weakens protections for pre-existing conditions.
• H.R. 1585, Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act would greatly improve our nation's response to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
• H.R. 2722, Securing America’s Federal Elections Act would close dangerous gaps in our election systems and brings our election security into the 21st century.

4. Write a Letter to the Editor to Support the Women’s Health Protection Act

BACKGROUND: Abortion care is health care, period. And most people who have abortions are already parents. Now more than ever—reproductive health care is under attack across the country. Send a Letter to the Editor to your local paper now and call on Congress to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act! We make it super easy with helpful tips and talking points.

5. Join Us! National Call-In Day to Support Working Family Tax Credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit!

Call your Senators today and again on Wednesday, November 6th using our hotline 1-888-678-9475

BACKGROUND: Right now, Congress is looking to add bipartisan tax legislation to the end-of-year budget package. It is imperative that any tax legislation helping businesses and the rich also help low-wage workers through expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC). The EITC and CTC help working families and individuals better provide for basic needs. These two tax credits together lifted 10.6 million people out of poverty in 2018, and helped millions more, demonstrating the power of federal programs to alleviate poverty and helping low-income families keep up with the increasing cost of living. Our message is simple: “Any tax package that passes this year must include improvements to the low-income tax credits: the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit.” Remember to call your Senators on November 6th using 1-888-678-9475.***We also will be holding a Twitterstorm from 12pm-2pmET using #ExpandTaxCredits, so make sure to check us out on Twitter and help us spread the word!

P.P.S. Did you get your sticker? By popular demand, we’re printing more of our “Mothers Raising Liberty & Justice” stickers that have energized MomsRising members around the nation. Contribute to MomsRising today to protect women and families — whatever you can afford — and we’ll send you this special “Mothers Raising Liberty & Justice” sticker.