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Statement

Final FY22 Federal Budget Makes Progress, But Misses Opportunities to Support Moms and Families

March 11, 2022

Lisa Lederer, 202/371-1996

Statement of leaders of MomsRising, the online and on-the-ground organization of more than one million mothers and their families, on the FY22 federal budget Congress passed last night:

“America’s moms are pleased that the FY22 budget that Congress passed last night will help lower costs for working families, create jobs, support some of the moms and families whose economic security has been undermined by the pandemic, make health care more affordable, and improve maternal health. We welcome the modest funding increases for food and nutrition, housing, and other essential federal programs in this budget, which for the first time in many years prioritizes the needs of moms and families. By expanding child care and early learning programs to serve more working families, this budget will begin – but only begin – to address our lack of a care infrastructure, which is an urgent problem that is harming families and businesses and putting our economy at risk. We will continue pressing for funding for quality, affordable child care and pre-K for all families.” 

-Statement of Donna Norton, Executive Vice President, MomsRising

“The progress in the FY22 federal budget is not nearly enough. There are missed opportunities to pass the kind of national paid leave program our country urgently needs, extend the expanded Child Tax Credit to help families struggling to put food on the table and gas in their cars as prices skyrocket, lower the cost of prescription drugs, make the transformative investments our child care infrastructure needs, fund home- and community-based services, create a pathway to citizenship for immigrants, pass the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, and in other ways support moms, families and businesses and improve our economy. The failure to extend child nutrition waivers is a painful and unnecessary missed opportunity to stave off hunger for millions of children who may now go without the food they need; moms will do all we can to press Congress to extend these waivers before they expire in June. All these issues should be priorities for lawmakers in both parties because they are priorities for their constituents and we will continue working tirelessly to remind them of that.

“The unfinished business of building a care infrastructure – and an economy that works for all of us – could not be more pressing. Moms will continue to speak out and demand that the lawmakers we elect address the issues that shape our lives. This budget is only a start.”

-Statement of Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Executive Director and CEO, MomsRising

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MomsRising.org is an on-the-ground and online grassroots organization of more than a million people who are working to increase family economic security, decrease discrimination against women and moms, and to build a nation where businesses and families can thrive. Established in 2006, MomsRising and its members are organizing and speaking out to improve public policy and to change the national dialogue on issues that are critically important to America’s families, including criminal justice reform, immigration policy reform, and gun safety. MomsRising is working for paid family and medical leave, affordable, high quality childcare and early learning, and for an end to the wage and hiring discrimination which penalizes women — particularly moms and women of color — and so many others. MomsRising advocates for access to healthy food for all kids, health care for all, earned sick days, and breastfeeding rights so that all children can have a healthy start. MomsRising maintains a Spanish language website: MamásConPoder.org. Sign up online at www.MomsRising.org — and follow us on our blog, and on Twitter and Facebook.