Editor’s note: The following story was published by Florida Public News Service on Monday, Nov. 15. Cross-posted with permission. Advocates Call Build Back Better Essential For Environmental Justice ORLANDO, Fla. – Advocates are calling on Florida’s leaders to keep the momentum going after the U.N. Climate Change Summit by thinking…
Archives: Voices
Build Back Better Would Help Buoy HI Families, Advocates Say
Editor’s note: The following story was published by Soundbite Services on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Cross-posted with permission. Build Back Better Would Help Buoy HI Families, Advocates Say HONOLULU – The U.S. House could take up a vote on the $1.75 trillion Build Back Better plan as early as this week. In…
What ‘Build Back Better’ Could Mean for N.J. Families
Editor’s note: The following story was published by Soundbite Services on Monday, Nov. 15. Cross-posted with permission. What ‘Build Back Better’ Could Mean for N.J. Families TRENTON, N.J. – The U.S. House of Representatives intends to vote on the “Build Back Better” plan this week, says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The…
CHN’s Podcast Episode 7: Demystifying Lobbying: How You Can Lobby for Social and Economic Justice
Big Money and corporate lobbyists shouldn’t be the only ones influencing elected officials. Grassroots advocates can leverage their power as constituents to lend their voice, lobby elected officials, and fight to Build Back Better! Anyone can, and should, lobby for social and economic justice. We invite you to join us!
2021 saw a historic increase in the share of federal dollars that went to children. Build Back Better could bring even more good news.
The share of federal dollars spent on children declined precipitously from 2016 to 2020 – reaching a historic low of 7.6 percent in 2020. And then the pandemic settled in. In 2021, fueled by COVID-19 relief efforts such as stimulus checks, a significant Child Tax Credit expansion, increased nutrition assistance, and more funding for early education and child care, the share of federal spending on children rose to 11.2 percent – a whopping 3.5 percentage point increase over 2020. It was the largest one-year increase ever recorded.
Next Week’s Podcast: How Anyone Can Take Action In Lobbying for Build Back Better
Stay tuned for next week’s podcast demystifying how to lobby for Build Back Better and ways to take action right now!
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship November 5, 2021
The Build Back Better, Please! edition. Covid-19 laid bare a host of vulnerabilities that have been holding our nation back for a long time. We saw shocking disparities in sickness and death by race and ethnicity. We saw billionaires pile up more than $2.1 trillion in new wealth during the pandemic, while unemployment and hardship spiked for millions of Americans – again, disproportionately Black, brown, Indigenous, poor. Our institutions are far more fragile than we thought. Amid lockdowns, schools did not serve the poorest children adequately. Health facilities were overburdened. Too many of our aging lost their lives in nursing homes; there was not enough home care for those who wanted to live in the community.
CHN letter to All U.S. House Members Urging Passage of Build Back Better and Infrastructure Proposals
The Coalition on Human Needs this week delivered a letter to every member of the U.S. House urging them to vote YES on the Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376) and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684). “Our nation needs these investments in our future,” the letter states. “You have the historic opportunity to redress our vulnerabilities by voting for Build Back Better and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.”
Parents speak: How the expanded Child Tax Credit makes their lives easier
ParentsTogether Action, a family advocacy organization which represents 2.5 million parents across the U.S., is collecting stories from moms across the country about how the new, expanded Child Tax Credit has made their lives easier. The group is turning these stories into professionally produced videos. Here are six snippets.
CHN’s Podcast Episode 6: Undocumented and Unafraid: Student Advocates Speak Out for Immigration Reform
With many students in school this fall amidst the ongoing stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic, many students and their families are also burdened with additional anxieties and stresses associated with being undocumented. These additional challenges could include not having the proper documentation for certain opportunities such as federal student aid, living with the fear of deportation, or dealing with anti-immigrant rhetoric often circulated in political discourse.
President Biden’s Historic Build Back Better Framework Will Help Millions of Americans
The nation needs to Build Back Better. President Biden has recognized the urgent need to invest in our future, to lift millions of children and their families out of poverty, extend health care to millions who now cannot afford it, protect the aging and people with disabilities through expanded home care, expand education at all levels, protect against climate disaster, and provide affordable rental housing to hundreds of thousands of households. The Build Back Better framework announced today makes historic investments in all these areas.
CHN’s latest Human Needs Report: Build Back Better update, FY22 spending bills, and voting rights legislation
CHN just released another edition of the Human Needs Report. Read on for the latest on negotiations surrounding the Build Back Better Act, what’s in the recently-released Senate FY22 spending bills, and a blocked effort to protect voting rights.