This week, I will be returning to Washington, DC to continue our work for the American people, and look forward to supporting the rule for the FY22 budget resolution and the resolution itself which contains instructions for the budget reconciliation process. This is an important step and will allow Congress to start drafting bill language for the budget reconciliation package and will provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enact critical policies for our nation and millions of Americans.
As a co-chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC) Immigration Executive Orders and Budget Reconciliation Sub-Task Force, I have worked with my colleagues to ensure that immigration remains at the forefront of priorities since the start of budget considerations, and the budget resolution outline contains many of our priorities, including transformative investments in the health, well-being, and financial security of America’s workers and families.
More than 11 million immigrants, including hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, have waited in limbo while facing numerous obstacles along the path to legal status and citizenship. This is our moment to deliver, and our nation cannot afford to miss this opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to ensuring the American dream remains viable and accessible to all.
Immigrants are essential to our economic recovery and to the livelihood of our nation. Providing a pathway to citizenship for the millions of Dreamers, TPS holders, farmworkers, and essential workers will be monumental for our economic recovery and is clearly pertinent to the budget reconciliation process. Including a pathway to citizenship could advance our economic recovery from the pandemic, reduce our national deficit, raise wages, add a cumulative $1.5 trillion to U.S. GDP over a decade, and create more than 400,000 new jobs.
In addition to immigration, the budget resolution outline continues many other provisions to tackle numerous challenges that American families continue to face amid recovery from the pandemic. Priorities that include:
Tax Cuts for Families and Workers: The expansion of the Biden Child Tax Credit (CTC) enacted in the American Rescue Plan has already benefitted nearly 66 million children and is expected to help cut child poverty by more than half. This budget resolution will not only extend this meaningful tax cut, but it will also extend the expanded Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the expanded Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, helping families make ends meet and provide a better future for America’s children.
Child Care: Our nation is strongest when everyone can join the workforce and contribute to the economy. However, many Americans – especially poor working class and communities of color – are often forced to choose between working to support their families or being caregivers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Providing access to safe, reliable, and high-quality childcare will help ensure more women can return to the workforce and help our economic recovery.
Environmental Justice: This past weekend, Tropical Storm Henri poured a record amount of rain on New York City and some parts of our city recorded the largest amount of rain since record keeping first began. Climate change affects each of us and its impact ranges from the wildfires, record flooding, and heatwaves we see across the country. Climate change effects are being felt the hardest in under-resourced communities and communities of color. Taking strong action to combat climate change will help address environmental injustices and disparities. The budget resolution is key to building an equitable clean energy economy with historic investments that drive economic opportunities, environmental conservation, and climate resilience – especially in underserved and disadvantaged communities – including through a new Civilian Climate Corps.
I look forward to returning to Washington this week and voting on passage of the rule for the FY22 budget resolution and the resolution itself to help ensure we have an equitable recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic that will help working families, children, and communities of color in New York’s 13th congressional district and across the nation.
This was an Op-Ed by Rep. Adriano Espaillat
Originally published in Patch.com 08/23/21
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