Sabrina Donnellan of Girdwood, Alaska, sits with her 13-month-old son, Blakely, on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., and talks with Candace Winkler, director of development and strategy at ZERO TO THREE, in the eighth edition annual “ Strolling Thunder ,” a children and family issues advocacy event on April 30, 2024, hosted by the nonprofit organization ZERO TO THREE. (Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — Families gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to “make noise for the babies” they believe are being left behind by lawmakers who direct only a fraction of U.S. resources to young children.
Parents and children representing 50 states and the District of Columbia gathered for the eighth annual “Strolling Thunder.” Mothers and fathers pushing strollers adorned with state license plates gathered on the Capitol’s east lawn to pressure lawmakers to fund child care, establish national paid family leave and permanently expand the child tax credit.
Matthew Melmed, executive director of ZERO TO THREE, the organization behind the event, rallied parents to tell their representatives that the 11 million babies in the US “represent 3.4% of our population, but 100% of our future.” .
“You’re here with the pork producers, the insurance lobby and the pharmaceutical industry. Members of Congress typically don’t see real people and rarely see babies and toddlers, especially babies and toddlers who need diapers changed at their desks. And that’s what I encourage you to do if you need this to happen,” Melmed told the crowd.
The nonprofit ZERO TO THREE bases its advocacy on research findings on health and development in children up to age 3, years the group describes as “the most important for mental health and well-being throughout of life”.
Melmed praised top Democratic appropriators Sen. Patty Murray of Washington and Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut for achieving a $1 billion increase for child care and Head Start subsidies in this government’s funding bills. year.
DeLauro, who spoke to the crowd, said “families deserve better.”
“The cost of living has been rising year after year, and more and more Americans simply don’t make enough to live on, let alone raise a family,” the Connecticut lawmaker said, pledging to advocate for fully refundable child reinstatement. credit rate.
‘Diapers, child care, formula’
Candace Winkler, former Alaska resident and current leader of ZERO TO THREE, sat on the Capitol lawn alongside Sabrina Donnellan, who traveled from Girdwood, Alaska to D.C. with her 13-month-old son Blakely to advocate for lower costs child care and paid family leave.
Winkler, the organization’s director of development and strategy, said the group of families would split up in the halls of Congress on Tuesday to meet with their representatives on six key policy issues, including permanently expanding the child tax credit to pandemic levels.
“We have seen time and time again that families are using these resources for diapers, child care, formula and things that their babies and their families need. And it’s really critical to your success,” WInkler said.
The current child tax credit is $2,000 per year after tax liability, but the amount a parent can receive per child under age 17 in a refund check is capped at $1,600 in 2023. The credit gradually increases in 15% on every dollar after winnings of $2,500.
As the US recovered from the COVID-19 economic crisis, Congress passed a one year expansion of the tax credit to $3,000 per child under age 18 and $3,600 for children under age 6 – including for families earning $0 in income. Lawmakers refunded the entire amount and part of it was sent to families in monthly installments.
Defenders welcomed the search results which showed that the temporary change was a game-changer in lifting children out of poverty in the U.S.
A bipartisan current proposalwidely supported by U.S. House lawmakers to temporarily expand the child tax credit through 2025 — though not to pandemic levels — is currently stopped by U.S. Senate Republicans who liken aspects of the bill to a welfare program.
The proposal, approved by the House, would increase the refundable portion of the credit to $1,800 in 2023, $1,900 in 2024 and $2,000 in 2025. The legislation would also increase the phase-in rate to 15% per child simultaneously – in In other words, 30% for a family with two children, 45% for a family with three, and so on.
Child Care Credit Card Debt
Cruz Bueno, a mother from Rhode Island, shared her story of racking up credit card debt to enroll her 11-month-old daughter Rosie in daycare along with her 2-year-old sister Amalia.
“Putting Rosie in daycare means we have to put an end to our dream of buying a house,” said Bueno, an economist who lives in Warwick with her husband, Xhuljan Meta.
“One of the stipulations of our mortgage pre-approval was to keep our credit card balances low. Still, we remain hopeful that one day, in the not-so-distant future, we will be able to buy a house to raise our girls and pass on wealth to them,” she said.
When asked about the Strolling Thunder event on Tuesday morning’s regular House Republican show Press conference, House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana said, “There are a lot of ideas out there. What we defend, what our party defends, is support for families. We support babies and children, and there is an appropriate role to play in that.”
“The devil is always in the details of the legislation, so I don’t know exactly what they are proposing, but we are all looking at these paths. We want to support families. This is good public policy,” Johnson said. “In our opinion, the best way for the government to do this is to step back and allow local and state officials to handle their business at that local level.”
Rep. Elise Stefanik, chairwoman of the House Republican Conference, said the Republican Party is “proud to be a pro-family conference.”
“Many of our members have proposed innovative solutions – one of which is rural child care. In-home child care is an issue I have worked on with many of my colleagues on the Education and Workforce Committee,” said Stefanik of New York. “But the economy, the border, crime, these issues, these crises caused by Joe Biden, affect every family.”
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