CONTACT:
Jackie Smith | (989) 576-1996 | jsmith@poderlatinx.org
The Honorable Carolyn Bourdeaux
U.S. House of Representatives
1319 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
August 20, 2021
Dear Congresswoman Bourdeaux,
As Georgia based labor and community organizations signed below, representing many of your
constituents, we write to urge your support for the FY 2022 Budget Resolution the House will
vote on next week.
The Budget Resolution will pave the way for Congress to provide critical support for Georgia
families burdened without access to paid family and medical leave or affordable child care. The
high cost of housing, child care, health care, education, and other basic expenses is strangling
working families. Georgia households pay more than 30% of their income on rent. Child care
costs for a toddler in Georgia average $7644 per year, even as quality child care is scarce and
the median hourly wage for child care workers is only $10.72 per hour. Tens of thousands of
Georgians remain without health care coverage during a pandemic that threatens the health of
so many.
We are troubled by the August 12th letter you signed threatening to block the FY 2022 Budget
Resolution that will be an historic investment in working families. While we appreciate your
support for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), that bill is insufficient on its own.
We expect you to show the same urgency in passing the Budget Resolution and related Budget
Reconciliation bill.
The Senate-passed IIJA would provide important funding for transportation, water, broadband,
and power infrastructure. However, this is only a fraction of what our communities need. The
IIJA must move in tandem with a bold Budget Reconciliation bill. In order for that to happen, the
House must first pass the Budget Resolution approved by the Senate.
The Reconciliation Bill will be a game changer for our communities. It will ensure families pay no
more than 7% of their income on child care while boosting wages for child care workers. It
would create the first ever national paid family and medical leave program. It will lower
prescription drug prices for everyone, and health insurance premiums for millions of Georgians
who purchase coverage on their own. It will provide free community college and increase Pell
Grants. It will ensure real progress on climate change and will give our immigrant neighbors the
protections they need. And it will continue the historic reduction in poverty under the American
Rescue Plan by extending the enhanced Child Tax Credit and Earned Income Tax Credit.
The families we represent literally cannot afford for you to block or pare back these critical
priorities. We need you to vote for the Budget Resolution. And then we need you to push for
passage of both the IIJA and Reconciliation Bills as soon as possible when Congress returns
from its August recess.
Sincerely,
9to5, National Association of Working Women- Georgia Chapter
A Better Balance Southern Office
Access Reproductive Care-Southeast
AFSC Atlanta Economic Justice Program
Amplify Georgia
Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council
Asian American Advocacy Fund
Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)
CAIR-GA
Coalition for the People’s Agenda
Common Cause
Faith in Public Life
Feminist Women's Health Center
GEEARS: Georgia Early Education Alliance for Ready Students
Georgia Alliance for Social Justice
Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials (GALEO)
Georgia Budget and Policy Institute
Georgia Conservation Voters
Georgia Stand-Up
Georgia WAND
Georgians for a Healthy Future
GS Action
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition of Georgia
Indivisible Georgia Coalition
League of Women Voters of Georgia
National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum - GA Chapter
National Domestic Workers Alliance
New Georgia Project Action Fund
Poder Latinx
Represent GA Action Network Inc
Showing Up for Racial Justice Atlanta
SisterSong
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Action Fund
Step Up Savannah
URGE: Unite for Reproductive & Gender Equity
Women Watch Afrika
YWCA of Greater Atlanta