CONTACT:
Jackie Smith | (989) 576-1996 | jsmith@poderlatinx.org

The Honorable Thomas O’Halleran
U.S. House of Representatives
318 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

August 23, 2021

Dear Congressman O’Halleran:

As community organizations signed below, 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 Arizona families burdened without access to paid family and medical leave and affordable child care. The high cost of housing, child care, health care, education, and other basic expenses is strangling working families. Arizona households pay more than 30% of their income on rent. Child care costs for a toddler in Arizona average $912 per month, even as quality child care is scarce and the median hourly wage for child care workers is only $11.50 per hour on average. Tens of thousands of Arizonans remain without health care coverage, during a pandemic that threatens the health of so many.

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 Arizonans who purchase coverage on their own. It will provide free community college and increase Pell Grants. 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,

Arizona AFL-CIO

Arizona Dream Act Coalition

Arizona Education Association (AEA)

Arizona Faith Network

Catch Fire Movement

Coconino County Democratic Party

Common Defense - Veterans

Corazón Arizona

CWA Arizona State Council

Fuerte Arts Movement

Indivisible Arizona

Living United for Change in Arizona

Mi Familia Vota

People First Economy

Poder Latinx

Progress Arizona

Progressive Democrats of America - Arizona

Rural Arizona Action

Sunrise Movement Flagstaff

UFCW Local 99

WHEAT (World Hunger Education, Advocacy & Training)