{"id":117650,"date":"2021-07-03T19:22:03","date_gmt":"2021-07-03T19:22:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=117650"},"modified":"2021-07-03T19:22:03","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T19:22:03","slug":"elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sen. <\/span>Elizabeth Warren<\/span> (D-Mass.) on Wednesday put down a political marker, telling HuffPost that a major child care initiative must be a part of the large economic package Democrats hope to pass this year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Warren also endorsed the strategy of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who has said she won\u2019t sign off on a smaller, bipartisan bill limited to funding roads, bridges and similar projects until she knows for sure that the larger package with other initiatives, including child care, is on track to become law.<\/span><\/p>\n

Making quality, affordable child care available to all Americans is one of several goals that Democratic Party leaders have identified as a legislative priority and that President <\/span>Joe Biden<\/span> included in the two-part, wide-ranging <\/span>infrastructure<\/span> agenda he outlined earlier this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s an open question how much of the Democratic agenda can pass and when, given political circumstances. Warren, in an interview, said that child care must stay in the mix.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cChild care has to be in an infrastructure package,\u201d she said. Asked if that meant she would vote against a package that did not include it, Warren responded: \u201cIt\u2019s not possible to talk about infrastructure in the 21st century without including child care.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Because a major child care initiative is unlikely to attract Republican support, it would almost certainly have to pass on a party-line vote. In the Senate, that would require going through the \u201cbudget reconciliation\u201d process, in order to avoid a Republican filibuster, and then holding on to the votes of all 50 Democratic senators so Vice President Kamala Harris could break the tie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As Democratic leaders craft this legislation, they will be under pressure from their party\u2019s more conservative members to downsize some priorities and postpone others, if only to keep down the overall price.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Warren, a vocal and influential leader in the party\u2019s progressive wing, made clear on Wednesday that she is determined to push in the other direction \u2015 to seek whatever spending it takes to make good on party promises, with child care for all at the top of the list.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She also rejected the suggestion that child care doesn\u2019t belong alongside more traditional infrastructure proposals like tunnels and trains.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cChild care is about early childhood education,\u201d Warren said. \u201cIt\u2019s about making sure that mamas and daddies can go to work. And it\u2019s about creating good jobs for women, predominantly women of color.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Warren Says Pelosi Has \u2018The Right Approach\u2019<\/h3>\n

Democratic leaders now face a key strategic question about the precise packaging and sequencing of legislation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A group of moderate Republicans, working with some moderate Democrats and with Biden\u2019s support, have endorsed a smaller package limited to traditional, physical infrastructure. Democratic leaders, led by Pelosi, have said they are willing to support such legislation, but only in tandem with passing their other economic initiatives on a party-line vote.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLet me be really clear on this: We will not take up a bill in the House until the Senate passes the bipartisan bill and a reconciliation bill,\u201d Pelosi said last week.<\/p>\n

Biden, for his part, has sent mixed signals \u2015 initially threatening to veto a physical infrastructure bill if it was a stand-alone, without accompanying legislation on child care and other items on his agenda, but then taking back the explicit veto threat.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think Speaker Pelosi is right,\u201d Warren told HuffPost, adding later that Pelosi has \u201cthe right approach.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And although Warren allowed that \u201cthere are different ways that the voting might be ordered,\u201d she also said \u201cwe\u2019re not going to move roads and bridges forward and leave child care, clean energy and broadband back in the train station.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Child Care Policy Is Popular, But Expensive<\/h3>\n

In principle, action on child care is the kind of thing that Congress could pass easily, with bipartisan support.<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>pandemic<\/span> has <\/span>highlighted<\/span> how much working families depend on child care and how much they <\/span>struggle<\/span> to find it. The available <\/span>polling<\/span> suggests that most Americans, including most Republican voters, favor more government spending to make child care more available.<\/span><\/p>\n

And the U.S. government provides far less support for early childhood care and services than its counterparts in peer nations around the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the debate over child care inevitably leads to debates over the boundaries between public and private responsibility, not to mention gender roles. And a meaningful investment in child care would just as inevitably cost <\/span>a lot of money<\/span>, to the chagrin of conservatives who would prefer to see government spending go down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Biden<\/span>\u2019s proposal for early childhood programs, which includes subsidized child care and pre-kindergarten, envisions spending $450 billion over 10 years. Warren actually wants to spend even more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week, she joined Senate Finance Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and leaders of the Democratic Women\u2019s Caucus in an <\/span>open letter<\/span> calling for $700 billion in net new spending on early childhood programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

That amount is a lot closer to what most analysts think it would take to put quality child care within financial reach for all Americans. It\u2019s also closer to what Warren proposed when she was running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Like other Democrats in favor of such an ambitious plan, Warren has proposed to finance that new spending through taxes on the wealthy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c$700 billion is our best estimate of what it takes to provide child care for every baby that needs it, every mama or daddy who wants to use it, and to make sure that every child care worker is paid according to the skills and time they invest in caregiving,\u201d Warren said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Warren sounded optimistic that Democrats would agree on including child care provisions in the final deal. Asked if moderate Democrats in the Senate were on board, Warren responded with a simple \u201cyes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not saying anything to you that I haven\u2019t said over and over at lunch with all of my Democratic Senate colleagues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) has suggested he would prefer to limit a reconciliation package to about $2 trillion in cost \u2015 meaning Warren\u2019s proposal would eat up more than a third of it, leaving less room for other Democratic priorities like an expansion of the child tax credit and free community college.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked how big she hoped a package would be, Warren rejected the idea of a specific limit and noted she\u2019s proposed tax hikes on the wealthy and corporations that could raise $6 trillion.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe dollar cap should be based on the infrastructure we need,\u201d Warren said. \u201cIf someone comes up with an infrastructure plan that\u2019s wholly inadequate, that leaves whole parts of what our nation needs behind, then simply saying \u2018Oh, but we hit the cap,\u2019 it\u2019s not a success.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Even Child Care Advocates Disagree On Some Details<\/h3>\n

The debate over child care legislation also includes some disagreements among the Democrats most committed to the cause \u2015 in particular, over precisely how to design a program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>leading proposal<\/span> in Congress right now is the <\/span>Child Care for Working Families Act<\/span>, which would subsidize child care by modifying existing programs that provide money to the states. Its champion and lead sponsor in the Senate is Patty Murray (D-Wash.), who chairs the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.<\/span><\/p>\n

An array of advocacy groups that worked on that bill support it, as does Biden, who cited it as a model for legislation during the 2020 campaign. Warren has expressed some reservations, particularly over what amounts to a \u201c<\/span>work requirement<\/span>\u201d that would make assistance conditional on parents showing they are employed, looking for work or in school, or having some reason why they aren\u2019t able.<\/span><\/p>\n

Warren has objected to this, citing the administrative burdens it would create and the importance of recognizing child care as something that should be available regardless of parental circumstance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI believe it should be for all of our children in the same way that, in America, public education is available to every child,\u201d Warren said. \u201cNobody asks parents if they have jobs before they will enroll a 7-year-old in the second grade.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Notwithstanding those differences, Warren and legislative advocates like Murray largely agree on both the need for big action on child care and the importance of stressing quality, as well as affordability \u2015 in particular, by raising the pay and benefits for child care workers, in order to attract and retain a more qualified workforce.<\/span><\/p>\n

But that too costs money, which is why passing even a modest child care proposal, let alone a comprehensive one, will require a big push from advocates in Congress and the White House.<\/span><\/p>\n

RELATED…<\/h3>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday put down a political marker, telling HuffPost that a major child care initiative must be a part of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nElizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass - Fin2me<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass - Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday put down a political marker, telling HuffPost that a major child care initiative must be a part of the [...]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fin2me\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-07-03T19:22:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/ZtJtRQiQIspviGDStRJA.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"591\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"394\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mark\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/\",\"name\":\"Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass - Fin2me\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-07-03T19:22:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-07-03T19:22:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Politics\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/category\/politics\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/\",\"name\":\"Fin2me\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a\",\"name\":\"Mark\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Mark\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass - Fin2me","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass - Fin2me","og_description":"Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) on Wednesday put down a political marker, telling HuffPost that a major child care initiative must be a part of the [...]","og_url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/","og_site_name":"Fin2me","article_published_time":"2021-07-03T19:22:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":591,"height":394,"url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/ZtJtRQiQIspviGDStRJA.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Mark","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Mark","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/","url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/","name":"Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass - Fin2me","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-07-03T19:22:03+00:00","dateModified":"2021-07-03T19:22:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/politics\/elizabeth-warren-says-child-care-is-a-must-pass\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Politics","item":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/category\/politics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Elizabeth Warren Says Child Care Is A Must-Pass"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/","name":"Fin2me","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/ad0e9920e03d3b41c7ad02a18375d76a","name":"Mark","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/39b72719fb75a2d3c7d7695026648602?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Mark"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117650"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=117650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117650\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=117650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=117650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=117650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}