Efforts continue in the U.S. Congress to pass legislation that would assist working families with child- and elder-care costs, reduce health-care costs, housing, and education costs, and invest in union apprenticeships, rural communities, and union-built clean-energy projects including wind-turbine installation.
According to a statement by our parent organization, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, “the Build Back Better Agenda will ease the burden of high costs on working families, create good-paying, union jobs, and grow our economy, ensuring that all the wealth that is built in the country doesn’t go only to the wealthiest.”
Details about some of the initiatives the legislation would fund are below. You can read more here and see fact sheets about funding for projects and programs in each state here.
If you would like to send a letter to your representatives in Congress asking them to support Build Back Better legislation, you can do that in less than two minutes here.
Build Back Better legislation would:
- Invest in Registered Apprenticeships provided by unions;
- Provide free preschool for all 3- and 4-year-olds;
- Reduce prescription-drug costs;
- Save most American families more than half their spending on child care;
- Reduce health-care premiums for 9 million Americans;
- Provide affordable, high-quality home care for older citizens and people with disabilities;
- For families with children, offer $300 per month per child in tax cuts;
- Invest in rural American through the new Rural Partnership Program, which would provide flexible funding for locally led projects;
- Expand Medicare to cover hearing benefits, including hearing-aid devices;
- Ensure clean-energy technology, including wind turbines and solar panels, are built in the Unites States with American-made steel and other materials;
- Make housing more affordable for many families and individuals; and
- Increase higher-education grants for students attending public and on-profit community colleges and four-year institutions;