Pathways LA Statement on The Inflation Reduction Act

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 LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Tamika Farr, CEO of Pathways LA issued the following statement on The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022

Upon review of the Inflation Reduction Act, I support the transformative investment in environmental protection and healthcare measures that the latest reconciliation package outlines. The Inflation Reduction Act allocates nearly $400 billion in transformational climate change proposals that will help reduce carbon emissions by approximately 40% by 2030 and includes enhancements in healthcare subsidies to the most vulnerable in our community. By any measure, the Inflation Reduction Act represents the most ambitious action taken by the federal government to combat climate change and mitigates the exorbitant cost of healthcare access. I applaud the monumental impact that these measures aim to achieve.

However, I am disheartened that our federal leaders have neglected to support child care providers and the millions of young children for whom they care for. Over the past 18 months, Congress and President Biden have deliberated on several iterations of a reconciliation package that promised to address the fractured child care sector and aid the countless families on the brink of poverty. Although Congress passed a Child Tax Credit provision in the American Rescue Plan ACT (ARPA) - a measure that temporarily lifted millions of children out of poverty – child care was omitted in this legislation by a handful of Congressional votes. As a result, a path forward - to build on similar regulations to support families and early care educators who cannot keep up with rampant inflation and the high prices for basic necessities - was obstructed. Despite the shortcomings on Early Childhood Education (ECE) policies, I commend President Biden and the supporting members of Congress for their unwavering convictions to support legislation that will help tackle our nation's most intractable economic challenges and position the country to lead in critical global policy initiatives.

Put simply, the ECE field faces a precarious fate without proper investments to help mitigate a ruptured infrastructure caused by decades of flawed policy-making across all sectors of government. Providers are indispensable to our nation's economy at large and to the families they provide care for; therefore, it's time all our leaders recognized them by implementing substantive investments for the ECE sector. 

To this end, legislation akin to the ARPA bill is what the ECE sector and families across the country need. ARPA ensured that all children received adequate funds for day-to-day expenses and established child care stabilization grants. The Biden administration delivered key initiatives that benefited all American families and invested in the child care sector which is essential for a thriving U.S. economy. I'm hopeful the President will continue to prioritize these measures and ensure quality child care for all children and secure livable wages for all ECE workers.

I look forward to seeing subsequent proposals from Congress and the Biden Administration.

SOURCE Pathways LA