Freedom to Care for Ourselves and Our Families

Catholic teaching promotes the dignity of work, the rights of workers, and an inclusive economy that places people over profit and ensures that we all have what we need to thrive.

Our Values

Catholic teaching promotes the dignity of work and the rights of all workers, whether Black, Brown, or white. Together, we will create an inclusive economy that places people over profit and ensures that we all have what we need to thrive.

THE CURRENT REALITY

The U.S. is the richest nation in the world, but our nation's wealth and resources are concentrated in the hands of a shockingly small group of wealthy people. We know that good policy can ensure that all of us have what we need to thrive.

  • In 2022, 11.5% of people in the U.S. lived in poverty, including one in eight women and one in six children.

  • With no nationally guaranteed paid leave, 87% of workers can't take off time to care for a sick child. More than 60% of workers have no paid medical leave, having to choose between pay and time to heal.

  • Wealthy corporations and their supporters in Congress have blocked efforts to provide paid leave and childcare support, and COVID-era grants for childcare supports have expired. Meanwhile, childcare costs have soared by over 200% in the last three decades.

  • Wealthy corporations and their protectors in Congress don't want to pay workers a living wage, so they block efforts that would raise the minimum wage and protect workers' freedom to join unions.

    • As a result, the federal minimum wage, which still applies in 20 states, has been $7.25/hour since 2009.

    • A third of our workforce (44 million workers) makes less than $17/hour, including 41% of working Black women and nearly 50% of working Latina women.

  • Millions of people in the U.S.-Black, Brown, and white-have been saddled with staggering student loan debt. This is a barrier to economic stability for entire generations, and for our nation as a whole.

  • Millions of us face housing insecurity that threatens us with eviction and homelessness. In 2021, nearly half of all renters and 23% of all homeowners spent more than a third of their income on housing.

    • Housing insecurity falls hardest on Black, Brown, and Indigenous people and families, because of decades of housing discrimination and redlining, as well as LGBTQ+ youth, the elderly, and survivors of domestic violence.

  • U.S. income inequality is the highest of all G7 countries, with the top 10% of households holding nearly 70% of total household wealth and the bottom 50% holding just 2.5%. The wealthiest 1% alone owns one-third of our nation's wealth!

  • The Trump administration used the tax system to grow the pockets of the wealthy and corporate executives, at the expense of the rest of us, with a 2017 bill that gave handouts to big business, adjusted tax rates to reward the richest taxpayers and wealthy investors, and increased the federal deficit by $2.7 trillion.

Will you vote for candidates who…

Will reduce costs for families, including via a robust Child Tax Credit, paid leave, and funding for childcare?

Goal #1: Reduce costs for families with a robust Child Tax Credit, paid leave, and funding for childcare.

WINS:

  • Child Tax Credit: With the Biden-Harris administration-led American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), Congress passed a one-year, fully refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC), extended to all low-income families and benefitting nearly 60 million children.
    • The CTC reduced child poverty by nearly half in 2021, to the lowest rate in our nation's history! 
    • Good legislation to restore the extended CTC benefits passed the House, but failed to pass the Senate due to GOP resistance-keeping the families of 19 million children, especially Black, Brown, and rural children, from benefitting from the credit. 
  • Paid Leave: The American Rescue Plan Act also provided temporary paid leave and increased childcare tax credits, increasing hard-working parents' time and ability to care for their children.
  • Child Care: After Congress balked at the Biden-Harris administration's proposed $225 billion in childcare assistance to working families and $200 billion for universal preschool, the Administration has made some progress with executive actions that will include:
    • Improved child care programs and financial assistance for military families, federal employees, and low-income families.
    • Supports in the block grant program to increase salaries for childcare providers.

VISION:

  • Together, we will support families in accessing food, housing, education, and more by:
    • Passing a permanent, universal, fully refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC) to end child poverty and allow hardworking families to take care of their kids.
    • Permanently expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to ensure its availability to all low-wage workers, including young adults, workers over age 65, and workers without children.
  • Together, we will ensure time to care for ourselves and our loved ones when we get sick or have a new child, with paid family and medical leave for all workers.
  • Together, we will make sure our elected officials ensure that no changes to the tax code raise taxes for low- and middle-income individuals and families, so that we can all have the resources we need to not just get by, but to flourish.
Will ensure all workers can earn a living wage and have the right to join a union?

Goal #2: Ensure a living wage and protect workers' rights

WINS:

  • The Biden-Harris administration has required a minimum wage of $15/hour for federal contractors' workers and increased the number of workers eligible for overtime protections.
  • The Inflation Reduction Act, Bipartisan Infrastructure Act, and CHIPS Act created 14 million new, good-paying union jobs (including 800,000 jobs in manufacturing and 210,000 in clean energy).
  • While the federal minimum wage remains just $7.25/hour, the Biden-Harris administration has used its executive authority to improve wage conditions for groups of workers where it can, including with:
    • 2021 regulations that require a minimum wage of $15/hour for employees of federal contractors.
    • Proposed, long-overdue regulations to make 3.6 million additional workers eligible for overtime protection-including two million women and 700,000 women of color.
  • The Biden-Harris administration has added substantial resources to the National Labor Relations Board, after deep Trump administration funding cuts that impaired enforcement of the nation's labor laws.

VISION:

  • Together, we will pass the Raise the Wage Act to increase the minimum wage nationally to $17 by 2028, so that an estimated 28 million workers can earn a dignified wage and provide for their families.
  • Together, we will strengthen workers' freedom to bargain for fair pay and end right to work laws by passing the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. This bill will finally hold employers accountable for retaliating against workers who seek to unionize.
Will ensure the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, including by supporting a billionaire's tax?

Goal #3: Ensure the wealthy pay their fair share to promote the common good

WINS:

  • After the 2017 Trump tax cuts, designed to benefit the rich, the Biden-Harris  administration's Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) made some progress in holding the wealthy and corporations accountable with:
    • Establishment of a 15% minimum corporate tax.
    • Curbs on the carried interest loophole, to fairly tax private equity and hedge fund profits as income.
    • A 1% excise tax on stock buybacks.
  • The Inflation Reduction Act also included long-overdue funding increases to the IRS to:
    • Step up enforcement on wealthy tax evaders.
    • Improve services for ordinary taxpayers.

VISION:

  • Together, we will ensure that our country's resources serve the common good-our health care, education, food, housing, and more-with a wealth tax on the inherited and accumulated assets of the super-rich.
  • We will ensure our elected officials hold the line against leaders in Congress who seek to defund the IRS to protect wealthy tax evaders and to repeal the free-file tax filing system.
  • We will elect representatives who will pass provisions called for by the Biden-Harris administration, such as:
    • A minimum 25% tax rate on the richest individuals whose wealth exceeds $100 billion, so that their tax rates look more like those of middle-class working families.
    • Eliminating loopholes that allow the very rich to avoid paying what they owe in inheritance taxes.
    • Raising the corporate tax rate and eliminating loopholes, to ensure corporations pay their fair share.
    • Discouraging lavish pay packages for big corporate executives by ending deductions for annual compensation over $1 million.
Will address skyrocketing housing costs, including by investing in affordable housing, housing assistance programs, and a renter's tax credit?

Goal #4: Make housing affordable

WINS:

  • The Biden-Harris administration has allocated $4.35 billion in funding to build and preserve affordable rental homes and make homeownership a reality for thousands of families.
  • During the COVID-19 pandemic, temporary rental assistance programs and eviction moratoria lessened the blow of economic turmoil. After those assistance programs were terminated, the Biden-Harris administration sought to bolster funding for low-income renters and persons experiencing homelessness with its 2024 budget, which includes:
    • An additional $2.4 billion for Housing Choice Vouchers.
    • $122 million in services and supports for unhoused people and families.
  • The Biden-Harris administration's infrastructure law included the largest internet affordability program in our nation's history, helping 23 million households save $30-75 on internet access each month.

VISION:

  • Together, we will make the basic right of stable housing a reality for all of us, by ensuring that Congress passes the Biden-Harris administration's requests for increased funding for affordable housing, first-generation homebuyers, rental assistance, and people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
  • Congress must grant the Biden-Harris administration's request for $6 billion to extend funding for the Affordable Connectivity Program, to allow continued, affordable internet access for U.S. families.
  • Congress must reject GOP House leadership's proposal of deep cuts to Housing Choice Vouchers and housing investment programs.
Will support future generations by expanding training and apprenticeship programs and free college?

Goal #5: Invest in free education

WINS:

  • After the Supreme Court blocked the Biden administration's robust student loan forgiveness program in 2023, the Administration instead used executive action to reduce debt for 4 million borrowers.
  • The Biden-Harris administration has invested over $7 billion in Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).

VISION:

  • Together, we will elect leaders who will pass legislation to make 2 years of community college free, expand Pell grants, and invest in work training and apprenticeship programs.
  • We will ensure all children receive quality education by maintaining funding for Head Start programs that serve 800,000 children, and Title 1 funding for schools that serve 26 million low-income children.

Catholic teaching promotes the dignity of work, the rights of workers, and an inclusive economy that places people over profit and ensures that we all have what we need to thrive.

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