Murray and Wyden Host Parents Roundtable, Push for Historic Investment in Kids and Families

Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), the Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, held a roundtable with parents, advocates, and small business owners from Vancouver and Portland to discuss the urgent need for landmark investments in children and families through Democrats’ Build Back Better budget.

During the call, the senators and other participants underscored how investments in child care, the Child Tax Credit, and paid leave stand to greatly benefit working families and working moms, and ensure that small businesses have the workers and talent they need to thrive.

A former pre-school teacher, Senator Murray has championed the need for continued investments in children and families. In April, Senator Murray reintroduced her Child Care for Working Families Act, which Senator Wyden is a cosponsor of and the child care provisions in the Build Back Better budget are modeled after. Senator Murray is working to include provisions from the legislation that would finally establish a child care infrastructure, ensure access to high-quality, affordable child care for working families, and improve wages for child care workers in the Build Back Better budget.

As chairs of the Senate HELP and Finance Committees respectively, Senators Murray and Wyden have worked closely together to include universal paid leave in the Build Back Better Budget, so workers don’t have to choose between caring for themselves and their families, or the paycheck they need.

Senators Murray and Wyden have also repeatedly stressed the importance of making the expanded Child Tax Credit, which in just one month lifted 3 million children out of poverty and generated nearly $19.3 billion of additional spending in local economies, permanent.