All we want for Christmas is ...

All we want for Christmas is … To alleviate poverty To reduce racial disparities To end the impacts of global climate change To stop gun violence To provide a brighter future for our children with universal pre-k for 3 and 4-year-olds To support parents with affordable childcare so they can work, look for work, or get job training To make sure all children have food, housing, health care, and transportation from the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) For everyone to be able to have and afford health insurance and have access to Medicaid For all seniors to be able to hear with hearing aids For students from low-income families to be able to afford college with Pell Grants   Imagine a country where the hope of Jesus’ birth is realized because poverty is alleviated and the economic future for millions of low-income families is bright … with nearly all paid for without burdening future generations.   “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.” Proverbs 3:27 NRSV Ask both your Senators and Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia to pass the Build Back Better legislation! Find and email your Senators at the NCC’s letter-writing site: https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-your-senators-pass-build-back-better-act-now Take a moment to also contact Senator Joe Manchin to remind him of what Build Back Better will do for the residents of West Virginia! 306 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Phone: 202-224-3954 Email: https://www.manchin.senate.gov/contact-joe/email-joe   Background on NCC Support of Build Back Better One of the National Council of Churches’ 2021 priorities is to expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC), which most families use to cover the cost of food, housing, health care, and transportation, so we affirm its extension for one year in the BBB Act. We will continue to advocate for this important poverty-reducing provision to be made permanent.   The NCC has called for the administration to address the health disparities that have been laid bare during the pandemic. As we have fully supported healthcare for all, we approve of the provisions in the BBB Act that will expand access to healthcare, including the Affordable Care Act premium tax credits for up to 4 million uninsured people in states that denied them access to Medicaid and the reduced premiums for more than 9 million Americans because of the extension of the expanded Premium Tax Credit. We also acknowledge that the care made available for older Americans and people with disabilities in their homes will make a substantial difference in their ongoing quality of life. As educational disparities persist, the NCC maintains that investing in education will create thriving futures for those who have been barred from success by the systematic racism in this nation. As BBB will increase the maximum Pell Grant by $550 for the more than 5 million students enrolled in public and private, non-profit colleges, and expand access to DREAMers, we know this will help undergraduate students, especially the more than 75% of undergraduate Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) students who rely on Pell Grants to pay for college expenses. We also affirm the Act’s investment in HBCUs, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), and minority-serving institutions (MSIs) to build their capacity, modernize their research infrastructure, and provide financial aid to their low-income students. We affirm that the funding provided by the Act for the construction, rehabilitation, and improvement of more than 1 million affordable homes which will boost the housing supply and reduce price pressures for renters and homeowners is commendable and begins to meet our call for the basic human need of housing for all people. In addition, this important legislation positively impacts people returning from incarceration, as all of these provisions do not prohibit those convicted of drug felonies from receiving aid, which is another NCC priority.   It’s time for our nation to Build Back Better by passing this important legislation. That’s all we want for Christmas!

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