For Immediate Release: August 10, 2021
Contact: Colleen Ross | [email protected] | 202-601-7877
Catholic Lobby Applauds Senate Passage of $3.5 Trillion Budget Resolution
Mary J. Novak: “Our federal budget must address both longstanding injustices and recent harm.”
WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate passed a $3.5 trillion budget resolution, paving the way for Congressional committees to work on finalizing the details of the federal budget. The budget resolution calls for transformative investments in child care, paid leave, education, reshapes the federal tax code, and opens the allows Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, TPS holders, and undocumented essential workers.
Executive Director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Mary J. Novak, said:
“Our federal budget must address both longstanding injustices and recent harm. Today’s vote is a pivotal first step in making transformational investments into the people and communities marginalized by our systems and structures. This is the kind of federal budget we need in order to build anew.
“NETWORK calls on Congress to pass an equitable budget that requires the wealthiest people and corporations to pay their fair share, raises adequate funding for critical human needs programs, and reduces economic inequality through the tax code. Building and passing such a budget is an example of the “better kind of politics” with “human dignity at the center,” as described by Pope Francis in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti.”
Laura Peralta-Schulte, NETWORK’s Chief Lobbyist, said:
“The budget is a moral document and today’s vote on the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package was a bold, moral action from the Senate. After centuries of disinvestment and intentional policy choices that have disadvantaged Black, Latinx, Native American, and Asian people and families, our federal budget must recognize, name, and address structural inequality.
Budget reconciliation is our best opportunity to create jobs and make health care, caregiving, housing, and education more affordable. Policies that will benefit the common good must be prioritized in the upcoming budget decisions including: making the Child Tax Credit and EITC expansions permanent, creating a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, establishing a national paid leave program, closing the Medicaid coverage gap, and allowing Medicare to negotiate drug prices.”
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NETWORK – advocates for justice inspired by Catholic sisters – educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation. They have a 45-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good. www.networklobby.org