Illinois activists call on Duckworth to “hold the line” on plan to help low-income people
A local group of activists is calling on U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth to “hold the line “ and protect President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Act during Senate negotiations on the plan.
Six members of the group held a press conference outside of the senator’s downtown Belleville office Wednesday afternoon, calling on the Illinois Democrat to work to ensure several “life saving” elements remain in the legislation as it makes its way through Congress.
It was one of many demonstrations held by the Poor People’s Campaign nationwide as part of its “National Moral Witness Wednesday: Build Back Better From the Bottom Up.” The Poor People’s Campaign, which was originally organized by Martin Luther King Jr., works to address economic and racial inequality.
The demonstration in Belleville was organized by the Rev. Larita Rice-Barnes, who helped found the metro-east chapter of the Poor People’s Campaign through a partnership with the Metro East Organizing Coalition, where she serves as director.
“As the Senate enters into negotiations on this essential issue, we demand that Senator Duckworth look at the growing and deepening poverty in Illinois and across the country,” Rice-Barnes said Wednesday. “Roughly 40% of people in the country are living in or near poverty. We’re on a dangerous trajectory as a nation.”
The organization wants these elements to remain in the final legislation:
Universal pre-kindergarten education that would benefit six million 3- & 4-year-olds.
Expanded Medicaid that would provide health insurance for 4 million more people
Child Tax Credit extended for millions of parents
An ability for the federal government to negotiate drug prices, which would save Americans $250 million
Four-week paid family and medical leave
“Now is not the time for Tammy Duckworth to be a centrist, now is not the time to cater to the rich and the lobbyists who control our government,” Rice-Barnes added. “Now is the time to act boldly.”
Plan aims to fund many social issues
President Biden’s Build Back Better Act aims to invest heavily into COVID-19 relief, new infrastructure throughout the country, boost economic recovery while providing new funding for housing, education, healthcare and new clean-energy jobs.
However, the president’s plan has been trimmed throughout the legislative process as negotiations have continued with Republicans and some Democrats.
Rice-Barnes and the Poor People’s Campaign say if the act doesn’t pass intact, it will be a “missed opportunity” for investments that are needed now in poor and Black communities.
According to NBC News, paid family leave, free community college, dental and vision benefits and lower prescription drug prices are among the initiatives that have already been cut from the proposed act.
Rice-Barnes said that’s why the Poor People’s Campaign is pushing senators, especially senators she labeled as centrists, to negotiate to ensure those initiatives are restored to Biden’s plan.
“She’s (Duckworth) considered a centrist as a politician and we understand that the centrist approach has a serious impact on low-income folk in her district and across Illinois,” Rice-Barnes said. “We want her to understand that this is critical, that if she does not respond to this opportunity people in generations to come will remember this as a missed opportunity.”
Duckworth says negotiations ongoing
Duckworth was one of the original co-sponsors of the bill in October.
When asked about the group’s demonstration, Duckworth’s Illinois press secretary, Courtney Jacquin, wrote in a statement to the BND that the senator is working “tirelessly” to help working families by pushing the Build Back Better plan.
“Negotiations are never easy—especially when the stakes are this high—but Senator Duckworth is working tirelessly to save money for working families, cut taxes for the middle class and invest in our country’s economy with the Build Back Better budget,” the statement says. “She’s working with Democrats in Congress and President Biden to help lift children out of poverty, give millions of parents free Pre-K and affordable childcare and provide hundreds of thousands of older Americans and people with disabilities access to high-quality home and community based care.
“...She won’t give up on getting this done for the working people of Illinois,” the statement continues.
Black metro-east communities need aid now
For Rice-Barnes and her fellow activists, however, the time to act is now. She said East St. Louis and the Black communities that surround it need investment from the federal government as soon as possible. She said many of those communities have failing infrastructure, a lack of jobs, high rates of poverty and low access to healthcare.
She said East St. Louis is an example of a city that was once booming decades ago, but is now in need of investment and job growth for it to flourish once again.
“There are low-income residents there and there is a lack of jobs, recreation and things of that nature,” she said. “We are hopeful that with these funds and other funds that are being released from the government that there would be some infrastructure put into our communities — our Black communities particularly — so that we can begin to build back better.
It isn’t clear when the act may be voted on. Rice-Barnes said the group is expecting to meet with Duckworth to discuss the Build Back Better plan in the near future, but no date has been confirmed as of now