Issued August 09, 2021
WASHINGTON, DC: Mary Kay Henry, international president of the two million-member Service Employees International Union (SEIU), released the following statement today in response to the Senate’s 2022 fiscal year budget instructions:
“The Senate must act on this once-in-a-generation opportunity to build our country back better and address the needs of the Black and brown communities and essential workers who were most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They should move forward with this framework and pass it into law without delay.
“The $3.5 trillion budget in front of them is a significant step in delivering on what the working families who elected them into the office believe we need to move our nation forward. These bold measures address priorities that have been painfully, shamefully, and dangerously neglected for years. They will lift up working people in every state, including an investment in good, union, living-wage home care jobs to increase access for seniors and people with disabilities, a path to citizenship for Dreamers, people with TPS, farmworkers and essential workers, and a downpayment on climate justice.
“We have a long road ahead. SEIU members and worker leaders in the Fight for $15 will work with Congress and elected officials at every level to ensure that this framework for common sense and transformative policy solutions moves forward. Simply put, this is how we build an economy and democracy that works for every single one of us, and we expect elected leaders to deliver on the full promise of Biden’s Build Back Better plan.”
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