The following statement can be attributed to Olivia Golden, executive director of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)

Washington, DC, March 11, 2021—By signing the historic American Rescue Plan (ARP) this afternoon, President Biden is ushering in a powerful change in social policy that responds to the devastation families and communities are experiencing and begins the path to recovery.

The ARP provides unprecedented support to children and their families, including cutting child poverty in half, responding at scale to the emergency faced by the child care sector, extending direct financial support to 2.2 million children in immigrant families excluded from previous relief, expanding health and nutrition programs to address the health and hunger crisis, and supporting economic stability for young adults. It sends a critical message by investing first in people with low incomes and communities of color – targeting resources in a way that is exactly opposite to the Trump era tax cuts with their focus on the rich.

We are proud of this moment and deeply grateful to the Biden-Harris Administration, legislative champions, and to the advocates and organizers who have built on years of work and played a part in changing the course of history. But the job is not yet done.

To achieve an economic recovery that works for everyone, we must make permanent these positive changes enacted through the ARP and invest in good jobs and the caregiving infrastructure that families and workers need for success. That means adding crucial missing pieces not addressed in the ARP, including permanent paid family and medical leave, investment in subsidized jobs so people have the means to attain economic security, child care investments that go beyond relief to make quality child care affordable for all, and a more substantial investment in mental health.

We look forward to working with the Biden-Harris Administration and Congress to design and enact a recovery package over the coming months that adds these critical missing components.