Jobs and Economy
When I travel around Northwest Oregon, I often hear from parents who struggle to pay for child care—which in Oregon can cost as much as a year of college tuition. I’ve heard from parents who don’t have access to paid family leave at work, and have to choose between caring for a new baby and earning a paycheck. Congress must do more to address the challenges facing our families.
Our economy will be stronger and people will be healthier when we acknowledge that families need policies that work for them, not against them. Equal pay for women, good wages, paid leave, and affordable child care will better support families in Oregon and across the country. When we open the doors of opportunity to everyone, we all succeed.
One of my top priorities in Congress is to grow our economy and implement policies that create more jobs in Oregon and across the country. As a leader on the Education and Labor Committee, I’ve introduced legislation to strengthen apprenticeships and paid, on-the-job training programs to provide workers with meaningful pathways to better paying jobs, and to connect businesses with workers who have the skills they need. I support the Raise the Wage Act, which would gradually increase the federal minimum wage to $15 by 2024. I also helped pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to help to address the pay gap and provide workers with the tools they need to achieve equal pay for equal work.
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"I'm going to do all I can to advocate for this project," Bonamici told Pamplin Media Group on Thursday, June 3, after meeting with community leaders and representatives from the Oregon Department of Transportation in Aloha.
Reps. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) and Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) introduced a bill that would repeal a tax break for business meals implemented by the Trump administration. The bill would redirect the money—which amounts to more than $5 billion over two years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation—to the Child Care and Development Fund. The fund awards grants to state programs to help low-income families find childcare for work-related reasons.
The child care crisis is being felt around the country, leading legislators to take action. On March 16, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici reintroduced the Child Care Is Infrastructure Act, which would establish loan and grant programs for child care facilities and early-childhood educators.
"The full 'three martini lunch deduction' is not the most effective use of taxpayer dollars, and it's time we repurpose these funds," said Representative Peter Meijer, a Republican from Michigan who co-sponsored the bill with Representative Suzanne Bonamici, a Democrat from Oregon, in a statement. The full business meal deduction will result in $5 billion in foregone tax revenue in 2022 and 2023, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici says she is not convinced that payment of extra unemployment benefits has led to shortages of workers in service and caregiving businesses. The Democrat from Beaverton responded to a comment from someone who complained about a shortage of caregivers at assisted-living centers during a telephone town hall on May 15. She acknowledged there are positions going unfilled in a range of occupations, including child care and elder care, as the economy recovers from lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic.
In a March 2021 letter to the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, the WCSPA, Midwater Trawlers Cooperative, Oregon Trawl Commission and Fishermen's Marketing Association asked the AMS to specify Pacific pink shrimp, Pacific rockfish and Pacific hake (whiting) as USDA Section 32 “bonus buys.” Ten West Coast lawmakers, including Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.; Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.; Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.; Reps. Kurt Schrader, Peter DeFazio, Suzanne Bonamici, and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore.; Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif.; and Rep.
Bonamici also said some laid-off workers are considering or undergoing more training to enable them to take higher-paying jobs in other fields. "We need to make sure that people have the skills to get these good jobs," Bonamici, who sits on the House Education and Labor Committee, said.
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici has released a detailed list of how much each public and private institution will get starting May 11. The plan specifies that half the amount is reserved for emergency grants to students. "I advocated for significant federal relief to help students meet basic needs and stay on track with their education, and to help these institutions keep their doors open," she said in a statement. "This funding will allow schools to serve students who have been most affected by the pandemic, and help our communities build back better. "
Bonamici proposed nearly $10 million in projects in the 1st Congressional District. She sought funds for landslide mitigation in Astoria, money for Hillsboro's water system project, funds to renovate the Japan Institute Building in Portland, money for a nonprofit incubator development project in Beaverton, funds to buy a defibrillator for the Banks Fire District and money to set up a small-business center in St. Helens.