UnidosUS President and CEO: For Equitable Recovery, Dual Infrastructure Packages Must Move Forward Together

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Bipartisan package too limited to fully rebuild our economy for all communities

WASHINGTON, DC—Following the Senate’s vote to advance a bipartisan infrastructure package, UnidosUS President and CEO Janet Murguía, made the following statement:

“Our nation’s leaders were elected to solve our nation’s most pressing problems and getting people back to work is definitely one of them. UnidosUS applauds President Biden and the bipartisan group of senators for coming to agreement on a $550 billion package of long overdue job-creating investments in our roads, bridges, public transit and broadband. However, for the bill to earn our endorsement it must prioritize new jobs for women, Latinos and others experiencing the highest rates of unemployment and be moved in tandem with human infrastructure. The pandemic made clear that human infrastructure—health care, child care, housing, education and other systems and workers—are just as indispensable to job creation, families’ health and well-being and the country’s future.

“While the bipartisan bill’s provisions are laudable, it will fall short of fueling the full and equitable recovery we need. We, therefore, call on Congress to move on a parallel track the Democratic $3.5 trillion budget blueprint that invests in the ‘care economy,’ even if it requires using the budget reconciliation process for Senate passage by simple majority vote. In the end, the budget reconciliation package must increase access to health coverage, nutrition programs, and housing; further reduce poverty among all children, including Latino children and those with ITIN numbers and help us better educate all of our nation’s students.

“Finally, to rebuild the nation we need a stable workforce and a sufficient supply of workers to fill new jobs. Latinos, immigrants and the five million undocumented essential workers who helped carry us through the worst of the pandemic will also help us build the road to recovery. It is therefore in our national interest to include a path to citizenship for essential workers, including DACA and TPS holders and farmworkers. They deserve a chance to contribute fully and without fear to our nation’s recovery. We call on all members of Congress to support these and other Latino policy priorities in recovery efforts so that we can build a United States that is stronger and more equitable than ever before.”