Opinion: Kamala Harris is the care champion Wisconsin families need and deserve

Vice President Kamala Harris will continue to be a champion for Wisconsin families 

“Building up the middle class will be the defining goal of my presidency,” Vice President Kamala Harris said to a crowd of Wisconsinites in Milwaukee on Tuesday during the first official rally of her campaign.

Vice President Harris’ visit to Milwaukee could not stand in more direct contrast to the time MAGA Republicans spent in the same city last week for the Republican National Convention. Donald Trump and his supporters spent their time spreading extremist messages and focusing on a platform that seeks to undermine our freedoms, cut taxes for the wealthy and well connected, and gut programs that support working families and seniors, such as Social Security and Medicare. And, there was little mention of what their party would do to reduce the cost of care for families by making things like child care, elder care and prescription drugs more affordable and ensuring all people have access to paid leave. 

Meanwhile, Vice President Harris pledged to fight for a future “where every person has affordable health care, affordable child care, and paid family leave…[and] where every senior can retire with dignity.”

Vice President Harris is a champion for working families – and she has the track record to back this up.

Vice President Harris has spent her entire career fighting for women and families. The fight to ensure all Americans can care for themselves and their loved ones is personal for her. Harris often reflects on how thankful she is that she was able to take time away from work to care for her mother while she was battling cancer, which is exactly why she is fighting to ensure everyone has access to paid leave. As a candidate for president in 2020, Harris proposed a plan that would ensure all working people have access to six months of paid family and medical leave, making her the first candidate in the field to back such a robust plan. She also advocated for policies to make child care more accessible and affordable and lower the cost of prescription drugs for all Americans. 

Throughout her term as Vice President, Harris cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate to pave the way for the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act and the Inflation Reduction Act – two historic bills that lowered the cost of child care and prescription drugs for working families in Wisconsin and across the country. Vice President Harris also announced two landmark rules to improve long-term care for our seniors and individuals living with disabilities, while supporting the economy and care workers. Earlier this year, the Biden-Harris Administration also announced a critical step to further lower the cost of child care for the more than 100,000 working families who receive federal child care assistance. 

So as Trump and MAGA Republicans continue to look out for themselves and stand in the way of progress for working families, Vice President Harris will continue to be a champion for families because as she said herself on Tuesday, “when our middle class is strong, America is strong.”

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Related: Harris kicks off campaign by focusing on future, highlighting plans to help families