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2022 IMPACT: Our Legislative & Policy Wins

January 27, 2023
Kerri Karvetski's picture
Kerri Karvetski
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Welcome to MOMENTUM: The MomsRising Impact in 2022, a report highlighting the victories, progress, and power-building achieved by the MomsRising community in 2022. 

OUR 2022 LEGISLATIVE & POLICY WINS

"I am grateful for your contributions in our work to build back a better America. Keep up the fight." -President Joe Biden (To MomsRising, 2022)

In 2022 the MomsRising community took over 711,000+ online actions and made 42,300+ phone calls urging elected leaders to act. Together we won transformational policy changes that bettered the lives of families, boosted the economy, and lifted democracy. 

Our 2022 national legislative and policy victories were preceded by years of work with our over one million members building greater and greater levels of public support, launching powerful advocacy campaigns in coordination with coalition partners, and accelerating the influence of moms among elected leaders.

We are incredibly proud to share these legislative and policy win high points from the past year.

Thank you for believing in our power together. 

MomsRising Maternal Justice Senior Campaign Director Tina Sherman delivered PUMP Act stories to Congress.

 

Victories in Protecting Pregnant and Breastfeeding Workers

As 2022 came to a close MomsRising celebrated two long-fought legislative wins for pregnant and breastfeeding workers. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant women, and the PUMP for Nursing Mothers Act expands workplace protections for employees who are nursing.

 

Inflation Reduction Act: Lifesaving Health Coverage, Affordable Prescription Drugs, and Climate Wins

We’re proud of the work that MomsRising members did to help the Inflation Reduction Act become law. In particular, moms advocated for the provisions that reduce the cost of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries, cap the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, and keep Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans affordable, as well as paying for these investments by guaranteeing that wealthy corporations pay their fair share in taxes. We generated hundreds of thousands of constituent contacts to members of Congress, including hundreds of calls a day to Senator Sinema in the final days before the vote on the legislation to ensure the whole Inflation Reduction Act, including its transformational climate provisions, crossed the finish line.

 

MomsRising mobile billboards brought member messages to the streets of the U.S. Capitol.

 

Historic Maternal Health Investments

As a leading voice for maternal health, MomsRising pressured Congress for new robust investments to boost maternal health and we, along with our partners, were victorious. Congress nearly doubled State Maternal Health Innovation Grants and provided funds to expand the maternal mental health hotline, as well as created the first-ever national maternal mental health task force for federal agencies, and boosted access to maternal care in rural communities.

 

Wins in Expanded Investments in Childcare and Pre-K

While more funds are needed to address the childcare crisis, MomsRising worked hard to get increased investments in childcare and Pre-K and celebrated when massive parent advocacy resulted in big increases for Head Start and the Child Care and Development Block Grant. Both allow providers to expand their work to provide quality child care to families across the country.

 

 

Sparking a Governmental Response to the Formula Shortage

MomsRising led the call to solve the 2022 baby formula crisis. Our rapid response Instagram live event with the National WIC Association sparked a flood of national media and Congressional attention. In fact, in the weeks that followed, Congress, partners, and parents turned to MomsRising for trustworthy updates, and MomsRising members successfully pressed the Biden Administration into actions that restored the formula supply.

MomsRising urged Congress to get quacking for families during the "lame duck" session. 

 

Increased Funding for Child Nutrition

Moms advocated for and celebrated the victory of increased funding for the Women, Infant, and Children Supplemental Nutrition Program (WIC) and the Summer Electronic Benefit Program, which helps provide food security in the summer months for families whose children receive free or reduced-price school meals during the school year.


MomsRising/MamásConPoder Arizona Organizer Alin Rodríguez.

 

Immigration Win

MomsRising/MamásConPoder, in coalition with the PIF Campaign, helped roll back Trump’s cruel and harmful public charge rule. Our members submitted thousands of comments that successfully urged President Biden to change the regulation to appropriately support immigrant children and families. After the victory, we used traditional and new media to discuss and explain the new ruling in both English and Spanish, including national television interviews to ensure immigrant communities access the resources they need.

 

Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, Donna Norton, and Monifa Bandele present a MomsRising superhero cape and a Thank You Card signed by MomsRising members to Nancy Pelosi in appreciation of her speakership and legislative wins.

 

Omnibus Victories: Improvements in Health Care Access, Mental Health, and Home Visiting

MomsRising pushed hard to win the improvements in health care access, mental health, and home visiting in the federal omnibus spending bill passed in late 2022. A major victory, the bill included a permanent, mandatory, 12-month continuous eligibility in Medicaid and CHIP for children up to age 19 in all states; the permanent option for states to extend postpartum Medicaid coverage to 12 months; substantial investments in programs addressing mental illness, substance use disorder, and crisis response, as well as improvements in children’s mental health; and increased and continued funding for the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program (MIECHV) for five years.

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of MomsRising.org.

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