With negotiations at a critical point, we don’t yet know what will be included in the final details Build Back Better Agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal, but we do know agreement and passage would deliver critical investments Arizona families need to build our economy and our communities back better than ever.

The President’s full legislative agenda would invest in our nation’s future by lowering costs of essentials such as child care and prescription drugs for working families, fixing our nation’s broken infrastructure, tackling the climate crisis, cutting taxes for 50 million working and middle class families nationwide, and creating millions of good-paying jobs.

We are calling on Congress to keep as much of the proposed programs as possible. In a news release, Arizona advocates were unified in voicing the need to get the Build Back Better Agenda and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal across the finish line: 
 
“Inaction on climate is costing Arizonans dearly – it is costing us with extreme drought and heat, larger fires, and by harming our health, and it is especially costing those most vulnerable in our communities,” said Sandy Bahr of Sierra Club's Grand Canyon (Arizona) Chapter. “The Build Back Better Agenda will help Arizona invest in our communities to make them more resilient and help our state be a leader in clean energy, creating good paying jobs, helping to clean up our air, and saving precious water. We need Congress to pass the Build Back Better Agenda without delay."
 
David Lujan, President and CEO of Children’s Action Alliance, said: “As we work to emerge from this pandemic, we have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to invest in Arizona families who are working hard every day to make ends meet. We must invest in our workers and our care infrastructure by passing the Build Back Better Agenda so that we can lower costs of essentials like child care, enable parents to work, create good-paying jobs, and build our economy back better for all families.” 
 
And as Executive Director of Chicanos Por La Causa Action Fund, I noted in the news release: “Due to inaction in Congress, our country’s broken immigration system has left far too many behind for far too long, including here in Arizona. Now, we have an urgent opportunity to finally provide a pathway to citizenship for more than a quarter million hardworking immigrants who enrich Arizona every day. We are counting on our representatives in Congress to not give up on this moment and to pass the Build Back Better Agenda and a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants in Arizona and across the country.” 

CPLC Action Fund continues to reach out to key senators to remind them of the importance of immigration reform in the “human infrastructure” package, including for Dreamers.

The Build Back Better Agenda must include a pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrant families, including for 275,000 undocumented immigrants living in Arizona.

Other key highlights of how the Build Back Better Agenda would boost working and middle class families in Arizona:

• Ease the burden on the middle class by lowering the costs of everyday essentials:
   
• Save the average Arizona family with two children $7,238 a year on child care.
   
• Cut prescription drug costs for Arizonans by up to 55 percent for some drugs by allowing Medicare to negotiate with drug companies.
   
• Create millions of good-paying jobs nationwide, including:
   
• Create more than 75,000 clean energy jobs in Arizona.
   
• Create 13,922 home care jobs in Arizona.
   
• Build an economy that rewards work, not wealth:
   
• Extend the increased Earned Income Tax Credit for 379,000 low-wage workers in Arizona.
   
• Tackle the climate crisis while bringing down utility costs for Arizonans:
   
• Invest $4.5 billion in energy efficiency in Arizona.

o   Save the average Arizona family $500 a year on their energy bills by 2030.

• Make historic investments in Arizona’s infrastructure:
   
• Deliver $5 billion for federal-aid highway apportioned programs and $225 million for bridge replacement and repairs to address the over 3,100 miles of highway and 132 bridges in poor condition in Arizona.
   
• Improve healthy, sustainable transportation options, including by investing $884 million in public transit and $76 million to expand Arizona’s network of EV charging stations. 
   
• Bring high-speed internet access to the at least 335,000 Arizonans who lack access to broadband. 
   
• Invest $619 million in Arizona to eliminate lead pipes and provide clean drinking water to Arizonans who lack it.
   
• Ensure families with children can make ends meet:
   
• Provide a tax cut to the families of 1,507,000 Arizona kids who benefit from the expanded Child Tax Credit.
   
• Establish 12 weeks of paid family leave per year, up from 0 weeks currently in Arizona.
   
• Expand access to quality, affordable health care:
   
• Expand Medicare to include dental, vision, and hearing coverage for the 786,000 Arizona seniors currently enrolled in Medicare.