RALEIGH – Today, Roy Cooper continued his “Make Stuff Cost Less” tour, holding an event in Wilmington to announce how he will work in the U.S. Senate to make life more affordable for working North Carolinians, focusing on tackling rising child care costs.
“Right now, too many families are struggling to make ends meet – on top of skyrocketing food, health care and utilities costs, many parents can’t afford child care,” said Roy Cooper. “We need to give the breaks to families, not the wealthiest among us. While my opponent, DC insider and Big Oil Lobbyist Michael Whatley helped lead the charge on policies that are spiking costs for families right now, I’m ready to work with anyone in the Senate to cut red tape and make stuff cost less for working families.”
“The cost of child care is simply out of control and still rising thanks to the failures of politicians in Washington DC,” said North Carolina public school teacher and working mom Kitt Starnes. “It used to be that if you worked hard, you could afford to get by, but now the price of everything has skyrocketed – from groceries to utilities to child care. While DC insider and Big Oil Lobbyist Michael Whatley keeps cheering on the policies crushing working families, Roy Cooper has spent his entire career working with anyone he can to make life more affordable. We need Roy in the Senate to make stuff cost.”
Recently, Roy released his plans to lower health care, grocery and utilities costs. At today’s event, he unveiled the fourth part of his plan to make stuff cost less, focused on how he’ll continue his work to lower the cost of child care and make it more accessible for parents who choose to work:
- Expand the Child Care and Dependent Tax Credit to support working families and put money back in people’s pockets.
- Grow and support the child care workforce. Increase the quality and supply of childcare by investing in apprenticeships for child care workers and paying better wages.
- Cut unnecessary red tape that keeps child care facilities expensive – like requiring they provide packaged food instead of preparing fresh fruit – while prioritizing child safety.
- Encourage employers to help employees with child care by providing employer tax credits for on-site child care or employee child care subsidies.
Roy will continue the Make Stuff Cost Less campaign in the coming weeks, talking about reducing the cost of housing. He will meet with North Carolinians across the state to discuss his plans to fight for lower costs for working families in the U.S. Senate.
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