Healthcare@: #5Actions of the Week!

Dear Rob,

Happy February! 2018 is in full swing, with family, work, kids, community commitments, and more accelerating to full speed. Phew!

Now more than ever, we can't take a break from speaking out about issues that matter to our families and communities. This week's #5Actions line up includes hot topics like maintaining government funding for essential programs like healthcare, immigration, childcare and more. And it includes a special opportunity to get inspired, too, by pre-ordering our co-founder Kristin's *sparkling new book* about the power of women during this revolutionary time (and 100% of proceeds go to MomsRising so it's a two-for-one. You can support MomsRising AND get a book.). Consider it part inspiration, part guidebook.

Get your weekend off on a strong foot. Make sure you've completed the #5Actions list of the week. And shared it with friends and family, too!

1. Tell the GOP Leadership: Do your job!!
BREAKING NEWS: Republicans in the U.S. Congress decided they would rather shut down our government than make a deal that would provide stable funding for health insurance for children and protect DREAMers, immigrant young adults who have grown up in the U.S.! After weeks of congressional negotiations, endless useless tweets from President Trump, and a “he said-he said” about racist comments in the Oval Office, Republican leadership still couldn’t do their most basic job of keeping the government running and passing policies that protect the health and well-being of their constituents. *Sign our letter!

2. Urge Congress to Support High-Quality, Affordable Childcare!
BACKGROUND: Nearly two-thirds of mothers with children under age six work, and families with a working mom spend nearly twice as much on childcare as they did 30 years ago. In fact, the average family spends anywhere from $3,000 to $20,000 a year depending on where they live and the ages of their children. Yet we know that investments in early education boosts moms, kids, and our economy. Making that investment starts now! Senators Bernie Sanders (VT) and Elizabeth Warren (MA) have introduced a spending bill that would increase the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to $2.9 billion, giving states needed resources to expand child care assistance to nearly 230,000 additional children. It would also provide sufficient funds for states to implement bipartisan rules to improve the health, safety and quality of child care. Sign our letter to the U.S. Congress NOW telling them to make federal investments in high-quality, affordable childcare.

3. Pre-Order MomsRising's Resistance Book about Women, For Women, and To Women!
BACKGROUND: In his first State of the Union address to the nation, Donald Trump didn't even utter the word “women” once. NOT ONCE. That's why MomsRising is so excited to announce a new book about women, for women, and to women, covering our top issues, advocacy tactics, and stories from all of us: Keep Marching. Authored by MomsRising President and Executive Director Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner, 100 percent of the book proceeds will go to fuel MomsRising's work. Scheduled to come out in May by Hachette Books, Keep Marching has already been named one of the 2018 key books of “resistance” in the New York Times. This highly researched looks at the barriers women face every day, including stories from people like you and me, solutions and action plans to break through & a call for all bad-ass women for justice to come together and rise. (*Remember: 100% of proceeds go to MomsRising so it's a two-for-one. You get to support MomsRising AND get a book). Pre-order it now!

4. Tell Congress to Pass the DREAM Act and Move Forward Fair and Comprehensive Immigration Policy Reform
BACKGROUND: Time has run out for DREAMers, and with the March 5th end date of DACA fast approaching, legislation needed to be passed months ago so it has time to be implemented before all 800,000 DREAMers lose their legal status. Time is of the essence. A bipartisan group of U.S. Senators put forward a popular solution to give DREAMers legal status for the Senate to consider as they negotiated the 2018 budget, but that solution was ignored by GOP leadership. So yet again our legislators failed our young adults. They passed another short term budget, known as a Continuing Resolution (CR), but failed to take action to protect DREAMers from losing the legal status that allows them to continue studying and working in the communities they have grown up in. It’s appalling.*Tell Congress to live up to the promises made to DREAMers by passing the DREAM Act, and move forward fair and comprehensive immigration policy reform. Join us to speak out!

5. Make Some Noise (Online) for Paid Leave!
BACKGROUND: Monday, February 5 is the 25th Anniversary of President Bill Clinton signing the historic Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) into law. MomsRising | MamásConPoder and many of our partners will use this occasion to call attention to the work that still needs to be done for paid leave and highlight the elements of a strong paid leave program that are needed to advance the law’s promise. Help us make some noise for #FMLA25 and #PaidLeave on Twitter and beyond! Join us for the #FMLA25 Tweet Storm on Monday, 2/5 at 1pm ET / 10 am PT, and please promote this digital day of action.