Overview: Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with reporters during a special National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) interview to discuss her plans to tackle the cost of elder care, Roe v. Wade and abortion bans. Harris’ plans include expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to $6,000 which will allow families to attend to the needs of their children, allowing them to also have the financial ability to take care of other needs such as home health care. Harris also recognized the burdens carried by the “sandwich generation” and the burdens of child care and elder care. Harris believes that the country needs to speak truth about the generational impacts of America’s history, citing the long lasting effects of slavery, Jim Crow laws and redlining to name a few.Breanna Reeves
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Vice President Kamala Harris sat down with reporters during a special National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) interview at public radio station WHYY in Philadelphia on Monday, Sept. 17. Harris discussed her plans to tackle the cost of elder care, reinstate Roe v. Wade and the impact of abortion bans.Harris’ interview with NABJ is long overdue after the association invited former president Donald Trump for an interview during their annual convention in July. According to TheGrio, who first reported the news, NABJ declined a request by Harris’ campaign to participate in a virtual fireside chat due to a scheduling conflict.Harris sat down with Gerren Keith Gaynor of the Grio, Eugene Daniels of POLITICO and Tonya Mosley of WHYY’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross. The interviewers took turns asking Harris about her economic plans, her plans to protect reproductive access and the consequences of abortion bans.“My plan for the economy includes, what I imagine and believe and call, an opportunity economy: what we can do to grow an opportunity economy where all people have access to the resources to compete, to apply their incredible work ethic, their ambition, their aspirations, and their dreams,” Harris explained. “And actually, not just get by, but get ahead.”Child care and elder careHarris shared her plans for expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC), initially enacted in 1997. The CTC currently provides up to $2,000 per child to an estimated 40 million families each year. Part of Harris’ “opportunity economy” plan is to expand the child tax credit to $6,000 which will allow families to attend to the needs of their children, allowing them to also have the financial ability to take care of other needs such as home health care, according to Harris.Mosley asked Harris about what plans she had to guarantee that families can afford both child care and elder care. An analysis of child care costs in the U.S. by Child Care Aware of America reported that the national average price of child care for 2023 was $11,582. In 2021, the average price of childcare for an infant in a family child center was $16,432 per year in California.“My plan is that no family, no working family, should pay more than 7% of their income in child care because I know that when you talk about the return on that investment, allowing people to work, allowing people to pursue their dreams in terms of how they want to work, where they want to work, benefits us all,” Harris said. “It strengthens the entire economy.”Harris also recognized the burdens carried by the “sandwich generation” — adults who have young children and are also caring for their aging parents. “It is just absolutely too expensive for them to be able to work and do that,” Harris said. Caregiving across the U.S. has been the center of conversation over the last few years as older adults are living longer and need more care. As Californians are growing older and doubling in size, the state is facing a shortage of caregivers.In California, there are more than five million caregivers, both formal and informal, who care for aging adults. However, California has one of the fastest growing populations, with a projected 30% increase by the year 2060. Factors contributing to the caregiving shortage include inadequate compensation. A Public Policy of California Institute (PPIC) report found that, in the first quarter of 2023, average hourly wages ranged from $15.60 for home health and personal care aides to $20.10 for certified nurse assistants while child care workers earned $18 and preschool teachers earned $19.50 per hour. The living wage in California for one adult with one child is $47.96, according to MIT’s Living Wage Calculator, which provides estimates of the hourly rate that an individual in a household must earn to support themselves and/or their family, working full-time.“We need to do better for our child care providers and our home health care providers in terms of ensuring that they receive the wages that they deserve based on the dignity of their work,” Harris said. “I have spent time with home health care providers and their work is some of the most taxing work you can imagine.”When her mother was sick with cancer, Harris took care of her and recognized the toll caregiving takes on an individual. “The work that is about taking care of a loved one, in particular an elder, is extraordinarily heavy in terms of the emotional tolls, the time it takes, and we do it because that is what we do,” Harris explained. “But not everyone has the ability to take time from work to do it and they need help. And we need to make sure we have home health care workers that can help them.”Addressing the legacy of racism and impacts on health todayGaynor asked Harris if she plans to support a proposed bill that would establish the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act. The bill was introduced in 1989 by Rep. John Conyers who reintroduced the bill each legislative session until 2017, before he passed away in 2019. Rep. Sheila Jackson took his place and began reintroducing the bill before her passing in July. The bill has yet to move past committee. “Would you as president take executive action to create this commission or do you believe it should happen in Congress?” Gaynor asked.Harris said that she believes, ultimately, Congress will have the ability to “do this work.”Harris explained that the country needs to speak honestly about the generational impacts of America’s history, citing the long lasting effects of slavery, Jim Crow laws and redlining, to name a few.“We need to speak truth about it in a way that is about driving solutions, and frankly, I think part of that is studying it to figure out exactly what we need to do,” Harris responded. “Part of what we can do right now is, for example, what I’m talking about in terms of building an opportunity economy.”Harris explained that Black Americans have a higher rate of medical debt which continues to burden families. According to The Commonwealth Fund podcast, The Dose, “27.9% of Black households carry medical debt compared to 17.2 % of white, non-Hispanic households. Structural racism has made this effect.”According to Harris, building an opportunity economy would address the obstacles that historically and currently exist such as medical debt and Black maternal mortality, among other areas.In the U.S. and in California, Black women are three-to-four times more likely to die from a pregnancy-related cause than white women. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, more than 80% of pregnancy-related deaths in the U.S. are preventable.“We know that the reasons for that include disparities that pre-exist her pregnancy, including disparities that exist in the system during her pregnancy,” Harris said.Access to reproductive careDaniels asked Harris if she would sign legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade restrictions, in the same manner that she previously stated she would sign legislation to codify Roe v. Wade protections if she becomes president.Since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, 41 states currently restrict abortion at different stages in pregnancy, 14 states enforce total bans and four enforce six-week abortion bans. Roe v. Wade initially allowed individuals to access an abortion up to 24 weeks of pregnancy and restricted abortions in the third trimester unless medically necessary.“We need to put the protections of Roe v. Wade back into law, and when that bill gets passed by Congress, I will proudly sign it into law. Understand what is happening in our country: over 20 states have passed what I call Trump abortion bans,” Harris said. She attributed the current state of reproductive restrictions to Trump’s nomination of three “hand-picked” conservative Supreme Court justices.Two days ago, Amber Nicole Thurman, 28, died in a Georgia hospital after doctors delayed treatment, according to a ProPublica investigation. Prior to her visit, Thurman took abortion pills and experienced a complication in which her body did not completely expel all the fetal tissue. After Roe v. Wade was overturned, Georgia enacted an abortion ban at six weeks and any doctor who violates the new law could be prosecuted and face a prison sentence.Harris made reference to Thurman during the interview stating it was, “A tragic story about a young woman who died because it appears the people who should have given her health care were afraid they’d be criminalized after the Dobbs decision came down,” Harris said.With less than two months until the presidential election on Nov. 5, Harris is campaigning hard alongside her vice presidential running mate, Tim Walz, to reach undecided and unlikely voters.
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Source: Black Voice News
