Hopkinton, NH - Today, Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02) unveiled her 2020 Jobs and Opportunity Agenda, which outlines a comprehensive approach to help alleviate the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis and get our country on the road to recovery. The agenda includes policies that invest in essential workers, support those who are unemployed, ensure workers have the skills they need to return to work, expand access and affordability to child care, expand the child tax credit to prevent childhood hunger, support individuals and communities struggling with addiction, and create more affordable housing. 

“As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to threaten the health and wellbeing of our communities and causes major disruptions to our economy, it’s clear that we must do more to alleviate the impacts of this crisis,” said Kuster. “My Jobs and Opportunity Agenda outlines proposals that can help us build back better. First and foremost, we must take steps to invest in our current workforce and help those who are out of work land new jobs. By providing businesses with the resources they need to get through this crisis, we can make sure our economy is positioned to quickly recover when the public health situation allows. My agenda also advances policies that expand access to affordable child care so that Granite Staters can get back to work and know that their children are in a safe place while they are working. The policies I have outlined are a down payment on the future of our country, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to advance these measures.”

Kuster’s legislative agenda addresses numerous areas of need to support working families and small businesses. Specifically, her agenda covers: 

Empowering Workers to get Through the Pandemic and Build Back Better

Allowing essential workers to pay off their student debt, extending weekly federal unemployment benefits, ensuring workers are taxed in the state where they work, investing in workforce development, creating more apprenticeship programs, providing a tax credit for companies to create partnerships with educational institutions, and providing tax rebates for Americans who make energy efficient improvements to their home. 

Supporting Main Street Small Businesses

Creating a new loan program to help businesses deal with the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 crisis, creating a grant program to provide economic relief to restaurants, launching a grant program to empower nonprofits to expand their services, and authorizing the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide grants to theaters and music halls that are important parts of our local communities. 

Expanding Access to Affordable Housing and the American Dream 

Increasing financial support for the Housing Trust Fund, addressing veteran homelessness, making it easier for borrowers to pay down mortgages and fully realize the American Dream, and promoting access to mortgage credit.

Helping Families and Providing Access to Child Care for Every Granite Stater 

Providing grants to child care providers to help keep their doors open, improving the physical infrastructure of child care providers, increasing pay for child care providers, making the Child Tax Credit fully refundable to bring children out of poverty, and providing free school meals for all children during the 2020-2021 school year.

Health Care for Recovery 

Protecting health care access and coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, reauthorizing programs to train, recruit, and retain nurses, expanding Medicare’s support for residency training, expanding access to healthcare for justice-involved individuals, and providing resources to those on the frontlines of the pandemic.

Rebuilding America’s Infrastructure

Rebuilding America’s K-12 schools, ensuring vulnerable and underserved communities have a reliable internet connection, helping states and local governments install charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs), and investing in water infrastructure. 

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