Reflecting on Mother’s Day 2021
I am filled with a renewed sense of gratitude this Mother’s Day.
A year ago, we were still in the early months of the pandemic. This year, millions of Americans have received or are in the process of receiving vaccinations, which has allowed so many to safely gather and embrace their families for the first time in a year or more.
This is also the first Mother’s Day since I announced my candidacy for Governor in June of 2020. I would be the first Governor of Virginia who is also a mother, a critical perspective we need in Richmond, perhaps now more than ever.
My mother was the first member of her family to go beyond the 8th grade. After working as a domestic worker, she was able to graduate high school and college. From a food service worker to a childcare provider and trainer, to a college counselor, she worked for over 40 years while raising three daughters. She also served her community and she continues to serve as a personal inspiration.
This Mother’s Day, I look forward not only to celebrating safely by her side, but leading by her example; being unafraid to pursue justice, to promote progress and to fight for the kind of change that will improve the lives of every single resident of our Commonwealth.
As we take a moment this weekend to celebrate Virginia’s mothers, we must remember that going boldly forward means fundamentally transforming how we support them and care for our families.
That is why I introduced as my first policy proposal a robust Universal Childcare and Early Learning Plan. My plan will invest $4 billion to ensure that every parent can access and afford child care in Virginia, so that children have education opportunities and working parents have the flexibility they need.
The cost of child care has only increased since the pandemic, with Black and Brown women and mothers disproportionately shouldering the burden. My mother’s life experiences instilled in me a deep and abiding belief that when it functions well, government can be a force for positive change in people’s lives. And that is what we are called to do here.
By providing universal child care to every Virginia resident by 2025 and increasing access for more than 500,000 children, we will begin to rebuild our economy with a focus on equity, supporting our working mothers, better preparing their children and paying women of color in the care industry the wages they deserve.
As a working mother of two children, I know full well how difficult it can be to find affordable child care and how essential it is that we solve this problem once and for all.
Supporting Virginia’s mothers also means protecting access to safe, affordable and high-quality healthcare — including reproductive health care.
This is not merely theoretical for me; I’ve fought this fight in the General Assembly since 2010, when I stood on the House floor, pregnant with my first child, and spoke out against Republican bills designed to inhibit essential and life-saving reproductive rights. In 2012 while holding my personal copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting”, I fought against further restrictions that were both medically unnecessary and politically motivated.
And just last year, I carried and passed the Reproductive Health Protection Act (RHPA), which made Virginia the first state in the South to proactively protect access to reproductive health.
I am proud to have been a long-time champion for Virginia’s mothers, families and children. I carried the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which protects pregnant workers and mothers of infants and ensures they get reasonable accommodations at their workplace. I carried the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, extending the minimum wage, anti-discrimination laws, and wage theft and worker health and safety protections to our domestic workforce, which is predominantly women of color. My Equitable Education and Investment Plan would invest a record $2.3 billion into our public schools, raising teacher pay, rebuilding crumbling schools, improving outcomes, and finally providing students with the resources they need and families with the peace of mind they deserve. As Governor, I also will invest in the care economy to ensure those who care for our families earn enough to care for their own. And as a member of the sandwich generation, I will pass Paid Family Medical Leave to help those balancing the needs of work with caring for their own or family members’ health needs.
There is so much more we can and must do to improve the economic and physical well-being of the Commonwealth’s mothers, children and working families. I am eager to continue the work as your next Governor.
