On January 1st, 2020, our Children’s Policy Coalition hosted Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders at Conmigo Early Learning Center for our Facebook Live Candidate Conversation series.
From our coalition, Jessica Rebeschini from Zero to Three, Leslie Stonehocker from the Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children, Brett Pattison from Drake University, Denise Rathman with the National Association of Social Workers – Iowa Chapter and Anne Discher with the Child and Family Policy Center were all able to ask Sanders questions about children’s issues.
When asked about children’s health, Sanders said that it would be one of the highest priorities of his administration to provide health care to all men, women and children. Sanders also said that it would be a priority of his to provide free pre-K and affordable child care to all children, along with increasing pay for early education professionals.
Sanders said he would address children’s safety and wellbeing by implementing gun safety legislation, and to increase every child’s opportunity for wellbeing by ensuring economic security for families.
Further, Sanders said that he would provide economic security for families by raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and creating more access to affordable housing. Finally, Sanders said that he would focus on providing equal opportunity for our nation’s children by ending systemic racism and increasing opportunities for children in low-income, racially diverse families.
To hear our full conversation with Senator Sanders, watch the video above.
The Children’s Policy Coalition is calling on every presidential candidate to address the issues affecting children and families. Candidate responses are shared here for informational purposes only. The Children’s Policy Coalition does not endorse candidates or parties. We’re caucusing for kids!
