Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) will have an agenda focused on helping families become safer and more financially stable in her first 100 days in office if elected president, according to an outline released Wednesday.
The plan, dubbed the Family Bill of Rights, prioritizes five domestic policy areas: maternal safety, affordable child-care options for newborns, universal pre-kindergarten, non-discriminatory adoption and IVF practices, and paid leave.
The proposal “will make all families stronger—regardless of who you are or what your ZIP Code is—with a fundamental set of rights that levels the playing field starting at birth,” Gillibrand said in a statement.
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The New York senator has failed to gain the same level of momentum as many of her Democratic rivals in the early days of the 2020 campaign, lagging behind others in polls and donations. But in unveiling a plan that looks ahead to the first several months of a hypothetical administration, Gillibrand is signaling she’s looking at the long game.
Gillibrand has made addressing concerns of women and families a touchstone of her campaign. And her newest policy prescription comes as national attention has turned to abortion rights, following an Alabama law enacted last week that bans the practice in nearly every circumstance.
In the Senate and on the campaign trail, she has been a staunch pro-choice defender, unveiling a plan ahead of other contenders to protect access to abortion and holding a campaign event inside the Georgia State Capitol. She also announced that she would only appoint judges who will uphold Roe v. Wade.
The Family Bill of Rights is another component of her advocacy for families. Her campaign hopes it will “level the playing field” in the early stages of child’s life and “ease the enormous financial burden” on families raising children.
She also addresses issues of infertility, proposing that would-be parents should have a right to have or bring home a child through affordable IVF or adoption, regardless of income, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion, and a right to safe and affordable nursery care for newborns.
In addition, Gillibrand lists paid leave as a top priority, arguing that parents should be able to personally care for their loved ones. They should also have access to affordable child care and universal pre-K, to ensure early education is available before kindergarten.
Gillibrand intends to pay for her family plan with her proposed financial-transaction tax, which would raise more than $777 billion in the next decade, according to her campaign.
