WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp today launched an economic agenda she’s fighting for to support North Dakota workers and their families throughout the course of their lives— from the beginning of their careers to their retirement.

Ahead of Labor Day— a holiday meant to recognize the history and challenges of working men and women in America— Heitkamp released “A Plan to Reward Hard Work: Standing Up for Workers Throughout the Course of their Lives.”

Heitkamp’s plan would help keep North Dakota’s communities strong and safe by improving the economic security of working families through legislation that promotes equal opportunity and sufficiently rewards hard work. Heitkamp’s economic priorities to support North Dakota workers and retirees include:

1. Fighting for workers when they begin their careers by promoting affordable higher education and vocational training, and making sure young people don’t have to spend decades paying off student loan debt to get the skills and experience they need for their careers.
2. Supporting workers when they start families with a guaranteed paid family and medical leave policy and access to affordable housing. Families shouldn’t have to choose between taking care of their families and their jobs. And they should able to achieve the dream of affordable home ownership. 
3. Increasing the number of good jobs for workers and supporting new startups and small businesses to allow North Dakotans to have well-paid opportunities with strong benefits throughout their careers at local manufacturing plants, mom and pop shops, or innovative tech companies— or as they start their own businesses.
4. Securing retirements of North Dakotans and enabling more workers to save by protecting their pensions from cuts, expanding access and contributions to retirement savings plans, and shoring up Social Security, so that their hard-earned savings will be there when they need them the most.

“Workers in North Dakota and across the country punch the clock every day so they can put food on the table and make sure their kids get the good medical care and educations they deserve. But far too often, working families feel like they’re being left behind. As the daughter of a school cook and a construction worker, I know the meaning of hard work, but I also understand how difficult it can be to make ends meet,” said Heitkamp. “Since arriving in the U.S. Senate, I’ve fought to make sure those who go to work every day— whether in an 18-wheeler, at a job site, on a farm, at a desk, or anywhere in between— have the health care, pensions, and dignity they’ve earned. Ahead of Labor Day, I’m launching my plan to build new and stronger opportunities for all of North Dakota’s workers to reward hard work. I want to make sure North Dakota families continue to have access to affordable housing, education, health care, child care, and secure retirements well into the future so all our families and communities remain strong and safe, and this plan is how I intend to achieve it.”

Heitkamp’s plan supports and rewards hard work by emphasizing the importance of affordable higher education and vocational training that leads to high-paying jobs— bolstered by strong local agriculture, energy, and manufacturing sectors. Additionally, her priorities include making sure working North Dakotans can take care of their children and aging relatives by providing a federal policy of paid family and medical leave. And Heitkamp’s economic agenda would continue her efforts in the U.S. Senate to protect and expand the hard-earned savings of North Dakotans.

To read Heitkamp’s full plan with background information, click here. “A Plan to Reward Hard Work: Standing Up for Workers Throughout the Course of their Lives” fights for the interests of working families and strengthens the well-being of workers from education to the workforce to retirement by:

1.      Fighting for workers when they begin their careers:

• Eliminating federal student loan interest for North Dakotans entering public service careers.

• Protecting the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

• Reducing student loan debt and making college more affordable.

• Supporting vocational training that teaches the knowledge and skills needed for cutting-edge jobs.

• Strengthening programs for young and beginning farmers and ranchers in the 2018 Farm Bill.

“North Dakota is facing a critical shortage of teachers, particularly in rural areas, and there are many college students like me who want to fix this problem and help educate the next generation,” said David Wischer, University of North Dakota student and student teacher, Grand Forks. “Unfortunately, a teacher’s entry-level salary makes it hard to keep up with high amounts of student loan debt—meaning many of my friends and classmates choose not to enter the teaching profession or other essential fields like nursing or law enforcement. They just don’t view them as financially viable career paths out of college. That’s why Senator Heitkamp’s plan to support young workers and tackle student loan debt is so important. By making it easier for more graduates to afford a high-quality education, it will help young people like me buy homes, provide for our new families, and build futures right here in North Dakota.”

2.      Supporting workers when they start families:

• Pushing Congress to pass her Family and Medical Insurance Leave (FAMILY) Act to create a federal paid leave policy.

• Fighting for equal pay for equal work by closing the wage gap.

• Protecting consumers, including children and military families, from financial abuse and fraud.

• Modernizing and reforming the housing finance system to benefit working families and boost affordable housing.

“Working families balance so many responsibilities— they’re juggling work, kids, sick relatives, or even running their own businesses. We need to find new ways to help our businesses respond to the needs of the next generation of parents in the workplace,” said Ray Ann Kilen, Founder, Women Empowering Women, Dickinson. “When Senator Heitkamp came to Dickinson and spoke with dozens of hard-working women leaders about her legislation to guarantee paid family leave, it was clear that she understood the challenges working families in North Dakota face. Senator Heitkamp’s FAMILY Act and broader economic plan is a clear way we can take care of working families, and it also highlights how North Dakota businesses can help retain employees. When we look after our workers and care about the well-being of their families, we are growing a stronger long-term economy.”

3.      Increasing the number of good jobs for workers and supporting new startups and small businesses:

• Getting the Export-Import Bank back up and fully functioning to help North Dakota businesses grow, expand, and hire more American workers.

• Leveling the playing field for North Dakota entrepreneurs and small businesses.

• Encouraging investments in rural small businesses and startups.

• Boosting North Dakota’s energy production and jobs through an all-of-the-above energy strategy.

• Securing a viable path forward for coal and natural gas jobs.

• Passing a strong, bipartisan Farm Bill that protects North Dakota’s crop and livestock producers.

“We hear the same thing echoed by hundreds of North Dakotan working families—they’re working harder every year, but they’re finding it tougher to get by. Our state’s workers deserve better wages and benefits, and on this Labor Day, I appreciate Senator Heitkamp's focus on the challenges that working parents, young people, and small business owners face in the workplace,” said Waylon Hedegaard, President, North Dakota AFL-CIO, Bismarck. “The launch of her plan will both encourage and reward hard work. This is a clear path to improve the quality of life for North Dakota’s working families, who play by the rules and put on their boots every day, so they can put a roof over their heads, send their kids off to college, and pay into their retirement plans.”

4.      Securing retirements of North Dakotans and enabling more workers to save:

• Pushing Congress to pass the Butch Lewis Act to help fix the multiemployer pension crisis and protect workers and retirees.

• Preventing cuts to workers’ and retirees’ pensions.

• Making it easier for more North Dakota workers to save for retirement.

• Blocking Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid from cuts or privatization.

“North Dakotans who put in the hours and work hard each day deserve a dignified retirement and the peace of mind to know that their hard-earned savings will support them during their golden years," said Dennis Kooren, retired UPS truck driver, Fargo. "Senator Heitkamp understands the value of hard work and the importance of a secure retirement. Pensioners and retirees like me know we can count on her. Senator Heitkamp is also looking at these issues through a multi-faceted approach by introducing legislation to prevent cuts to our pensions and helping North Dakotans save for retirement. Her plan to stand up for the retirement security of honest working men and women is a common sense roadmap toward a future that better protects the livelihoods of laborers, retirees, and our families.”

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