While the spotlight is on the important debate between Congress and President Biden on the size and scope of the COVID-19 recovery plan, a piece of legislation was reintroduced today that could have a profound impact on a generation of children’s ability to achieve financial security. Sponsored by Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-7), the American Opportunity Accounts Act goes beyond short-term solutions to the current crisis to tackle the systemic economic inequities that have caused this economic crisis to fall hardest on Black, Latinx and Indigenous people.

The American Opportunity Accounts Act seeks to provide every child with a “baby bond”—a meaningful birthright investment—that would help level the playing field for children of color, allowing them to invest in wealth-building opportunities once they reach adulthood. The proposal builds on an idea developed and long championed by economists Darrick Hamilton and William “Sandy” Darity, Jr., as well as 15 years of practice and research around children’s savings programs. It would provide every child, at birth, with the economic resources needed to begin building long-term economic security and generational wealth.

Administered by the Department of the Treasury, each of the approximately four million children born in the United States each year would automatically receive an American Opportunity Account seeded with a $1,000 deposit. Until the child turns 18, their account would be boosted with automatic, directly deposited, yearly investments of up to $2,000—with the highest amounts going to children from the lowest-income households. At age 18, the funds could be used by the child to invest in wealth-building opportunities, such as a higher education or homeownership.

The American Opportunity Accounts Act would provide children who come from our most financially vulnerable families with the greatest wealth-building support. By the time they turn 18, low-income children would have as much as $34,000 invested in their accounts. And because the legislation’s automatic enrollment feature would allow those investments to grow to their maximum potential, this $34,000 investment could grow to be more than $45,000.

Addressing the disproportionate harms of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black, Latinx and Indigenous people will require not only significant short-term financial supports but also bold, long-term policies that tackle the systemic economic inequities that led to these outcomes. The American Opportunity Accounts Act is an important first step toward creating a more just and equitable society in which all—but especially Black, Latinx and Indigenous people, and other people of color—can prosper. Help move this critical legislation forward. Please take two minutes to call or email your legislators, to ask them to co-sponsor the American Opportunity Accounts Act today!