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| Linda Olivenbaum |
All Eyes on the Legislature!
Your Public Policy Committee has been focusing on the state budget process and many pieces of legislation that have implications for our field.
The Committee voted in favor of CAEYC signing on to a joint ECE coalition response to Governor Brown’s budget proposal and again to his May Revise statement. We joined many other organizations to strongly oppose the Governor’s proposal to make sweeping changes to our current child care system during the budget process—while adding no additional funding! In contrast, the statement expressed strong support for the Joint Legislative Women’s Caucus request for $800 million more funding for child care.
The statement also advocated for increasing all reimbursement rates (both the Standard Reimbursement Rate and the Regional Market Rate) to more realistically reflect the true cost of providing services while increasing access for families by advocating for 12-month eligibility, updating eligibility guidelines to the current State Median Income (SMI) and funding additional slots.
We closely monitored pending legislation in Sacramento and voted to Support these bills:
AB 492 (Gonzalez): Includes $50 monthly diaper needs benefit in CalWORKS supportive services.
AB 598 (Calderon): Amends law pertaining to Family Child Care Home Education Networks (FCCHENs).
AB 1567 (Campos): Amends After School and Education (ASES) Program priorities for enrollment to include homeless youth and CalWORKs.
AB 1644 (Bonta): Renames the School-based Early Mental Health Intervention and Prevention Services for Children Act to the HEAL (Healing from Early Adversity to Level the Impact) Act and expands services to include children attending preschool at publically funded elementary school sites.
AB 1712 (Obernolte): Authorizes CDE to use digital signatures, including for direct-funded programs.
AB 1897 (Mullin): Establishes a birth to entering first grade license.
AB 2036 (Lopez): Online companies that advertise license-exempt child care services must post statement about Trustline.
AB 2150 (Santiago and Weber): 12-month eligibility for subsidized child care services.
AB 2368 (Gordon): Establishes Santa Clara County pilot subsidy system.
SB 670 (Jackson): Tax credits to employers who develop and offer child care services for their workforce.
These bills are winding their way through the legislature and will land on the Governor’s desk soon. Please check out the Public Policy tab here to monitor latest developments.
Contact Us!
If you have any questions about the work of the CAEYC Public Policy Committee please contact Linda Olivenbaum at lolivenbaum2@comcast.net or our Co-Chair, Joyce Stone, at joycesto@gmail.com. We will work hard this year to let you know how you can participate in this important work. Our voices are crucial to making sure that the children and families in our communities receive the highest quality child development programs and other services they need. All of this begins with informed public policy decisions.