4/20/22
Child Care Funding in the California State Budget
State legislators will make important decisions about child care funding over the next few weeks. These child care funding decisions affect all of us, from families whose children attend child care, to child care providers who nurture the next generation, and the children who rely on good, affordable child care to learn and grow.
Governor Newsom will soon release the May Revision of the Budget, based on California’s April tax collections. Lawmakers and the governor work together to decide how much to spend on education, child care, health care, and other essential services.
The Budget Committee is where much of the action happens. Child care advocates visit Budget Committee members in both the Senate and the Assembly each week. Our budget priorities are:
- Better pay, retirement and health care for child care providers, and
- More subsidies, so families can get help paying for child care.
Click here to see the complete list of budget priorities that child care advocates request.
Child Care Funding in the Federal Budget
We remain hopeful that we can win new funding in Congress through the Budget Reconciliation process before Memorial Day.
For too long, families have struggled to find and afford child care, and child care programs have struggled to be viable. The pandemic highlighted this vicious cycle.
It is time for Congress to act, through the process known as Reconciliation. This is how Congress directs Senate committees to adjust their spending. Since the Senate refused to pass the Build Back Better Act, which included complete child care funding, this is the only path forward for child care.
Here’s how you can take action:
- Sign This Petition telling Senators that they MUST include child care and pre-k in the economic package!
- Make a Quick Phone Call – Text “ChildcareNow” to 747464 and enter your zip code, and you’ll be connected to your senator’s office! Tell them it’s time to #SolveChildCare!
- Click on this super quick and easy tool to send a Letter to Editor (LTE) to your local newspaper, it’s super easy with the LTE tool!
- Share your child care story to our story collection that MomsRising will share with elected officials!
- Make a quick, impactful video sharing your child care story here!
- Tweet – If you’re on Twitter, then tweet this message to each of your senators: “Congress cannot leave families behind. It’s time to #SolveChildCare. Child care and Pre-K MUST be included in the reconciliation package!”
Legislation affecting children and families
SB 976 (Leyva) proposes a universal preschool program. It builds on transitional kindergarten and allows families to choose school sites or neighborhood child care centers and homes. Right now, TK is limited to school sites. Families should be able to select preschools that will work for their children and their work schedules.
AB 92 (Gómez-Reyes) makes sure that families with child care subsidies don’t pay unnecessary fees. Child care will be more affordable. A policy rooted in the legacy of racism will be reformed.
AB 2589 (Santiago) would give a one-time payment of $2,000 (per child) to families earning less than $30,000 per year. It raises the minimum amount for the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC) from $1 to $255.
