Parents, child care providers, community members, and legislators gathered last week during a series of hearings across the state with the Department of Early Learning (DEL). DEL was seeking input on a set of new rules proposed for Washington’s child care subsidy program, Working Connections (WCCC).

The proposed rules would extend the amount of time a family has before they have to re-apply for child care subsidies from up to 6 months to  12- months.  The new rule will apply to families who participate in Working Connections Child Care who have a child in Head Start, Early Head Start, or ECEAP. Currently, families are required to re-apply for their child care benefits at least every 6 months. Many families had to re-apply as often as every three months..  As we heard in Bellingham, Tacoma, Seattle, and Yakima last week, this reauthorization process is time consuming and difficult to go through– and leads to instability for kids in subsidized child care.

The change was spurred by the passage of HB 3141, successful legislation that Children’s Alliance and the Early Learning Action Alliance fought for last session. The bill extends the authorization period for a small number of the families in the program as a way to “pilot”, or test, how this change could lead to greater stability for kids, families, and child care providers. After the first year the program will be evaluated, and the longer authorization period could be extended to more families.

In this edition, you’ll find articles on Gov. Gregoire’s ideas to combat revenue shortfalls driven by the lingering recession with government reforms and budget overhauls. The state is facing another budget cycle with a projected $3 billion deficit. You’ll also find stories on options state lawmakers are considering if federal Medicaid funds are not approved and an executive order signed by Gregoire to improve access to healthier foods for Washington residents. 

 

Gov. Gregoire seeks reforms, budget overhauls I Associated Press I 06-24-2010

Gov. Gregoire says it's time to rethink the way government operates, because it could be a long time before tax streams rebound to pre-recession levels. The state is looking at another budget cycle of major deficits, as tax collections continue to drag following the Great Recession. Gregoire and Democratic legislative leaders cut about $12 billion from the current two-year budget to balance the books. But the next two-year budget is already facing a projected shortfall of about $3 billion.
Read More:
Gregoire talks tough on a new budgeting approach I Crosscut I 06-23-2010

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Working Connections subsidies make child care affordable for thousands of low-income families across Washington. But many families have to reapply several times a year to keep their kids enrolled – penalizing parents for slight changes in income that don’t make them ineligible, for losing a job, or for changing child care providers.

The result: Parents who are still eligible get mistakenly kicked off the system, and their children lose access to child care for weeks or months – disrupting their mom’s or dad’s ability to work.

 

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In this edition, you'll read more about an effort to roll back taxes on candy, soda and other goods, which would strip our state budget of hundreds of millions in revenue that lawmakers approved to protect vital services for children and families. You'll also read about a final call for public input on a statewide Early Learning Plan.

“Grocery taxes” rollback campaign
underway I The News Tribune I 06-16-2010

Bottlers hit the streets Friday the day after ballot language was approved, asking people to sign in support of rolling back new taxes
on soda pop, bottled water, candy and gum, plus a limitation on a tax
exemption that will leave makers of some processed foods paying more. (Opponents, including the Children's Alliance, are pushing a decline-to-sign campaign. We're asking people to call and e-mail when they see signature gatherers, especially those who are making misleading claims that Initiative 1107 would repeal taxes on "food and beverages.") 

• Read more about the decline-to-sign effort.

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The Department of Early Learning is making a final call for public comments on a statewide plan that will be a roadmap for developing a comprehensive, high-quality early learning system for Washington state.

This Friday is the cutoff.

After that, the Department of Early Learning (DEL), the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI), and Thrive by Five Washington (the state’s public-private early learning partnership) will spend the next few months considering the public’s comments before releasing a final plan in the fall.

In this edition, you’ll read about our support of a decline-to-sign campaign aimed at keeping Initiative 1107 off the November ballot; I-1107 would repeal much of the revenue lawmakers approved this year – money that prevented devastating cuts to many critical services for kids and families. You’ll also read about new guidelines that make Washington eligible for up to $1.3 million in home visiting funds that are available through federal health care reform.

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There’s a well-funded threat to the common-sense revenue Washington lawmakers raised this year rather than relying solely on budget cuts. That revenue protected many vital services that support children, families and seniors; health care, education and the environment; labor, low-income people and communities of color.

Most other states also took a balanced approach by approving taxes on goods like candy, while the push to tax soda is gaining momentum across the country.

The Children’s Alliance played a leading role in the successful push for taxing candy and soda. Now a potential ballot measure jeopardizes more than $200 million of the revenue that we and other advocates fought so hard to raise. We’re urging people to decline to sign Initiative 1107. 

As The News Tribune reported, Gov. Chris Gregoire has said repealing these taxes could force cuts to services like all-day kindergarten, preschool for 3-year-olds and maternity care for low-income moms.

Late last week, a court ruling against a challenge to I-1107’s ballot title cleared the way for signature-gathering to begin. The deep-pocketed beverage industry immediately poured more than $1 million into the effort to collect about 241,000 signatures by July 2.

You’ve probably seen signature gatherers with I-1107 petitions outside grocery stores and big-box retailers. We’re already hearing reports that signature gatherers are misleading people by claiming this initiative would repeal taxes on “food and beverages.”

Free speech is one thing. Misleading the public is another.

Do not let proponents of this initiative twist the truth about the very modest and targeted taxes our lawmakers thoughtfully debated before enacting.

There’s a decline-to-sign hotline you can call, e-mail or text to report any misleading information you hear from signature gatherers out there: 1-888-207-7307, WA.DeclinetoSign@gmail.com, 425-998-STOP (7867).

Read more about the decline-to-sign effort in the action alert we sent our 10,000-plus members today and on the 2010 elections endorsements page of our website.

Advocates have been on pins and needles waiting for a key U.S. House committee to release its plan for reauthorizing the federal Child Nutrition Act. It finally surfaced yesterday, and though there’s no official word on a cost estimate, it’s expected to invest $8 billion over 10 years – almost twice as much as the $4.5 billion a Senate committee proposed in March.

In this edition, you’ll read more about Gov. Chris Gregoire and other leaders urging the U.S. Senate to extend Medicaid matching funds that are vital to maintaining health care for kids and families. You’ll also find an opinion piece applauding Washington lawmakers for raising revenue that prevented budget cuts and protected services that will help families and our state weather this lingering economic downturn.

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In this edition, you’ll find coverage about the urgent need for the U.S. Senate to extend critical Medicaid matching funds that Washington and many other states need to maintain health care for kids and families. You’ll also read an opinion piece in favor of Initiative 1098, which would generate $1 billion a year for education and health care through a modest income tax on high-income earners, while cutting taxes for small businesses and middle class households. The Children's Alliance has endorsed I-1098.

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Crucial funding that’s needed to sustain Washington’s Apple Health for Kids program and other vital health care services in states all over the country is in serious jeopardy.

In this edition, you’ll read about a massive proposed cut in federal funding that could jeopardize Washington’s Apple Health for Kids program. The Children’s Alliance is strongly urging the U.S. Senate to restore this crucial funding so that comprehensive health coverage remains available to a growing number of children across our state.

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