October Licensing Forum: An Unqualified Success

Long-time CCPUnited leader Silvia Espinoza joined with providers Jamie Huang, Angela Siharath, Alicia Daniels, Chely Rodriguez-Lopez, Stacey Quesada and others to co-sponsor an October licensing forum in San Mateo at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

Joining with union staff, the leaders turned out more than 75 providers and their supporters to the forum, making it the most successful one ever! Child care providers attended from three counties: San Mateo, San Francisco, and Marin.
 
Regional Licensing Manager Sharon Howell and Program Manager Sue Humbert Rico provided updates and important information and responded to dozens of questions from providers.

The licensing staff were clearly impressed with the turnout, and the forum lasted nearly 2 1/2 hours! Also on hand were national family child care expert Kristen Anderson and San Francisco Child Care Ombudsman Julie Loder.
 
CCPUnited members are building their union and a voice for providers!  Congratulations to Silvia and all the other leaders on a job well done!

New Regional Market Rate Survey

The California Department of Education (CDE) is again surveying providers to establish new regional market rates (RMRs).

Not all providers will receive the survey, but it is important for those that do to respond to it.

Please let us know if you have received a survey, been contacted by telephone, or if you know another provider who has received the survey in the mail.

It is important that CDE knows what providers are facing in the field, so providers need to communicate their current working conditions and costs to the department as well as the needs of the children in their community.

If you receive a survey in the mail, please fill it out as best you can and return it promptly to the address included in the survey.

If you have questions, please call Joe Wilson at 510-325-7858 or Rosie Kennedy at 415-859-1081.

Child Care Providers United: The only union for child care.

Schwarzenegger Declares Fiscal Emergency to Force More Cuts

After rejecting Democratic proposals to help close California's $24 billion budget deficit through new taxes on oil companies and cigarettes and alcoholic beverages that are supported by a majority of California voters, Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of fiscal emergency in California in order to be able to impose the types of budget cuts that he previously sought in May.

Under Schwarzenegger's state of fiscal emergency, the state legislature has 45 days to devise another budget plan to close the state's more than $24 billion deficit.

After 45 days, legislators cannot adjourn or act on other bills until they solve the crisis.

Meanwhile, Schwarzenegger has ordered the closure of state offices three days a month along with the associated furlough of 235,000 state employees on those days.

Because the furloughs are unpaid, state workers will effectively be taking a 14 percent pay cut.

The fact that Republicans can block any budget plan advanced by the Democratic majority means that this fiscal emergency will likely be used by Schwarzenegger and the Republicans to extract those deep budget cuts previously rejected by Democrats without the prospect of new revenues.

These cuts include the virtual elimination of social, health, and educational programs that serve the state’s residents such as CalWORKS, Healthy Families, and In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS).

Click to read more ...

Applicants Sought for Child Care Commission

Applicants are being sought for several vacancies on the Marin County Child Care Commission, which sets local priorities for child care funding and overall child care planning and advocacy.

Commissioners are expected to attend regular monthly meetings and serve on one of the commission's committees.

There are vacancies for two consumers of child-care services, one provider of child-care services, three public agency representatives, one discretionary seat for a Canal area representative, three community representatives and one at-large representative.

For information or an application form, call 499-7331 or visit www.co.marin.ca.us and type "commissions" in the search box.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. Aug. 21.

Read the original article by clicking here.

Raise Your Voice! Stand Up for California!

CCPUnited California legislative postcardThanks to the letters, postcards, phone calls, and protests held by providers and thousands of other activists around the state, we have managed to beat back some of the more terrifying proposals that were advanced to close the state budget deficit including the total elimination of the CalWORKS and Healthy Families programs.

Now, Democrats on the Assembly budget conference committee are offering a new budget plan, and we need this proposal to pass in order to eliminate the possibility that Schwarzenegger's devastating cuts will be revived.

CCPUnited California budget flierKeep those cards, letters, and phone calls coming.

There is no guarantee that this new proposal will pass the legislature, and even if it does, Schwarzenegger may still veto it, which means that we may be facing a new round of outrageous attacks on providers and on the families who rely on us.

That's why we need you to tell our legislators to vote FOR the Democrats' new budget plan as it now stands and to stand ready to turn our focus towards the governor once it passes.

Click here to find the legislator in your district.

Click here to find the contact information of Assembly Budget Committee members.

You can also read more about how CCPUnited would balance the state budget by clicking here.

State Budget Update: A Fair & Balanced Approach?

The state legislature's budget conference committee recently unveiled its plan to close California's $24 billion budget deficit, but Arnold Schwarzenegger has already threatened to veto this plan, because it includes $2 billion worth of taxes on oil companies and tobacco companies.

Although conference committee members have attempted to moderate many of the draconian cuts proposed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in May, which included the complete elimination of Healthy Families, CalWORKs, Cal Grants and In-Home Supportive Services (IHSS), the conference committee's budget proposal still relies heavily on spending cuts to balance the budget.

Specifically, the budget conference committee is proposing:

• $11 billion worth of cuts to education, health, social, and other programs
• $10 billion worth of accounting maneuvers
• $2 billion worth of revenue solutions consisting of an oil severance tax and a tax on cigarettes.

While Child Care Providers United (CCPUnited) of California applauds the budget committee's decision to reject many of Schwarzenegger's most damaging proposals, CCPUnited feels that the committee must be more courageous in its pursuit of a fair and balanced approach.

We understand that the two-thirds budget rule makes it nigh impossible for Democrats to pass a budget containing any tax increases without Republican votes. However, $2 billion worth of revenue solutions in comparison to $11 billion worth of cuts can hardly be called balanced.

That is why we must continue to press the legislature and the governor by taking the following actions:

Click to read more ...

Remember: Elected Officials Work for the People

Child care advocates in the June 10th article "State proposing to cut funding for day care inspections" are correct when they say that the proposed cuts would put children in potentially unsafe situations.

In an attempt to justify the cuts, a governor's spokesperson says, "....with a $24 billion deficit there are simply no good options."

No good options? We're forgetting several options that are largely being ignored. In addition to some responsible trimming of the state's budget, we also need to look for new sources of revenueProp 1A Release—and yes, that includes increasing taxes on things such as big oil companies, alcohol, and tobacco.

Although many legislators start shaking in their boots at the mere mention of the words "tax increases," they face a far scarier proposition if these cuts go through—a furious public who saw their elected leaders do nothing as the safety of our children were put at risk.

Rasiene Reece Carter
Victorville

Valley Teen Moms Graduate with Child-Care Program's Help

This article from the Daily News in Southern California demonstrates the valuable role that child care providers play in our society.

Discussion of Seminal Issues Affecting California's State Budget & National Health Care Reform

Here are a few very good and informed discussions about issues that are seminal to the state budget crisis and to CCPUnited's committment to quality, affordable health care:

Click here to learn how eliminating enterprise zone tax breaks can help to balance the state budget.

Click here to learn about the current state of national health care reform.

Schwarzenegger: Stop Coddling Your Children!

Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced plans to eliminate or drastically cut dozens of health and social programs for low-income working families, potentially pushing more than 1 million California children into deep poverty.

Schwarzenegger plans to eliminate CalWORKs and Healthy Families, two major health and social programs for low- and moderate-income working families. Additionally, Schwarzenegger proposed deep cuts and restrictions in Medi-Cal, the state's public health coverage program for low-income and disabled Californians.

If approved by the legislature, California would be the only state in the country to eliminate basic welfare for low-income families with children.

These incredible actions would result in:

• Nearly 2 million children losing health coverage and basic income support;
• 22 California different counties with 10,000 or more children losing either CalWORKs income support or Healthy Families health coverage;
• Nearly 700,000 California families losing income support and health coverage;
• The loss of more than $5 billion in federal funds, despite California's huge budget deficit;
• The elimination of $850 million in child care funds, resulting in nearly 200,000 children losing child care;
• The elimination of Stage I child care for thousands of families and more than 45,000 children every month
• The elimination of 1 in 4 children from Stage II & Stage III child care;
• A loss of income for more than 18,000 family child care providers who participate in child care subsidy programs.

The California Budget Project (CBP) has a further breakdown of how the elimination of CalWorks will affect each county.

We need to take action to stop this!

Click to read more ...