Friday, August 31st, upon adjournment of the legislative day, the final recess for the session 2017-18 began.

September 30 is the last day for the governor to sign or veto bills passed by the Legislature before September 1.  Bill enacted on or before this date become effective on January 1, 2019.

A couple pieces of highlighted legislation worthy of your consider include:

AB 60 (Santiago) - RECOMMEND:  SUPPORT.  We know that families are more stable in their employment when they have stable child care. It is burdensome to require parents already deemed income eligible for child care to continually report and submit documents to caseworkers that in no way ought to jeopardize their eligibility. However, with our current set of regulations and requirements, parents that fail to provide ongoing paperwork attesting to their income are put in that position; and the agencies that fail to show collection of ongoing income documentation are in threat of being written up during an audit and/or performance review as a condition of their contract. 

AB 60 implements the top recommendation of the California Department of Social Services and Department of Education Interagency Child Care Taskforce.  The California Welfare Directors Association (CWDA) and the child care community also support AB 60. It has bipartisan support and has passed unanimously out of Senate Appropriations, and by consent in the Senate and the Assembly.   STATUS:  ENROLLED

AB 605 (Mullin) - RECOMMEND:  SUPPORT.   This bill will allow a much needed birth-to-entering -first-grade license option for day care centers.  Further, this bill  will allow the Department of Social Services (DSS) to create an integrated child care facility license as an additional option that providers can choose when applying for or renewing their facility license. The addition of an integrated birth through entering first grade facility license option will allow child care and preschool providers the ability to implement the best practices around continuity of care when transitioning children, teachers and peers between age-specific classrooms. This integrated facility license option will also allow providers with federal contracts to more fully meet continuity of care regulations. Additionally, AB 605 will allow child care providers the ability to better manage their school year enrollment so that their facility can reach maximum utilization, thus serving more children and families. A single license option will reduce the administrative burden on severely underfunded child care centers and DSS so that they can both focus on providing a safe and healthy environment for California's children.   

STATUS:  ENROLLED

AB 2626 (Mullin) - RECOMMEND:  SUPPORT.  This bill will ensure more families have access to subsidized child care and early learning throughout the state by extending key flexibilities and efficiencies, already provided to 13 counties, statewide to all applicable early learning contracts.Specifically, AB 2626 wouldexpand age eligibility and remove restrictions for children who can be served in a California State Preschool Program, increase the State Median Income eligibility threshold in order to expand the number of working families who are eligible for services, increase the eligibility timeframe in order to allow stability and continuity of services for children and families, increase the utilization of available funding by allowing providers stability and continuity of services of enrollment of children and families, offer better workforce stability and quality by providing staff development opportunities, and provide flexibility in funding adjustments to allow contractors to better utilize available funding.  

STATUS:  ENROLLED

November 6 is the General Election.

November 30 is the last day " sine die" of the 2017-18 session.

Click here   to be directed to CAPPA's website to see all of the legislation that has been identified to be of interest to our field and the status. 

How to communicate a support or position on a bill sent to the governor?  

• Click here to be directed to the page Contact the Governor
• Scroll down to where it says Email the Governor
• Fill out the requested information
• Where it notes PLEASE CHOOSE YOUR SUBJECT, click on the down arrow and scroll down to the specific piece of legislation you are taking a position; you will be directed to the next page wherein you note either a Con or Pro position, then space to write your email.  Once completed, simply push send.

Federal - TAKE ACTION!!

Hello Blue Ribbon Commission Community!

 

Please save the date for our next Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission hearing in Long Beach, CA. This will be our final hearing before moving into our draft recommendations and final report in spring 2019. Throughout the development of our final work, we will be holding public hearings in Sacramento to discuss recommendations and take public comment.

 

What:  Assembly Blue Ribbon Commission on early childhood education hearing

When: Tuesday, October 9, 2018 at 1:00pm

Topic: Opportunity for All our Young Learners and their Families (L.A. Focus)

Where: Long Beach City College

Trustees Boardroom (building T on map)

4901 East Carson Street

 Long Beach, CA 95808

Map: https://maps.lbcc.edu/PDF/LACMap.pdf

Parking: Parking Structure J, Lot K or Lot N.

The Child Care Access Means Parents in Schools (CCAMPIS) Improvement Act of 2017 is the only federal program that supports child care services for low-income parents in college, and campus-based services are provided year-round. Earlier this year, Congress agreed to a two-year budget deal that would provide billions in new funding for early education programs.