Gov. Jerry Brown gave his final State of the State Address earlier this month. He spent much of the address defending key projects and policies of his administration: the bullet train project, Delta tunnel plan and criminal justice reforms. He also addressed continuing devastation from natural disasters, predicting that the destruction would increase with climate change, and reiterating California's leadership on environmental protection and study. Notably absent from the Address were mention of California's housing crisis, rising homeless rates, or the recent sexual harassment scandals in the Legislature.

Last week, following the government shutdown, President Trump signed a 3 week Continuing Resolution (CR) approved by the Senate and the House, which will keep the government funded through February 8. A deal was reached when Senate leaders, including Majority Leader McConnell, agreed that an immigration bill would be brought for a vote before Feb 8. The most recent CR includes language to extend CHIP for six years, but does not include a renewal of funding for other health care programs, such as the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting program or Community Health Center program. Congress will still need to pass a broader omnibus bill for fiscal year 2018, and unless budget caps are raised any spending bill could trigger automatic cuts to domestic and military spending.

The Trump administration announced a new division within DHSS devoted to "conscience and religious freedom." The work of the new division, which falls under the Office of Civil Rights, may pave the way for health care workers to refuse giving specific types of care, like contraception or abortion, based on their religious beliefs. Critics say the move could hurt civil rights protections for lesbian, gay and transgender people, and hurt patient care. This move follows President Trump's signing of an executive order last May " Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty," with the goal of enforcing protections for religious freedom and amending the Affordable Care Act's regulations that require the coverage of contraception. In October, the Trump administration rolled back the Affordable Care Act's birth control mandate allowing employers to deny birth control coverage if they have a religious or moral objection.

There's less than a month left to take advantage of the early bird registration discount for CWA's 26th Annual Conference and Trade Show, April 29-May 2 in San Diego. You won't want to miss the inspiring plenary speakers and five tracks of concurrent workshops your planning committee of peers has put together to showcase ways WIC can be a Bridge to Health. Network with your colleagues and get up to speed on quality early-years nutrition and breastfeeding support, worksite wellness and leadership, strengthening families to address challenges, innovation and collaboration, and more. ACTION: Review the latest agenda and events, and register by February 23!

It is not easy to make ends meet in California especially for young low-income families. Parents can be faced with tough decisions over how to feed their family and also pay other bills. Inadequate nutrition in the prenatal and early years can result in long term poor outcomes for children. Better Together: Optimizing Nutrition Access in the Earliest Years, a report from CA Food Policy Advocates, lays out the need to maximize dual enrollment in WIC and CalFresh. It makes the case for streamlined program applications, greater use of program benefits resulting in longer participation, more robust referral systems between Medi-Cal, Cal Fresh and WIC, establishing program participation standards, and tapping best practices, such as access to fresh produce in farmers' markets.