IMPORTANT FIELD ACTION ITEMS

This week there are two time sensitive action items being asked for consideration:

1. REJECT Cut to the Emergency Child Care Bridge Fund NOTE: To sign on, send a copy of your logo here. DEADLINE MAY 16
2. REJECT damaging cuts to Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs in the budget reconciliation bill. NOTE: If your organization can sign on to the letter, please send the name of the designated individual and agency name to Margaret. DEADLINE MAY 21

California State Budget, Legislature & The Capitol

California Budget Updates



To support our field keeping up with budget related information, TFC will host updates and information on our Budget Page . If you have information you would like to have hosted, click here.

Governor Releases 2024-25 May Revision

Upcoming Budget Hearings:

• Monday, May 19th, 2025 - AGENDA Senate Budget Subcommittee 3 on Health and Human Services @ 3 p.m. - 1021 O Street, Room 1200
• Informational Hearing - May Revision - All Issues
• Wednesday, May 21st, 2025 - Assembly Budget Subcommittee 2 on Human Services @ 9 a.m. - State Capitol, Room 126
• Informational Hearing - May Revision - All Issues

Click here to go to TFC's Budget Page.

TFC's Featured Bill of the Week

AB 904 (Aguiar Curry) Childcare services: workday



Author: Assemblymember Aguiar-Curry

In November 2016, Cecilia Aguiar-Curry was elected to the California Assembly to represent the 4th District, which includes all of Napa, Lake, Yolo, Colusa Counties and part of Sonoma County.

Cecilia grew up in western Yolo County and has long served her community. After going to school and working in the Bay Area for several years, she moved back to her hometown of Winters, where she almost immediately became active in the local community and a regional leader on several issues. She first served as planning commissioner and then was elected to the city council, eventually serving as the first female mayor of Winters.

While growing up, Cecilia was surrounded by agriculture. As a youth, she cut apricots in the packing shed and helped her father in the walnut orchards in the area. She is still involved in local agriculture to this day as she and her brothers own an 80-acre walnut orchard.

After earning a degree in business administration from San Jose State University, she launched a consulting firm that specialized in public outreach with government agencies.

How to Support a Bill

As bills move through California’s legislative process, they are presented to and heard by several committees who may recommend amendments and vote on whether or not the bill should continue through the legislative process.

As legislators decide how to vote, they consider public opinion as expressed through position letters. To support a bill, you can submit your letter through the California Legislature Position Letter Portal.

If you have any questions, contact TFC staff!

Important Dates, Deadlines,

Hearings, and Bills

Dates & Deadlines:

• May 23, 2025 - Last day for fiscal committees to meet prior to June 9. Last day for fiscal committees to hear and report to the Floor bills introduced in their house.
• May 29, 2025 - Memorial Day observed.

Upcoming Bill Hearings:

• SEN Appropriations Committee - Monday, May 19th @ 10 a.m. - 1021 O Street, Room 2200
• 582 (Stern) - Health and care facilities: licensing during emergencies or disasters.
• SB 18 (Rubio) - Food Desert Elimination Grant Program.
• ASM Appropriations Committee - Wednesday, May 21th, 2025 @ 9 a.m. - 1021 O Street, Room 1100
• Friday, May 23rd, 2025 - Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees' Suspense Hearings

For next week's bill hearings and when letters are due, please visit TFC's State Legislation Page.

Bills to Watch:

The following bills of interest have been introduced. You can follow these bills and more on TFC's State Legislation page on our website. Please note that TFC does not formally support nor oppose any bill listed unless explicitly stated.

• SCR-72 (Wahab) Childcare Awareness Month
• Would proclaim May 2025 as Childcare Awareness Month. Good data on the economic impact of child care was cited.



Legislative Resources:

• See the full 2025-26 Legislative Calendar here.
• Visit TFC's Legislation Page to find a comprehensive list of bills of interest.
• Visit TFC's Budget Page for full budget bill details, as well as budget hearing video archive links.
• Click here to view all the bills that the Assembly and Senate introduced this legislative year.
• Click here to view legislative committee information, rules, and position letter deadlines.

Did You Know?

Child Care Q&A's

NOTE: If you have a question you would like answered or researched, please email.

Question: Will child care provider Cost of Care monthly payments continue?

Answer: Yes. Enacted in the 2024-25 Budget and referenced to continue in the 2025-26 Proposed Budget, this monthly amount will continue.

Federal Update

Click here to read the most recent weekly federal update from the National Women's Law Center.

Federal Government Update

Next week, House GOP leaders are planning to share and debate details regarding their mega bill as Republicans try to resolve massive divisions in their caucus over spending cuts to Medicaid, and food assistance, among other key priorities. 

• GOP fight over Medicaid cuts complicates path for Trump's 'big, beautiful bill' : NPR
• White House wariness tempers GOP plans to share food-aid spending with states - POLITICO

New from NWLCAF: 

• Why GOP Budget and Tax Proposals to “Help” Families Won’t Actually Help 
• Talking Points: Debunking Republican Leadership’s “Pro-Family” Tax Agenda

As outlined below in the section on reconciliation, increasing the pressure on the GOP caucus divisions and slowing down this process is key to preserving funding for our priorities. 

As a reminder, Congress is conducting two separate budget processes. They are concurrently working on annual appropriations for FY26, which determines discretionary yearly spending (e.g., CCDBG, Head Start), and a reconciliation bill to enact President Trump’s agenda, which affects mandatory spending (e.g., Medicaid, SSBG, TANF, and SNAP).

***

Escalating Attacks on Head Start & Early Head Start

From Dr. Ruth Friedman, an author of the 2007 Head Start reauthorization and advised HHS on the 2016 overhaul of Head Start regulations:

With the release of President Trump’s budget for FY 2026 on May 2, the president has put billionaires over families yet again—but America seems to have narrowly escaped one specific terrible Trump policy idea when it comes to the Head Start program. 

Though the president has released unusually few details thus far for his FY 2026 budget request, he appears to have reversed course from a leaked proposal that called for the end of the Head Start program beginning October 1, 2025. The leaked proposal made no more economic sense than his tariff policy and was yet another effort to dismantle America’s public education system, so it’s a good thing someone changed his mind. But it remains deeply concerning this administration even entertained ending Head Start as that shameful proposal would have harmed the nearly 800,000 children and their families who benefit from the program each year and also would have had immediate, disastrous, and far-reaching economic impact on thousands of communities in every corner of the country.

Though the disastrous budget proposal has been withdrawn, the Trump administration has already taken steps to undercut the program and vigilance is critical. The administration first temporarily froze funding and then slow-walked routine funding to local programs, which has led to temporary closures and confusion around teacher layoffs. They also fired many federal staff administering the program and closed five regional federal offices. In March, the Trump administration told Head Start programs they couldn’t spend money on diversity, equity, and inclusion activities, even though this undefined Fox News soundbyte is in direct contradiction to federal law that requires Head Start programs to provide high-quality evidence-based programming to children with diverse backgrounds, provide inclusive and accessible services for children with disabilities, and consider diversity in the development of staff. The ACLU has filed litigation against the Trump administration arguing its actions reflect an illegal dismantling of the program. More: America Narrowly Escapes a Terrible Trump Head Start Policy Idea (for Now) - The Century Foundation

Now is the time to ensure that no further damage is done to this critical lifeline for nearly 800k children, their families, and communities. We must ensure that members of Congress demand that HHS deliver timely payments without additional burdens on grantees AND demand that the Trump Administration reinstate fired employees and reopen ACF regional offices.

⇒ Urge your members of Congress to fight for and prioritize funding for Head Start and demand that the Trump Administration reinstate fired employees and reopen ACF regional offices.

These attacks are also not a surprise - we’ve long known that there has been a decades-long campaign against Head Start, culminating in Project 2025, which the President has been implementing piece by piece. We cannot treat this fight as just another partisan battle but as the real threat to the existence of Head Start that it is. 

More:

• 5 Things To Know About Head Start - Center for American Progress (including map & district data)
• Head Start Fact Sheets - NHSA

Reconciliation/Budget Resolution 

What this means and why it matters:

• Using a special legislative process called reconciliation that requires only 50 votes in the Senate, Congressional Republicans plan to enact massive, long-term policy changes along party lines. Republican majorities in both chambers are planning to eliminate and cut funding to programs that families, children, and early educators rely on to pay for harsh immigration policies and tax cuts for billionaires and corporations. With less revenue available and cuts on the table, CCDBG, Head Start, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, the Social Services Development Block Grant (SSBG), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and many others remain at risk. 
• What proposed federal budget cuts and policy changes will cost children | First Focus on Children
• Cuts to SSBG, TANF Would Eliminate Child Care for 40K Children, Disrupt Care for Millions More | CLASP
• How Would Children Fare Under Proposed Cuts to Federal Spending? | Urban Institute
• We know that federal funding for programs serving our communities is woefully inadequate, and further cuts would be devastating. Additionally, we know that states will not be able to make up the difference without these federal funds.

What’s next:

• The House and Senate have given different instructions to their respective committees and must resolve their differences before getting a bill signed into law. 
• GOP leaders have delayed a reckoning, but they have not avoided one. Resolving their budget disputes could prolong the next steps in the reconciliation process—and that could be a big problem for the entire enterprise.
• The passage of time alone does not guarantee a reconciliation push fails: it’s how people use that time.
• Bottom line: the longer Republicans in Congress take to move their reconciliation package, the more time there is to defeat it.
• Please continue to speak out about the critical importance of maintaining access to federal funding, not cutting funding for children, families, & educators, and increasing those funds through annual appropriations.
• More on reconciliation: Budget Reconciliation Talking Points and Background (Child Care for Every Family Network)

Executive Actions

On Friday, May 2nd, President Trump released his “skinny budget” request to Congress for FY26. He is seeking massive funding cuts across the federal government, unveiling a budget blueprint asking Congress to slash the nation’s overall spending on non-defense programs by more than $163 billion.

The proposal pressures Republican lawmakers to cleave more than 20% from federal coffers (including 26% from HHS) Trump has already been freezing without their approval since Inauguration Day. Congress isn’t accustomed to cutting anywhere near what Trump is proposing, amplifying tension between the White House and congressional Republicans as GOP leaders work to fund the government before the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline. More: Trump sends a scorched-earth budget plan. GOP lawmakers hate it already. - POLITICO

While we were relieved to see that Head Start was not eliminated in this version, this version does call for the elimination of CCAMPIS, PDG, and LIHEAP. Additionally, the budget request calls for the consolidation of seven IDEA programs, essentially eliminating the different parts of IDEA—including those programs dedicated to providing services to infants, toddlers, and preschool-aged children—and instead consolidating funding into one program. Lastly, we are concerned that this version of a president’s skinny budget doesn’t contain the amount of detail that we’re accustomed to seeing.

• White House resources
• Detailed cuts/reductions

While this partial budget does not specify any cuts to Head Start or the CCDBG, we know that many of the harmful cuts outlined already would directly impact women, families, children, and early educators. 

The next step in the appropriations process is the release of the President’s full budget request, expected later this month or into the first week of June. While the “skinny” budget signals the priorities of the administration, the release of the full request will make them wholly transparent. Adoption by Congress requiring 60 votes in the Senate will be required to make all or any part of the request a reality. Given the expected pushback by the Democrats coupled with a small GOP majority and the pressure of time, the possibility of a continuing resolution (flat funding) for FY26 seems highly likely.

More:

• Executive Action Watch | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• EducationCounsel - Executive Actions Chart.docx - Google Docs

Most Viewed Bills of the Week:

1.H.R.867 [119th] IGO Anti-Boycott Act

2.H.R.10127 [118th] Restoring Trade Fairness Act

3.H.R.1161 [119th] Red, White, and Blueland Act of 2025

4.H.R.22 [119th] SAVE Act

5.H.Res.353 [119th] Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

6.H.Con.Res.14 [119th] Establishing the congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal year 2025 and setting forth the appropriate budgetary levels for fiscal years 2026 through 2034.

7.H.R.1332 [118th] Thirty-Two Hour Workweek Act

8.H.R.561 [119th] Overtime Pay Tax Relief Act of 2025

9.H.R.276 [119th] Gulf of America Act

10.H.R.1526 [119th] NORRA of 2025

R&R Network and Thriving Families CA Foundation 2025 Hybrid Joint Conference - Call for Presentations NOW OPEN!

Call for Presentations NOW OPEN!

Submit a Workshop Proposal Today!

We invite you to submit a workshop proposal to this year's Hybrid Joint Conference. Please see the 2025 Call for Presentations Announcement  for more information.

Please share the below Call for Presentations links with others you feel could present workshops which would be of benefit to conference attendees.

Workshop proposals are due, Friday, June 13th.

2025 Conference

Save the Date and join your peers for an amazing 2025 Joint Conference! The California Child Care Resource & Referral Network and Thriving Families CA Foundation, are excited to announce that we will once again offer a joint conference in 2025 that has both an in-person and virtual option this Fall!

We are working with the Conference Committee to offer thoughtful, user-friendly options with keynote presentations, workshops, networking opportunities, and connection time with vendors. For the in-person conference, we will once again be at the Double Tree Hotel in Sacramento. For those who prefer the conveniences that come with virtual attendance, we’ll have an option that is similar to the last five years. Regardless of the option that works best for your agency, we look forward to connecting, supporting and partnering with you!

Registration information, along with a preliminary conference program, will be released soon! At that time, online registration will be open, and attendees will be able to select from the in-person conference or the virtual conference. Those that register for the in-person option will also receive access to the virtual conference. The in-person option will be limited to 450. When registration opens, all agencies will have an opportunity to register a limited number of people by a specific deadline. If spaces remain after the deadline they will be made available to interested agencies.  

Visit the Conference Webpage for more information as it becomes available.

Upcoming CDSS Events

SAVE THE DATE: Equity-Centered Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS) Advisory Panel

The California Department of Social Services is pleased to announce the sixth convening of the Equity-Centered QRIS Advisory Panel. The sixth Panel meeting will be June 17, 2025, from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. All meetings are open to the public so that community members can participate and share advice and ideas. The meetings will include interpretation and translation in Spanish, Chinese and American Sign Language, and additional interpretation support will be added to later meetings if needed.

Please save the following details for the next meeting:

• June 17, 2025
• 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
• Zoom Registration

PIN 25-07-CCLD: UPCOMING ADMINISTRATOR CERTIFICATION BUREAU VENDOR WEBINAR

PIN 25-07-CCLD provides notification that the Administrator Certification Bureau will be hosting a webinar for administrator certification program training vendors. Topics include website enhancements, Vendor Automation Platform updates, course monitoring, course and certificate reminders, and policy updates.

Webinar Date: May 29, 2025

Webinar registration link

An electronic copy of PIN 25-07-CCLD: UPCOMING ADMINISTRATOR CERTIFICATION BUREAU VENDOR WEBINAR is available for viewing/downloading by clicking on the following link:

PIN 25-07-CCLD: UPCOMING ADMINISTRATOR CERTIFICATION BUREAU VENDOR WEBINAR

Previous PINs are available at the CCLD website.

CDSS & CDE Information & Updates

Management Bulletin 25-03 and Frequently Asked Questions: Serving Two-Year-Old Children in California State Preschool Programs

Attention: Executive Directors and Program Directors of all California State Preschool Programs



The California Department of Education (CDE), Early Education Division (EED) has released Management Bulletin (MB) 25-03 and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) related to serving two-year-old children in California State Preschool Program (CSPP). Senate Bill (SB) 163 was signed by the Governor on July 2, 2024, and it allows, but does not require, CSPP contractors to enroll two-year-old children through June 30, 2027. With this, statute specifies that two-year-old children that are enrolled prior to June 30, 2027, may continue to be served in the program. This MB supersedes all email directives previously sent by the CDE on this topic.

The guidance found in this MB and the FAQs cover examples of age categories and definitions, eligibility, priority, ratio requirements for programs that choose to serve two-year-old children, diapering and toileting practices for serving young children in CSPP, licensing requirements, assessment requirements, and resources for contractors.

MB 25-03 can be accessed on the CDE MB 25-03 web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/mb2503.asp.

The CDE Serving Two-Year-Old Children in CSPP FAQ web page can be found at https://www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/serving2yofaqs.asp.

CCLD has released two new Provider Information Notices: PIN 25-05-CCP & PIN 25-06-CCP 

PIN 25-05-CCP announces a Child Care Licensing Program webpage for Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) to assist child care facilities and providers impacted by the January 2025 fires in. The FAQ webpage provides information on how to pursue a waiver to certain licensing or exemption from licensure requirements so providers may continue providing child care in the areas impacted by the fires.

PIN 25-06-CCP provides resources and guidance to assist child care licensees in providing care and supervision to the children of immigrant families.

Electronic copy of the PINs are available for viewing/downloading by clicking on the following links:  

• PIN 25-05-CCP - FAQs Additional Information Regarding Emergency Waivers
• PIN 25-06-CCP - Resources for Immigrant Population

Previous PINs are available at the CCLD website. 

If you have any questions regarding this PIN, please contact your local Child Care Regional Office

Social Media Spotlight

Follow TFC on social media!

We would love for you to tag us in your posts and use the hashtag #TFC2025

On Our Reading List

Information & Updates

Happening This Week, May 19- May 23, 2025:

Tuesday, May 20th:

• TFC Weekly Member Connections Meeting @ 1:00 pm. Email to register.

Thriving Families California is committed to supporting our field with a coordinated calendar. Click here to see our current calendar of events. If you have an event to add, email us and it will be added.

The Weekly Good

An uplifting way to start the week, for those of us who need a break from the chaos that is our lives.

During this time where we are all stressed, it would be great to celebrate the positive. Each week we will celebrate everyday heroes, inspiring movements and great things happening in our field.