IMPORTANT FIELD ACTION ITEMS

This week there is one time sensitive action item being asked for consideration:

1. National, State and Local Organization Sign-on Letter Opposing Child Tax Credit/Earned Income Tax Credit Provisions in 2025 Reconciliation Bill DEADLINE: This Thursday, May 29th

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:

• Thursday, May 29th, 2025 - Senate Budget Subcommittee 1 on Education Finance @ 9:00 a.m. - 1021 O Street, Room 2100
• Informational Hearing - May Revision - All Issues
• Thursday, May 29th, 2025 - Senate Budget Subcommittee 3 on Health and Human Services @ 9:00 a.m. - 1021 O Street, Room 1200
• Informational Hearing - May Revision - All Issues

Click here to go to TFC's Budget Page.

Last Week: Appropriations Committees' Suspense Hearings

On Friday, May 23rd, the Senate and Assembly Appropriations Committees held their suspense hearings to determine which bills would survive in a tough budget climate and which bills would not continue in the face of a $12 billion deficit and uncertainty over federal funding.

The Assembly Appropriations Committee blocked 35% of its bills, which is comparable to last year, and the Senate Appropriations Committee blocked 29% of its bills, which was a small increase from 26% last year. Many of the bills TFC has been tracking were held in committee due to cost concerns, including AB 397 (Gonzalez, Mark) which would extend the California Young Child Tax Credit (YCTC) to all families eligible for the California Earned Income Tax Credit (CalEITC), and AB 636 (Ortega) which would make diapers covered under Medi-Cal. This is not a surprise given that both committee chairs independently stated they would not be approving any new programs or program expansions given the budget deficit this year.

• For a full list of which bills were held in committee and will not be moving forward in the legislative process, click the links below:
• Senate Appropriations Committee Suspense Results
• Assembly Appropriations Committee Suspense Results
• Bills that will not be moving forward will be listed in RED on TFC's State Legislation Page.

TFC's Featured Bill of the Week

SB 792 (Arreguin) Childcare: state median income threshold



Author: Senator Jesse Arreguín

Elected to represent the 7th Senate District in November 2024, Senator Jesse Arreguín has spent his entire life fighting for social and economic justice and delivering results. He was previously elected Mayor of Berkeley in 2016 and re-elected in 2020, becoming the first Latino and youngest person elected to the office in a century.

The son and grandson of farm workers, Jesse was born in Fresno and raised in San Francisco. He grew up in a working-class household, where his parents instilled the values of hard work, public service, and giving back to others. When Jesse was young, his family was pushed out of their home in the midst of San Francisco’s skyrocketing housing market, due to owner-move-in evictions and rent increases. Jesse knows how disruptive and harmful evictions are to working families, and how essential housing security is for the success of families and children.

Jesse has served the Berkeley community for 16 years. Prior to his election to the City Council, he served on Berkeley’s Housing Advisory Commission, where he helped secure funding for hundreds of new affordable units, crafted the Condominium Conversion Ordinance, strengthened inclusionary housing policies, and fought for City funding for student cooperative housing. In 2004, he was elected citywide to serve on the Rent Stabilization Board. As Chair of the Rent Board, he strengthened renter protections to help keep families in their homes. He also served on the Zoning Adjustments Board, Downtown Area Plan Advisory Committee, and Planning Commission. He is a former Sierra Club Boardmember and worked as a Legislative Aide in Berkeley City Hall. 

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 29, 2025 - Memorial Day observed.
• June 2, 2025 - Floor Session only. No committee may meet for any purpose except Rules Committee, bills referred pursuant to A.R. 77.2, and Conference Committees.

Upcoming Bill Hearings:

• For updated 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.

Thriving Families CA Foundation Attends the 2025 Imagine Rally Hosted by End Child Poverty CA

Last week, TFC joined our statewide partners and local advocates at the State Capitol for the 2025 Imagine Rally hosted by End Child Poverty CA and SEIU. This year's theme was "Strength in community. Power to our workers. Abundance for our children.” Together, our coalition met with legislators to advocate for state investments in vital programs that support children, families, and communities including access to child care, food, housing, medical, and more.

Pictured left to right: TFC Director of Government Affairs McKenzie Richardson, WIC Association Media & Policy Coordinator Sarah Diaz, Assemblymember Lori Wilson

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

NEW RESOURCE POSTED: CalBudget Center's spreadsheet of resources and data to supplement federal advocacy efforts. Click here to access it or visit TFC's website page.

New Report from Child Care Aware of America - Child Care in America: 2024 Price and Supply

Child Care Aware of America has released our latest annual report, Child Care in America: 2024 Price & Supply, which takes an in-depth look at the supply and price of child care across the United States. This year’s findings tell a story of progress—and of fragility. Click here to read the report.

After years of strategic federal and state investment during the pandemic, child care supply grew. Our report shows a 1.6% increase in center-based programs and, notably, a 4.8% increase in licensed family child care (FCC) homes from 2023-2024, with four states (CA, KS, MA, VA) largely driving the national FCC increase. This is the first rise in FCC supply we’ve seen in years. These gains reflect what many of you on the ground already know: smart state policies and sustained investments can move the needle. 

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

Federal Government Update

This week, House Speaker Johnson (R-LA) delivered a win and another step towards enacting President Trump’s agenda. However, US Senate Republicans said on Thursday they will seek substantial changes to President Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill after it narrowly won approval in the House of Representatives, in a sign that significant hurdles remain for the package.

Just hours after House Republicans passed it with only one vote to spare, senators from Trump's party outlined a range of objections to the package, which encompasses many of his top domestic priorities. That could make it more difficult for Congress to settle on a final version for Trump to sign into law. More: Not done yet: US Senate Republicans plan changes to House's Trump tax-cuts bill | Reuters

As a reminder, this bill includes the largest Medicaid and SNAP cuts ever, which will result in massive coverage losses. In addition to decimating state budgets, to name just a few aspects of this dangerous plan.

Our goal from this point forward will be to influence the Senate Substitute to make the Senate bill as different as possible from the House, dramatically reducing the level of cuts and eliminating the most harmful policies. 

We need national, state and local partners to educate the Senate on what is in the House Bill and how it harms people and state budgets.

⇒ Take Action: Next week, both chambers of Congress will be on recess. This period allows members of Congress to work in their districts and engage with their constituents. Here are some actions you can take to make your voice heard about the proposed cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, which affect tens of millions of families:

• Tell the Senate: Prioritize Women and Families, Not Tax Breaks for Billionaires (NWLC)
• The following comms tools were developed by the Child Care for Every Family Network with the goal of supporting state and local partners make sure their local communities are fully informed of who needs to be held responsible—BY NAME—for the devastating budget bill that was pushed forward by the House Republicans in the early hours of this morning. Please share with any other state/local partners in your networks!
• Press Release Template - C3 friendly (See CCEFN already-released statement for another example)
• Targeted House R OpEd Template (For both C3 and C4 partners!)
• Priority R targets include MoCs in the following states (but we encourage everyone to consider targeting any House R’s in your state)
• California, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Wisconsin
• 2025 Congressional Recess Power Building Toolkit (C3 version) and (c4 version) (Child Care for Every Family Network)

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).

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Escalating Attacks on Head Start & Early Head Start

Your advocacy is working, and we must remain vigilant.

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

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

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

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⇒ Take Action

• 2025 Congressional Recess Power Building Toolkit (C3 version) and (c4 version) (Child Care for Every Family Network)
• All polling, reports, and research on child care from approximately the last two years collected in one place (Child Care for Every Family Network)
• Messaging Guide for Child Care (c3 version) (c4 version) (Child Care for Every Family Network)
• Toolkit: Protecting Immigrant Families - Children Thrive Action Network
• Protect Medicaid 2025 Toolkit - Google Docs (Caring Across Generations)
• Meals and Snacks - CACFP Federal Advocacy Toolkit 2025 - Google Docs
• CHN budget and tax toolkit for local groups (Spring 2025) (Coalition on Human Needs)
• To help local and state advocates raise their voices to protect and strengthen key nutrition, housing, early childhood, and other assistance, we’ve created this toolkit with resources to use for requesting a District (or DC) meeting with members of Congress, organizing site visits for policymakers, conversations with members of Congress and/or their staff (which you can use at a local town hall), emails to Congressional staff, getting letters published in local newspapers, and more. See our state data resource library along with our general poverty and budget libraries for additional resources. 
• CHN/partner events joint calendar

***

Please feel welcome to reach out with any questions or opportunities for collaboration.

05/19 Update - We just made history on DWOCC — now, let’s keep organizing!

From Community Change Action Childcare Changemakers:

Day Without Child Care is a moment where we show our power, where we come together and know we are in solidarity together. On Monday, May 12th, we broke the mold together in the largest one-day work stoppage in childcare history when 1,395 childcare providers called out or closed their doors for the day. 

Our fight continues. Right now:

• Wisconsin leaders are closing their doors and walking out because their Wisconsin elected officials just removed $480 million of childcare funding from their budget. Their representatives are not just ignoring the statewide childcare crisis — they’re actively making it worse.
• Nevadans are one vote shy of passing crucial legislation that will allow more affordability and accessibility for families. 
• And, as you heard on our virtual call on Monday, the circumstances are dire in Santa Clara County, where so many Head Start supports are being gutted. 

We come together for a Day Without Child Care to show our power, to see that we are not alone, and to be fired up for the fight that continues. 

Here are some highlights from our day:

• 1,395 childcare providers closed their doors or called out with the support of the families they serve
• Powerful childcare leaders organized 100s of events across 27 states & D.C.
• We swarmed state Capitol buildings across the country including in Columbus, OH, Baton Rouge, LA, and St. Paul, MN, to name a few….
• Our work gained national attention, with features on NPR and over 330 local news outlets across the country, reaching more than 186.4 million people
• Your social media posts reached approximately 20.6 million impressions and our best count so far has 131 local, state and federal elected officials participating in or supporting events 

Most Viewed Bills of the Week:

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

2.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.

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

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

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

6.H.R.22 [119th] SAVE Act

7.H.R.3346 [119th] To abolish the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes.

8.S.129 [119th] No Tax on Tips Act

9.H.R.1526 [119th] NORRA of 2025

10.S.1046 [119th] No Tax On Overtime Act 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

Early Childhood Policy Council Meeting Notice and Agenda

Please join us for our May 29th meeting of the Early Childhood Policy Council. The Meeting Agenda and Budget Letter for this meeting are now available on the Early Childhood Policy Council website.  

Thursday, May 29, 2025 

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Physical Meeting Information: 

1000 G Street, Sacramento, CA 95814

WestEd, 5th floor, Capitol Room

Virtual Meeting Information:

Please use this Zoom link to register in advance for the meeting

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

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.

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

CDSS & CDE Information & Updates

RELEASED May 23, 2025: Child Care Bulletin (CCB) 25-08: Child Care for California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWorks) Family Reunification Participants

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Child Care and Development Division (CCDD) has recently published the following document on its Internet website: Child Care Bulletin (CCB) 25-08: Child Care for California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (Calworks) Family Reunification Participants.

The purpose of this Child Care Bulletin (CCB) is to provide guidance to County Health and Human Services Agencies (HHSAs) and Child Care and Development contractors administering the California Work Opportunity and Responsibility to Kids (CalWORKs) Stages One, Two, and Three Child Care Programs for families receiving CalWORKs Family Reunification (FR) services pursuant to Assembly Bill 135 (Chapter 85, Statutes of 2021).

RELEASED May 21, 2025: Child Care Bulletin (CCB) 25-07 Travel And Mileage Reimbursement Guidance 

The California Department of Social Services (CDSS) Child Care and Development Division (CCDD) has recently published the following document: Child Care Bulletin (CCB): 25-07 Travel And Mileage Reimbursement Guidance. 

The purpose of this Child Care Bulletin is to provide child care and development contractors with updated information regarding elimination of travel prohibitions for state-funded and state-sponsored travel, travel and per diem rates, out-of-state travel approval, and updated mileage reimbursement rates. 

If you have any questions or need additional guidance regarding the information in this letter, please contact your Program Quality and Improvement Consultant. You can find their contact information on the Child Care and Development Contacts webpage. 

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.

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 27- May 30, 2025:

Tuesday, May 27th:

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

Thursday, May 29th:

• Early Childhood Policy Council Meeting from 9:00am-12:00pm. Register Here.
• PIN 25-07-CCLD: Upcoming Administrator Certification Bureau Vendor Webinar. Register Here.

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.