Public Hearing on Wednesday, April 17, to start earlier
We are asking people to arrive by 10:30 am.
If you are planning to attend Wednesday's public hearing on funding for Early Care and Education, it is now scheduled to start earlier.
Please arrive by 10:30 am (not 12:30 pm as requested in our earlier email).
- Time: Plan to arrive at 10:30 am and to stay as late as 5:00 pm. Testimony is heard in the order of the budget, and education is last. It is hard to know what the exact time will be.
- Location: Louisiana Capitol, House Committee Room 5, 900 N. Third Street, Baton Rouge.
- Register here so we can keep you posted with updates.
- Please wear green. We will have Invest in Early Childhood stickers for you to wear.
- Plan to testify (3 to 5 minutes) about what the lack of Child Care Assistance has meant to you, your parents, and/or your community. If you represent an organization, testify about why early ed is important to your organization.
- To see the number of programs in your parish(es) and % of children served, click here.
Neither the Democratic nor the Republican Budget Bill currently contains an increase in funding for early care and education. For the first time in many years the state has a budget surplus, but early care and education has not been prioritized to receive funding, despite 10 years of budget cuts to the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP).
It is time for Louisiana to start restoring CCAP funding!
To legislators, silence means everything is fine. They need to hear from you that no new funding for CCAP is NOT Okay!
If you can't attend Wednesday's public hearing,
you can still take these action steps TODAY!
1. CALL THE MEMBERS OF HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS and EDUCATION COMMITTEES
- Call their local offices and leave a message.
- See below for the list of members of the Committees and suggested talking points.
2. Have your Teachers and Parents call.
Please feel free to contact Melanie Bronfin at 504-228-0988 or [email protected] for more information or for assistance with talking points.
Talking Points for Calls to Legislators
- Say who you are.
- If the legislator represents your parish (see below), note that he/she represents you (and your teachers and parents if that is the case).
- I am calling today to ask Representative YY to appropriate $40 million for early care and education, and specifically for the Child Care Assistance Program, which is desperately needed TODAY.
- In Louisiana, two-thirds of children birth through age five have both parents, or their single parent, in the workforce.
- Child care costs over $7,000/year in Louisiana, almost as much as a public college tuition. Even at that cost, child care teachers earn half of what Kindergarten teachers earn in Louisiana.
- Yet, we have cut the Child Care Assistance Program from serving almost 40,000 children ten years ago to 15,000 children today.
- There are currently 3,500 children on the Child Care Assistance Program waitlist, and over 2,000 more who are authorized but not funded.
- In addition, the subsidy rate per child in the CCAP program is so low Louisiana is under federal corrective action to raise rates.
- Businesses are also affected. Child care breakdowns have a substantial impact on workforce productivity. Child care issues cost Louisiana employers $816 million a year and results in a $1.1 billion loss annually for Louisiana’s economy.
- $40 million in Early Care and Education for FY 20 would cover:
- Raising rates for current children in the Child Care Assistance Program to respond to the federal corrective action that is threatening the current 15,000 slots in the federal block grant.
- Serving the over 5,500 children who are authorized and/or on the current CCAP waitlist awaiting services.
- Replacing the federal grant funding that is ending for 800 Pre-K slots for 4 year olds.
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Louisiana House Appropriations Committee
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Assumption, Lafourche, St. Mary, Terrebonne
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Charles R. "Bubba" Chaney
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East Carroll, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, West Carroll
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East Baton Rouge and Livingston
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Bienville, Jackson, Ouachita, Winn
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Caldwell, Catahoula, Frankin, LaSalle, Tensas
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St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington
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Louisiana House Education Committee
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Assumption, Lafourche, St. Mary, Terrebonne
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(225) 265-9005 or (225) 265-9005
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Ascension, Iberville, St. James
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St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington
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Iberia, Lafayette, St. Martin
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The
Louisiana Policy Institute for Children
(LPIC) advances policies to ensure that Louisiana's young children are ready for success in school and in life. We are a source of nonpartisan, independent information on issues concerning children ages birth through four in Louisiana. We also develop policy proposals informed by data, research, best practices and the experiences of other states for improving the outcomes of Louisiana’s young children, and then provide educational and outreach activities around these recommended policy solutions.
To learn how to support LPIC,
click here
. For the latest news and updates on early care and education:
Visit our website
or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. For more information, contact Melanie Bronfin, [email protected].
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