Federal Budget Update: Bill Includes Additional Funds for Early Childhood

From the National Women’s Law Center, regarding the federal budget: The bill text for all 12 appropriations bills was released Monday and there is some news to share on child care & early learning.

The Labor-HHS-Education bill includes over +$1 billion for child care & early learning, including:

A total of $5.826 billion for CCDBG, an increase of +$550 million over last year.  CLASP have estimated that this increase could serve up to 33,600 additional children – not nearly as many as the House’s $2.4 billion proposal, but still an incredibly important step forward!  

A total of $10.613 billion for Head Start, an increase of +$550 million over last year, including +$100 million for Early Head Start, +$193 million for a cost-of-living-adjustment, +$250 million for quality improvement activities, and some other small plus-ups.

A total of $275 million for PDG, an increase of +$25 million over last year.

According to the Washington Post, the House of Representatives passed the $1.4 trillion spending package on Tuesday. It now goes to the U.S. Senate for approval, then to the president for his signature, ahead of the government shutdown deadline.

Alliance 2019-2021 Steering Committee

At the Alliance meeting on November 7, our members elected a slate of officers and steering committee members. The following members will serve on our steering committee:

• Jennifer Quaye-Hudson, CT Voices for Children - Co-Chair
• Izzi Greenberg, Middlesex Coalition for Children - Co-Chair
• Georgia Goldburn, Hope for New Haven - Vice Chair/Treasurer
• Edie Reichard, Sleeping Giant Day Care/State-Funded Director's Forum -Vice Chair
• Eva Bermudez-Zimmerman, CSEA/SEIU Local 2001, Advocacy Chair
• Cindy Bryan, Educational Playcare, Membership/Nominating Chair
• Liz Fraser, CAHS, Fiscal Agent
• Amy Cubbage, CAEYC, Steering Committee Member
• Julie Giaccone, CREC, Steering Committee Member
• Joanne Kelleher, Early Childhood Collaborative of Southington, Steering Committee Member
• Jill Marini, Hartford Region YWCA, Steering Committee Member
• Sue Radway, Riverfront Children's Center, Steering Committee Member
• Jade Thomas, All Our Kin, Steering Committee Member
• Gail Nolan, Alliance for Bloomfield's Children, Ex-Officio Member
• Karen Rainville, Waterbury School Readiness, Ex-Officio Member

Federal Budget Update: Looks Like Another CR

According to the Coalition on Human Needs, Congress will need another stopgap measure in the form of a Continuing Resolution (CR) in order to continue funding the federal government. The current CR, which was passed just before the start of the new fiscal year on Oct. 1, provides funding for all government agencies through Nov. 21. Fights over spending allocations amongst the various government agencies and funding for President Trump’s border wall have held up progress in getting spending bills through Congress. To read more, click HERE.