May 8, 2008

OVERVIEW

Congratulations! This legislative session, like the last, is a testament to what can happen when engaged citizens come together around an issue and key legislators champion that issue. Although lower-than-projected revenues put enormous pressure on legislators to cut key services and initiatives, the final FY09 budget includes:

• $852,000 to raise the eligibility guidelines for the Child Care Tuition Assistance (Subsidy) Program from 1999 to 2000 levels, starting in January 2009.  The income guidelines that determine whether or not a family is eligible and what percentage of a full subsidy payment they receive had not been updated since 1999.  While there is still a long way to go to reach current (2008) income guidelines, it is an incremental step toward our goal in a time of very scarce resources.  It will be enough to permit some additional families to qualify for child care assistance. It will also mean that families who are receiving subsidy payments will be getting a little closer to the full amount they would get if current guidelines were used.

• Restoration of a $262,000 proposed cut to the Building Bright Futures Councils (this means level funding for FY09—no increase but no cut). Building Bright Futures--a public-private partnership to coordinate and oversee Vermont's early childhood care, health and education system—was on the list of potential FY09 budget cuts.  The first cuts that were proposed would have eliminated the Regional Directors and would most likely have destroyed the effort to bring together the disparate parts of the service delivery system for young children.  The initiative to create this overarching structure has been in the works for more than five years and is critical to the state’s ability to support our children’s early care and learning.  Building Bright Futures has already leveraged private sector funds and is poised to leverage additional investment.

• $50,000 for the Building Bright Futures Facilities Fund.  Created in 2002 by the Vermont Legislature, the Building Bright Futures Facilities Fund “assists new and existing child care and youth programs expand the supply and improve the quality of care available to Vermont families. The Fund is a grant resource that when blended with other financing sources enables programs to start, relocate, expand, or improve their physical facility and accessibility. Administered by the Vermont Community Loan Fund (VCLF), the program is funded with revenue generated from the sale of specialty child care licenses plates, appropriations by the Vermont Legislature, and contributions from the general public” (www.vclf.org/loans_grants/childcare/bright.html). This is the first time that money for this fund is in the base budget rather than in the part of the budget that lists one-time appropriations. This means that it most likely will continue to be funded each year.

• Restoration of a $176,000 proposed cut to the Regional Partnerships, which work closely with Building Bright Futures Councils. The Regional Partnerships “develop and implement local strategies for improving the social well-being of Vermonters,…engage diverse community members as partners and…mobilize community resources to enhance local support services and systems to improve outcomes” (http://humanservices.vermont.gov/community-partners/copy_of_regional-community-partnerships). This cut would have severely undermined communities’ ability to do the planning and community-building required to meet diverse needs.

Also significant is the inclusion of the subsidy increase under “Addressing Challenges Faced By Employers and Workers” in the FY09 Budget Highlights document. This is a clear signal that policymakers are making the link between child development and economic development. Your efforts to educate policymakers are clearly bearing fruit!

For additional information about the FY09 budget, see the links at the top of the Joint Fiscal Office’s web site under “FY 2009 Appropriations Documents.”

SUBSIDY INCREASE IN PERSPECTIVE

The ultimate goal of the Kids Are Priority One Coalition’s child care subsidy campaign remains the same:

• increase eligibility guidelines to current levels;
• raise rates to reflect market rates;
• create a mechanism to ensure eligibility guidelines and rates are adjusted annually so we do not find ourselves in this situation again.

Although we still have more work to do on this issue before we achieve this goal, it is important to take stock of this victory. It reflects lots of grassroots organizing, the power of people telling their story in a way that links their situation to a larger public policy issue, what can happen when organizations come together to “sing from the same sheet of music,” and the impact of key legislators who take a stand on an issue.

In particular, we would like to recognize House Speaker Rep. Gaye Symington (Jericho), Senate President Pro Tem Sen. Peter Shumlin (Windham), and House and Senate Appropriations Committee members, all of whom had to make very hard choices when deciding how to allocate scarce funds. In addition to the leadership shown by these legislators, every legislator deserves a “thank you.” Many other legislators stepped forward to support this increase in one way or another, despite the hard choices they faced. Please take a minute to thank your legislators. (To find your legislator and his/her contact information, go the Kids Are Priority One Coalition's web site.) In your own words, thank them for working so hard to make sure that Vermont's young children were spared the budget axe. Let them know that the subsidy increase will make a difference in the lives of young children and their families.

When emailing your legislator(s), it would be great to send a copy to your local newspaper. (To find the email address, go to your newspaper’s web site and look under “Contact Us.”) This is an easy and effective way to generate some press about this issue. Please send us the link to any press coverage your emails generate!

Again, congratulations on your hard work, effective grassroots lobbying, and excellent community organizing.

For more information: Contact Barbara Postman, Policy Coordinator for the Kids Are Priority One Coalition, at bpostman@voicesforvt.kids.org or (802) 229-6377, or Kim Friedman, the Coalition’s Organizing Director, at kfriedman@svcable.net or (802) 348-9879.