• On Jan. 7, Gov. Jerry Brown released his proposed budget, the starting point for months of budget discussions. Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), chair of the California Legislative Women’s Caucus, and Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), vice-chair, released the following statement that reads in part:
“The Legislative Women’s Caucus remains committed to ensuring all families have access to safe, reliable, and quality early care and education so parents can work and children can learn,” Jackson said in a press release. “I appreciate that the governor has proposed funding for early care and education programs in his proposed budget that exceeds what he proposed last year—but it is still not sufficient to meet the needs of California’s workforce and our children in their critical early learning years. As the budget moves forward in the process, the Legislative Women’s Caucus remains committed to pursuing additional funding for state child care programs, so we can ensure that our youngest learners have a foundation for academic success and parents can continue working toward a stronger economic future for themselves, their children, and our state.”
Garcia added, “This year, the Legislative Women’s Caucus will continue to prioritize a strong early care and education system for California that benefits our workforce and our youngest learners.” She continued, “When parents cannot find or afford child care, the economy loses out on valued workers. Parents risk piecing together care that does not meet a child’s needs, or being forced out of the job market. Children, our future workforce, miss opportunities to learn. A significant investment in early education that starts at birth isn’t simply an investment in children, it is an investment in families and an investment in our future workforce.”
• On Jan. 6, Rep. Lois Capps (D-Santa Barbara) issued the following statement after voting against the Republican Reconciliation bill that would dismantle the Affordable Care Act and defund Planned Parenthood.
“It is absolutely outrageous that House Republicans have chosen to start the New Year with the same old attacks on access to affordable health insurance and efforts to defund Planned Parenthood,” Capps said. “Rather than wasting our time on a bill that would take away health coverage for 22 million Americans and keep women from critical health care services, Congress should be working to strengthen our economy and support families.”
The Republican Reconciliation bill passed the House Jan. 6 with Democrats opposing.
According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the Republican Reconciliation bill would take away health insurance from 22 million Americans, Capps said in a press release.
This article appears in Jan 14-21, 2016.