• On June 15, the Legislature voted to pass the 2016-17 state budget, a plan that includes two California Legislative Women’s Caucus priorities, a significant multi-year investment in state-subsidized child care and early education that rises to $527 million by 2020, and repeal of the Maximum Family Grant Rule. The budget now heads to the governor for his signature.
In response, California Legislative Women’s Caucus leaders, Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), chair, and Assemblymember Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), vice-chair, released the following statements along with Sen. Holly Mitchell (D-Los Angeles). Mitchell championed the repeal of the Maximum Family Grant Rule, which denied children basic-needs assistance if they were conceived and born while a family member was receiving aid.
In a press release Jackson said: “I was very proud to cast my vote for a budget that includes two hard-fought priorities championed by the Women’s Caucus. For far too many families, the cost of child care is out of reach, rivaling college tuition or monthly rent. By investing and stabilizing our state-supported child-care system, we are ensuring that more parents can earn and children can learn and our child care workers are supported. …”
Garcia said in the press release: “Creating quality jobs, not poverty jobs, for the child-care givers who are overwhelmingly women and predominantly women of color, is common sense. … The increases we fought for in this budget are tied to the minimum wage increases and data that is current and reflective of today’s needs. We believe this is the most significant increase women have seen in more than a decade.”
• Rep. Lois Capps (CA-24) joined her colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee in support of the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act (H.R. 2646), which passed unanimously, by a vote of 53 to 0.
Following a lengthy revision process, committee members were able to come together to pass H.R. 2646 in a bipartisan effort to address gaps in the American mental health care system. The bill contains several provisions to strengthen current mental health care services and practices.
“The committee’s passage of H.R. 2646 is an important step forward in addressing the pressing problem of inadequate mental health care services in our country,” Capps said in a press release. “The legislation takes important steps forward to strengthen the mental health system. It includes a strong emphasis on improving the evidence base for care, as well as strengthening mental health care workforce provisions that are critical to expanding access to treatment. It also funds evidence-based interventions to treat and support individuals with serious mental illness, specific programs to improve pediatric care, and an emphasis on suicide prevention. And while this legislation does not accomplish everything that is needed to fully reform our mental health care system, it’s an important step forward and I am pleased to support it.”
This article appears in Jun 23-30, 2016.
