Archive for the ‘MA state budget’ Category

The Massachusetts Senate shares its budget proposal

Posted in Business and economy, Child care, COVID-19, MA governor, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children, tagged , , on May 16, 2023| Leave a Comment »

State House

Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

On Tuesday, May 9, 2023, the Massachusetts Senate Ways and Means Committee released its $55.8 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2024.

This proposal includes significant investments in early education and care, including $475 million for C3 operational grants, $15 million for grants to early education and care providers for personal child care, $25 million in new funding for early education and care capital improvements, and $30 million for the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative. You can see more details about funding for early education and care on our State Budget Tracker.

Senators had until last Friday to file amendments to the $55.8 billion proposal. The Senate will start the debate on the budget next Tuesday, May 23. After the Senate passes its budget, a legislative conference committee will meet to negotiate differences between the House and Senate budgets.

You can continue to follow the process on the Legislature’s website and stay tuned for updates and opportunities for action!

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In quotes: Amy O’Leary on Boston Public Radio

Posted in Boston, Business and economy, Child care, COVID-19, Early educators, Funding, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Quotes, Strategies for Children, tagged , , , , on April 21, 2023| Leave a Comment »

“Covid provided an opportunity to really highlight this issue in ways that we’ve never seen. To have babies sitting behind Zoom cameras, to have toddlers trying to be busy while people were working from home; suddenly all the things we knew [about families’ early education and care needs] were in the public eye.

Ellis and SFC at BPR

Lauren Cook and Amy O’Leary at WGBH

“We have not changed our priorities even though the the brain science tells us how critical these early years are. So that’s what I’m hopeful for. It’s not just the people who work in this field, who have young children who are fighting for this. There’s been this bigger awareness of why we need high-quality programs starting at birth…”

— Amy O’Leary, “Boston Public Radio Full Show 4/18: Tax Day,” WGBH, April 18, 2023

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House Ways & Means Committee invests in early education and care in FY’24 state budget proposal

Posted in Child care, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, tagged , , , on April 13, 2023| Leave a Comment »

state house

Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

On April 12, the House Committee on Ways & Means released its fiscal year 2024 state budget proposal, totaling $56.2 billion and proposing major investments in early education and care.

In his letter to members of the House, Chairman Aaron Michlewitz said “No area has had a greater impact on our workforce than early education and care. The lack of adequate and affordable childcare continues to hamper our recovery. The House remains committed to investing more into early education.”

For early education and care, the proposal includes:

• $290 million to continue the state’s C3 operational grants (line items 3000-1045 and 1596-2410). The budget also dedicates iLottery revenues to a newly created Early Education and Care Operational Grant Fund which is intended to augment C3 funding (see outside sections 6 and 8)
• $90 million for rate increases and $10 million for grants to early education and care providers for costs associated with personal child care (line items 3000-1041, 3000-1042)
• $17.5 million for Head Start (3000-5000)
• $20 million for child care resource and referral agencies (3000-2000)
• $15 million for preschool expansion CPPI grants (3000-6025)
• $10 million for professional development opportunities for child care providers (3000-7066)
• $5 million for the Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Grant Program (3000-6075)

The House Ways & Means budget is posted here.

The House has until Friday to file amendments to the budget, and members will debate amendments in the weeks ahead. Check this page for future updates and advocacy opportunities.

Go to SFC’s state budget webpage for line item language, and contact Titus DosRemedios if you would like more information.

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Please thank Governor Maura Healey for her budget proposal

Posted in MA governor, MA state budget, tagged , , on April 4, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll address the Joint Committee on Revenue at the Massachusetts State House. Photo: Joshua Qualls/Governor’s Press Office

On March 29, 2023, Governor Maura Healey signed a supplemental budget for the current FY’23 fiscal year. This budget includes “$68 million to continue Commonwealth Cares for Children (C3) grants to stabilize the state’s child care providers through the end of the fiscal year.” Your advocacy worked to raise awareness of the importance of C3 grants, and the need for this critical funding in the current state budget.

Now is a great time to join Strategies for Children in thanking Governor Maura Healey for her proposed historic investments in early education and care in the next fiscal year’s budget, FY’24.

To send a thank you note, copy the message below, paste it into the “Email the Governor’s Office” website, personalize the message however you’d like, and submit it. 

Subject: Thank you Governor Healey for investing in early education and care in your FY24 state budget

Message: Dear Governor Healey:

Thank you for investing in the continued sustainability and growth of the early education and care field.

Your FY24 state budget proposal includes much needed investments in the early education and care system including:

• $475 million to continue the state’s C3 operational grants
• $25 million for financial assistance for low-income families 
• $30 million for Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative 
• $20 million for child care resource and referral services
• $20 million in rate increases for subsidized child care providers
• $5 million for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Services
• $5 million for comprehensive strategic analysis to build on the work completed through the Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission.

Thank you for your leadership and commitment to high-quality early education and care for young children, families, educators, and communities.

Please join us in thanking the governor. Your voice matters.

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Tax relief for families of young children

Posted in Family engagement, MA governor, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, tagged , on March 30, 2023| Leave a Comment »

This week, in her testimony at the Revenue Committee hearing in the State House, Amy O’Leary shared a vital message with Massachusetts legislators:

Families with young children need economic relief. And Massachusetts can help by passing the bill An Act to establish a Child and Family Tax Credit, H.2761/S.1792, into law.

“Across Massachusetts, families are struggling to keep up with the rising costs of food, housing, and childcare. At the same time, those earning the least pay a larger share of their income in state and local taxes than higher-income families. That’s unfair,” O’Leary, the executive director of Strategies for Children said in her testimony.

O’Leary drew on work done by the Early Childhood Agenda, which solicited feedback from across the state and created a roadmap for improving children’s lives. One vital goal that emerged in the Agenda’s work is to help families become financially secure.

The strategy for achieving this goal is Solution #3 on the Agenda:

“Provide a guaranteed minimum income for MA families and ensure we have an adequate safety net—expand the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), create a robust and inclusive Child and Family Tax Credit (CFTC) and raise cash assistance grants.”

Governor Maura Healey has already called for a new family tax credit for residents “who are struggling to get by as the cost of living continues to skyrocket past them.”

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Advocacy opportunity: act now

Posted in MA Legislature, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, tagged , on March 28, 2023| Leave a Comment »

State House

Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

Are you ready to advocate for early education and care funding? 

The House Ways & Means Committee will release its FY’24 state budget proposal in a few weeks. Now is the time to contact your own state legislators in support of high-quality early education and care. 

Click here to email your state representative and state senator today! 

Our collective “ask” was developed with sponsoring organizations of Advocacy Day 2023 for Early Education & Care and School-Age Programs. Click here for the full ask sheet and here for more advocacy materials. Feel free to customize and personalize your message to legislators.

Stay tuned for more budget advocacy in the weeks and months ahead. 

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The power of advocacy

Posted in Child care, COVID-19, Early educators, Funding, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, tagged , , on March 6, 2023| Leave a Comment »

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Photo: Alyssa Haywoode for Strategies for Children

Here’s a great example of the power of collective advocacy.

Last month, more than 180 organizations and 718 individuals all signed a letter that was sent to the Massachusetts Legislature. The letter’s request: please provide an additional $70 million to fund this fiscal year’s Commonwealth Cares for Children or C3 stabilization grants.

These grants were essential for helping child care providers stay open during the pandemic, and they have become critical for supporting program quality and workforce retention.

“Now is the time,” the letter adds, “to move from a temporary stabilization program to permanent direct-to-provider operational funding and take an essential next step in our efforts to establish a sustainable business model for early education and care.” The C3 grant program can pave “a pathway from stabilization to systems growth.

“The $70 million will bridge the gap between the end of the childcare stabilization grant program and position a permanently funded operational grant program for sustained support and success into the future.”

The advocacy letter featured the logo of the Early Childhood Agenda, a new effort in Massachusetts to build collective power for transformational change. Check out highlights from the release of the Agenda at the State House earlier this year.

Now, we are happy to say that the advocacy letter was received, and its message was heard!

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In quotes: Governor Maura Healey makes the case for her budget proposal

Posted in Business and economy, Child care, Cost and affordability, MA governor, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, tagged , , on March 3, 2023| Leave a Comment »

“A day after unveiling her $55.5 billion state budget, Gov. Maura Healey is on the road trying to garner support for her plan. She made a pitch Thursday morning to 800 members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.

“ ‘We know some of the challenges that we’re confronting right now: an unprecedented housing crisis, skyrocketing costs for quality child-care, companies unable to find workers with the skills they need to grow,’ Healey said. ‘The good news is we can, working together, fix that.’ ”

“Healey said her budget, along with a $750 million tax reform bill she proposed earlier this week, would help to stop the exodus of workers from the state. Since the pandemic, more than 110,000 people have left Massachusetts to find work in states with a lower cost of living, according to Internal Revenue Service data obtained by The Boston Globe.”

“ ‘No one is going to compete harder as your governor than me. I promise you,’ Healey told Chamber of Commerce members.”

— “Healey pitches her budget and tax reform plans to Boston’s business community,” Steve Brown, WBUR, March 2, 2023

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Governor Healey’s first budget proposal has good news for early education and care

Posted in Child care, Funding, MA governor, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, Strategies for Children, tagged , , , on March 2, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll kicked off the Massachusetts budget season by releasing their $55.5 billion budget proposal for fiscal year 2024, which includes good news for early education and care.

“Our FY24 budget is what Massachusetts needs to meet this moment and build a strong economy, livable communities and a sustainable future,” Governor Healey said in a statement. “Combined with our tax relief proposal, we will set Massachusetts up for success by lowering costs, growing our competitiveness, and delivering on the promise of our people.” Earlier this week we highlighted the Child and Family Tax Credit in Healey’s proposal, which would provide $600 per eligible dependent.

For early education and care, the Healey-Driscoll budget proposal includes:

• $475 million to continue the state’s C3 operational grants

• $25 million for financial assistance for low-income families

• $30 million for Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative

• $20 million for child care resource and referral services

• $20 million in rate increases for subsidized child care providers

• $5 million for Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Services, and

• $5 million for comprehensive strategic analysis to build on the work completed through the Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission

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State budget season is starting: Governor Maura Healey will release her budget proposal tomorrow

Posted in Funding, MA governor, MA Legislature, MA state budget, Massachusetts Cities and Towns, Pre-kindergarten, tagged , , , , on February 28, 2023| 2 Comments »

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey will make news tomorrow when she releases her first state budget proposal for fiscal year ’24. It will be a fiscal snapshot of her policy priorities, and we’re excited to see how she invests in early education and care.

 Healey stands on a strong funding foundation. As our budget analysis explains, the state’s FY’23 budget made historic investments in the early childhood system, including:

• a $1.16 billion budget for the Department of Early Education and Care, which is a 45% increase over FY22.

• a new $175 million High-Quality Early Education & Care Affordability Fund, which supports recommendations made in the Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission

• an Economic Development bill signed into law in November that provided an additional $150 million for C3 Stabilization Grants, and $315 million for the Affordability Fund

Advocates hope Healey will continue to increase the state’s investment, and so far, the signs are promising. Yesterday, Healey announced a major tax relief proposal that includes $458 million for a new Child and Family Tax Credit that will “provide families with a $600 credit per dependent, including children under 13, people with disabilities, and senior dependents aged 65 and older,” a press release says. 

This tax relief proposal “will be factored into the budget Healey will file on Wednesday,” according to a State House News story published in the Lowell Sun. “It will be up to the Democrats who control the House and Senate to decide whether to increase or decrease the scope of Healey’s proposals.”

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