The Illinois Policy Team at Start Early is pleased to release our annual Illinois Legislative Agenda, a snapshot of the budget requests and legislative priorities for which Start Early will be advocating during the Spring 2021 legislative session in the state.

With the new legislative session underway, our team is focused on moving forward funding requests and legislation that will support families and providers across Illinois as they begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on our early childhood system.

Our goals for the year include:

  • Secure additional state funding to protect and strengthen the state’s early childhood system, with a specific focus on investments in the state’s early care and education workforce
  • Expand the state’s Medicaid program to cover doula and evidence-based home visiting services
  • Maintain telehealth as an allowable service delivery model in the Early Intervention program beyond the current public health crisis
  • Pass legislation to create a statewide paid family and medical leave program
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Our Illinois legislative agenda outlines several budget requests and legislative priorities for the Spring 2021 legislative session.

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The Week in Pictures

Given the events of the past week in the Washington State Capitol, I thought it would be illustrative of the current scene in Olympia to share some of the activity using pictures captured on cell phone cameras.

On Friday, January 8th, the newly elected and re-elected legislators were all sworn in virtually – with two sessions for the House of Representatives and one for the State Senate. Note that most of the legislators have adopted the official House of Representatives background. One learning from this week is that certain clothing colors can make the legislator’s bodies “disappear” and they can look like floating heads!
Hands Raised

The next series of pictures represent different parts of the Capitol campus. After threats of potential violence, Governor Inslee activated 750 National Guard to join Washington State Patrol to provide additional security. The focus of this added security was Monday, January 11th as many legislators needed to be at the Capitol in person to approve the rules that allow them to move to a virtual platform.

I do not think I speak for just myself in saying seeing fences and barricades around Washington’s Capitol campus evokes a multitude of feelings. Thankfully, protests were peaceful and there wasn’t any violence.

 

Both the Senate and House of Representatives chambers look significantly different. Plexiglass was added and everyone was masked and socially distanced. On Monday, when a large number of legislators were present, some members were placed in the galleries overlooking the floors and voting was done in blocks with people rotating in and out of the chamber to vote. It was clear that setting all of this up took a tremendous amount of logistical coordination for just one day of action.

Senate Floor

And They’re Off

It is fair to say that we have all run out of phrases for these times. Unprecedented, different, unusual. While nearly everything is different, the need for our Washington State Legislature to work to serve the residents of Washington state has not changed. How they go about doing that looks very different, but the purpose has not changed.

After meeting in person on Monday to adopt rules, virtual committee hearings started bright and early Tuesday morning via Zoom. Were there glitches? You bet! Most significantly, a major windstorm on Wednesday rendered many legislators and testifiers without power. I will say that people have been very flexible and gracious – maybe living through a pandemic has softened us all.

The new process of virtual hearings and virtual testimony is new to everybody. Back to my point earlier about major logistical coordination, this virtual testimony is a huge investment of legislative staff time. Each committee has staff dedicated to getting testifiers in and out of the virtual waiting room. I particularly felt for the staff of the Ways and Means Committee who had 158 people sign up to testify – all managed with a smile. Despite spending the past ten months on Zoom, I can say from personal experience that virtual testimony was a bit confusing, and I am hoping it will be a breeze from here on out (pro tip learned the hard way – you have to turn on your camera manually when you are admitted to the hearing).

During the introductory hearing of the House Appropriations Committee and prior to Thursday’s lengthy budget review hearing, Chair Representative Timm Ormsby reminded his committee members that testifying can be intimidating and this virtual setting will allow for greater public participation. He shared that in his committee, he encourages “grace, patience and respect, by all to all”.

Speaking of public participation, the process to either sign in to testify or submit written testimony is explained quite well on the legislative webpage. This is a great time to share your thoughts.

The main activity this week for early learning was in the fiscal committees – the Senate Ways and Means Committee met on Tuesday and the House Appropriations Committee on Thursday – with a review and testimony on the Governor’s proposed budget. The Governor’s Director of the Office of Financial Management David Schumacher kicked off the hearings with an overview of the proposed budget. Copies of Director Schumacher’s powerpoint can be found on the committee website.

This was followed by public testimony that lasted for hours with people sharing their recommendations on budget items ranging from K-12 education to behavioral health to natural resources. Early learning received attention, with testifiers focused on the Governor’s proposed investments in child care and home visiting.

Bills, Bills, Bills!

I saw a tweet this morning of a water main exploding to illustrate where we are right now with bill introductions. Although legislators were able to “pre-file” bills throughout the month of December, the clip of bill introductions picks up in the first days of the legislative session.

There was an attempt to moderate the number of bills introduced given the restrictions of a virtual session. Under bill advancement guidelines, legislators were asked to only to introduce bills if they were urgently needed in 2021 and to introduce no more than seven . Additionally, legislators were asked that bills meet four filters: 1) advance racial equity; 2) respond to the COVID crisis; 3) advance economic recovery; and/or 4) address climate change. We will see if these guidelines actually lead to fewer bills introduced.

A major theme we are seeing so far in introduced bills relates to the state’s COVID response and specifically on the extent of the Governor’s emergency powers. Like everything else in 2020 (and 2021 so far), the number of decisions before the Governor associated with pandemic response was unprecedented.

Our state does have structures in place to allow for the expenditure of funding received outside of the legislative budgeting process timeline (e.g. a state agency receiving a grant in September) or for exercising gubernatorial emergency powers. The magnitude and duration of the pandemic certainly raised some questions about whether these structures needed adjustment. We are seeing bills ranging from severely curtailing a Governor’s emergency powers to tweaks to reflect lessons learned in the past ten months.

What’s in the Cue for the Next Week?

With the expectation that floor sessions will take longer given that legislators will be on Zoom, the timeline for Policy Committees was shortened to allow for more Floor Session time. The “policy committee cutoff” is February 15, and bills must be heard and reported out of policy committees by then. We expect the policy committee hearing calendars to fill up, particularly in the next couple of weeks.

The Fair Start Act which would lay out a structure and plan for a comprehensive and equitable early childhood system has been introduced in both the House and the Senate (HB 1213 and SB 5237, respectively). Sponsored by Representatives Senn and Chopp and Senators Wilson and Dhingra, these bills are slated to be heard next week, with the House Children, Youth and Families scheduled to hear the bill on Thursday, January 21st and the Senate bill on Friday, January 22nd in the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee. Given the comprehensiveness of these bills and the expected interest level for testimony, I would expect these hearings to be dedicated largely to these bills.

Our team at Start Early Washington is still analyzing the bills (which are identical at this point – known in this process as companion bills). We will provide more analysis in future Notes from Olympia.

Start Early extends its deepest gratitude to the Illinois Legislative Black Caucus for leading efforts to pass a suite of bills that will support young children from historically marginalized and under-served populations.

Providing a bright and just future for all children is impossible without recognizing that families and communities across Illinois have been impacted and traumatized by generations of institutional racism and long-tolerated inequities. We applaud the leaders in Springfield who understand the challenges at hand and have worked for months to address systemic issues in education, the criminal justice system, and the economy.

The Illinois General Assembly (ILGA) approved several measures intended to strengthen our state’s early care and education system this week. We are proud to have contributed numerous proposals included in the historic legislation moved forward by the Black Caucus.

Once signed into law by Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, the legislative package will:

  • Extend Early Intervention (EI) services until the start of the next school year for eligible age 3 children with summer birthdays
  • Codify in state law the Illinois State Board of Education requirement to assess all kindergartners with a common readiness assessment
  • Establish the Infant/Early Childhood Mental Health Consultations Act to encourage the state to increase funding for (and the availability of) I/ECMHC services
  • Require behavioral health clinicians working with children under age 5 to use a developmentally-appropriate diagnostic assessment and billing system
  • Establish the Early Education Act, which encourages the Illinois Department of Human Services to reexamine its eligibility criteria for the EI program; develop a plan for the establishment of specialized teams; and establish a demonstration project to strengthen connections between neo-natal intensive care departments and the EI program
  • Establish the Early Childhood Workforce Act, aimed at developing and supporting a more diverse early care and education workforce through increased compensation and the reduction of barriers to credential and degree attainment
  • Establish the Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Act, which urges the ILGA to support and monitor the work of the Illinois Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding
  • Update the Child Care Assistance Program eligibility calculator to improve the application experience for families

Although a pair of bills to reduce racial disparities in health care advanced through both chambers, unfortunately, neither measure received final approval. We will continue our efforts in the upcoming legislative session to advance our proposal that would expand the state’s Medicaid program to cover evidence-based home visiting and doula services. We are anxious to continue working with the Pritzker administration and the General Assembly to make Illinois the best state in the nation for infants, toddlers and preschoolers.

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The Start Early 2020 State Policy Update Report provides a snapshot of early childhood care and education budget and policy changes during the 2019-2020 state legislative sessions as of November 2020. Despite unprecedented circumstances, states made progress expanding access to and improving the quality of early learning programs and building more effective early childhood systems. Representatives from a total of 28 states and Washington, D.C. responded and are featured in the 2020 report.

As advocates, system leaders and policy makers prepare for 2021 legislative sessions, there are no shortages of reports, briefs and publications to pour over to inform the development of legislative agendas. Yet, this report offers a few features that we believe offer unique value to readers. Start Early’s 2020 State Policy Update Report:

  1. Captures the Learning Journey of Policy & Advocacy: The report explores not only what passed, but what is still pending and what failed to achieve passage. We believe we benefit as much from learning about and capturing what didn’t work, as we do from celebrating what did.
  2. Tells Stories from the Field: Only capturing quantitative progress can miss the nuance of progress and the importance of partnerships in this work. Each section of the report features stories of success from our partners – in their own words – that add powerful context to the data.
  3. Covers the Full Early Childhood System: The report offers information on the administrative, budgetary and legislative changes across the following topics: Early Care & Education, Early Intervention, Infant & Maternal Health, Mental & Behavioral Health, Family Resiliency, Home Visiting, Workforce & Higher Education, Revenue, Governance and Data.
  4. Acknowledges Complex Pandemic Impacts: This year’s survey asked respondents to categorize their responses based on whether they were adopted in response to the pandemic and what, if any, advocacy priorities were put on hold.
Watch the Webinar Recording

State Policy Update Report Launch Webinar & Panel

In this spirit of learning, storytelling and centering equity, we hosted a webinar and discussion where we dug into the top-line trends that emerged from the data and stories we collected and considered what they may mean for 2021. To dig deeper into the experiences of community and state advocates, Start Early’s webinar included a panel discussion with Mary Gaul (Executive Director, Northwest New Mexico First Born Program), Amy O’Leary (Director of Early Education for All, a campaign of Strategies for Children), and Bridget Tobey (Child Care & Development Subsidy Manager, Cherokee Nation). Thank you to our panelists for sharing their insights! Check out the conversation’s recording.

 

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Note From the Author

I typically start this newsletter with fun trivia somehow tied to the Capitol and/or legislative activities. Given the insurrection and violence at both our nation’s and our own state’s Capitol campus this week, I have decided to forego this tradition. I hope it will return next week.

2021 Legislative Session Officially Starts Monday, January 11th

On Thursday, the Associated Press convened its annual legislative preview sessions, one with Governor Inslee and a second with legislative leadership from each of the “four corners” (Senate Democratic and Republican leadership and House Democratic and Republican leadership).

Legislators and legislative staff have been working for months to craft a plan to protect the health of the legislators and their employees in the midst of a pandemic. Wednesday’s events at the United States Capitol and at our own Governor’s Residence, a threat of physical violence toward a Capitol reporter captured on video, and a number of planned protests on the Capitol campus next Monday with the potential for rioting and violence, clearly demonstrated that plans for safety extend beyond the pandemic to include protecting the physical safety of those on the Capitol campus engaged in the business of the State of Washington. The mood of these preview sessions was somber and a good portion of both sessions with the Governor and the legislative leadership were geared toward this question of safety.

While both the Senate and House of Representatives have plans to conduct most of their business virtually due to the pandemic, all 147 legislators will be on the Capitol campus on Monday, January 11th for the primary purpose of adopting rules that will allow for this virtual approach.

In normal times, the first day of legislative session would also include the official swearing in of newly elected legislators. Of course, these times are not normal, and both the Senate and House are planning virtual swearing in ceremonies on Friday, January 8th – with the Senate swearing in its new members at 1:00 p.m. and the House holding two swearing ins, one at noon and another at 4:00 p.m. Like all legislative activity, this will be covered on TVW.

This week has taught us that events that have been traditionally ceremonial in nature (like the adoption of rules and celebratory swearing in ceremonies) are actually critical to the continuation of our government operations.

Policy Committee Activity Begins

Following the Monday in-person Capitol activity, most legislators will return to their districts and will either conduct legislative business in their own homes or in their legislative offices. A very small number of legislative leaders and key staff will be present in the Capitol building throughout session and a limited number of legislators without dependable broadband will be allowed to work from their legislative offices.

Starting on Tuesday, the work of policy committees begins. The first couple of weeks generally involve an orientation to committee issues as legislation continues to be introduced.

Next week, for example, the newly constituted House Children, Youth and Families Committee (formerly the House Human Services and Early Learning Committee) will hold a work session on January 13th with an overview by the Department of Children, Youth and Families on their book of business. The Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations Committees will both get overviews next week of the Governor’s proposed budget and will dedicate a public hearing to getting response to the Governor’s budget. I will note these are typically some of the longest in-person hearings of session. I am predicting they will be even longer as testimony will be virtual, allowing for more participation.

The legislature’s official website holds a lot of information, including copies of presentation documents from the hearings. The website will be updated likely on Monday to reflect the official 2021 structure and contact information for the new legislators.

Testifying in a Virtual Session

Earlier this week I served on a panel with other lobbyists about our projections for this unusual session. I am not alone in feeling anxious about navigating this new system. We all agreed that one winner with a virtual session will hopefully be people interested in weighing in on policy or budget items they care about. The previous system certainly set up barriers for public participation in that people had to GET TO Olympia. This was not inexpensive and could be quite time consuming. I should note, of course, that not everyone will have access to this virtual system, but it does improve accessibility.

The logistics involved in setting up a virtual testifying process have been intensive (we all recall the “zoom bomb” fiascos early in the pandemic at school board meetings, etc.). And while there is wide acknowledgement that this system is imperfect, but it is an attempt.

Here are the rules for submitting written testimony or signing up to testify.

Some items of note:

  • Written testimony will be accepted up to 24 hours after the hearing.
  • If you want to testify, registration closes one hour before the hearing. Each person testifying will receive an individual zoom link (I’m sweating for the staff who will be managing this).
  • Not everyone who signs up to testify will be guaranteed time and people may be asked to limit their time.
  • The normal rules of decorum apply, including acknowledging the Committee Chair and stating your name and organization for the record.
  • Any “Zoom backgrounds” must be appropriate. The Chair has the right to terminate someone’s testimony at any time.

Early Action Relief Bill Expected

One of the first collective actions the Legislature is expected to take is adoption of an early action bill designed to provide relief in response to Covid-related impacts.

Potential investments floated by the Governor and legislative leaders at the Associated Press forum this week include specific supports for vaccine distribution, Covid testing and contact tracing; rental, food and utility assistance; child care support; and business assistance grants.

The Governor’s Office of Financial Management has an accounting of the state’s use of federal funds distributed for Covid response. This includes a breakdown of the more than $147 million directed to child care relief. Child care was the sixth largest expenditure, following economic support, local government distribution and medical costs.

Trivia Question

We have entered the “prefiling” period for bills. During the month leading up to legislative session, legislators can “prefile” their proposed bills for consideration during legislative session. As I am reviewing bills dealing with issues ranging from mandatory Covid vaccinations to limits on gubernatorial emergency powers, I was reminded there are a lot of state laws that have perhaps outlived their time. I found a website “Weird Facts” that contains some of the weirdest Washington state laws. Now I did not fact check these, so they could or could not be true. So, behave accordingly. Answers at the end…

Logistics

For those who do not care for change (like this author), the adjustments required for a state legislature to conduct its business largely virtually are significant. The leadership and staff of the Washington State Legislature have been working tirelessly to establish protocols that first protect public health and also allow for continuation of the people’s business in a transparent and inclusive manner.

Both the Senate and House of Representatives have released their protocols for the 2021 legislative session. Following are some highlights:

  • TVW (tvw.org) will cover all legislative activity.
  • On the first day of session (January 11th), the House of Representatives will gather at St. Martin’s University in Thurston County for a socially distanced swearing in and the adoption of rules. For the Senate, the first day will require an in-person quorum of at least 25 members to vote on changes to Senate Rules. This will also involve social distancing.
  • Note, that at all times, the Capitol facilities are closed to the public. Only limited, essential staff and specified legislators are permitted on campus. Do not think about sneaking in – they have cameras!
  • Both bodies will conduct all legislative committees virtually. Sign-ups for testimony will open 24 hours prior to the hearing. This will significantly increase the ability for people statewide to engage in legislative committee testimony.
  • For the House, during floor sessions (when votes on bills are taken), only the Presiding officer, minority leader and caucus leadership are allowed on the floor. The Senate is encouraging legislators and staff to work remotely, but is operating in a hybrid manner and will have some Senators in person for voting, ensuring they are socially distanced.
  • There is the expectation that floor actions will take significantly more time due to the largely virtual nature. As a result, the weekly schedules have shifted to add more time for floor session (the typical Friday afternoon commute time is now slated for caucus and floor session, for example).  Also, the “cut-off” schedules have been adjusted to shorten the timing for policy committee meetings to allow for more floor session time.
  • There is the expectation that floor actions will take significantly more time due to the largely virtual nature. As a result, the weekly schedules have shifted to add more time for floor session (the typical Friday afternoon commute time is now slated for caucus and floor session, for example).  Also, the “cut-off” schedules have been adjusted to shorten the timing for policy committee meetings to allow for more floor session time.

Governor Inslee Releases Proposed Budget

On December 17th, Governor Jay Inslee unveiled his proposed 2021-23, $57.6 billion budget. Not surprisingly, the budget focuses squarely on the state’s recovery from the Covid pandemic, with proposed investments in a number of areas such as business relief, public health, rental assistance and child care.

Governor Inslee led off the week with announcements around his commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion – highlighting proposed investments including those to support community-based organizations, investments in broadband and funding for the state’s new Equity Office.

The Governor proposes an “early action” pandemic relief package when the Legislature returns in January with a focus on addressing the urgent needs of struggling businesses and rental assistance. There is also movement in the capital budget, designed to create our state’s version of a stimulus package.

While much of the discussion throughout the spring and summer months was focused on the bleak fiscal outlook for the state, the budget picture is brightening, although still tenuous and uncertain. Since our state’s revenue did not dip as much as expected, federal stimulus dollars provided assistance and caseloads are down, generating some savings, the Governor’s budget does not contain significant cuts.

It is important to note the Governor’s budget is predicated upon passage of a mixture of new taxes and revenues (totaling $1.3 billion) as well as tapping into the rainy day fund and cash reserves. By including these new investments, it allows him to propose new expenditures that would not be possible without this new revenue. Among other proposals, the Governor proposes a new capital gains tax as well as a “covered lives assessment” on health insurers, Medicaid managed care organizations, limited health service contractors and third-party administrators.

With the release of the Governor’s budget, attention now turns to the Legislature where they will draft and ultimately pass a final budget for the Governor’s approval.

Proposed Early Learning Investments

*Caveat to the information below. Analyzing budgets is like peeling an onion. You always find things you missed or get clarification that can shift your analysis. So, please take this as my first read.

Governor Inslee recognized the significant impact of Covid on child care with a number of investments and development of a budget highlight document on the issues.

Proposed key investments include:

“Pandemic” Home Visiting ($5.6 million). One-time funding is provided to provide 530 families home visiting in 23 communities with high rates of child abuse and neglect investigations.

Child Care

  • PPE ($2.2 million). Support for child care providers to purchase PPE.
  • Health Care Coverage Sponsorship Pilot ($27 million). Create a four-year pilot for early learning providers in licensed child care centers to receive a $100/month reduction in the premium for Qualified Health Plans through the Health Benefits Exchange after the individual’s advance premium tax credit is applied. This pilot would impact about 10,000 workers.

Working Connections Child Care

  • Income Eligibility Increase ($23.9 million). Increase income eligibility by 10% from 200% of the federal poverty level to 210% to serve 4900 more children in Working Connections Child Care.
  • Working Connections Co-Payment Relief ($39.7 million). Temporary change the co-pay structure to reduce the co-payment by 50% for families between 144-200% of the federal poverty level. This would impact 8600 families.
  • Family Child Care Collective Bargaining Agreement ($6.4 million). The Collective Bargaining Agreement includes a 35 cent an hour increase for Family, Friends and Neighbors ($4.41 million); a two percent increase for Tiered Reimbursement for providers at Early Achievers 3.5 ($854,000); and a 17.6% increase for non-standard hours ($1.1 million).

ECEAP

  • ECEAP Slot Increase ($9.6 million). This funding would support 750 new slots in FY 2023, with 90% of the funding for full-day (6 hours) and 10% for extended-day (10 hours).
  • ECEAP Rate Increase ($9.7 million). Funding is provided for a 7% rate increase.
  • Facilities ($4.7 million in bonds). Capital funding is provided for facility construction and renovation grants to current and potential ECEAP providers.
  • ECEAP Entitlement ($41.466 in savings). In recognition that Covid impacted ECEAP enrollment, savings is assumed for not meeting the 2022-23 ECEAP entitlement.  This is funding that was included in the four-year budget with the assumption that more slots would be added.  Because these slots will not be included, it results in a savings.
  • ECEAP Entitlement and Integration ($1 million). Funding is provided to develop a roadmap to meet ECEAP entitlement, to identify capital investments to build classrooms and to workforce needs.  Additionally, DCYF and OSPI is provided funding to complete a report on efforts to align high-quality preschool in our state.

Early Learning Navigators ($3.9 million). Funding is provided for a new program designed to assist child welfare engaged families in 23 regions with high rates of child abuse and neglect investigations. These early learning navigators will assess need, match to available programs and help families enroll.

Additional Community Investments

During this challenging time, we are seeing a number of philanthropic and companies step up to assist Washingtonians during this pandemic. Today, Microsoft announced a $110 million investment for Covid-related economic and education recovery, that includes funding for local nonprofits and assistance in re-opening schools. Additionally, Washington-based Mackenzie Scott made a number of significant investments in Washington state nonprofits in the past days. (Editorial note – reading the responses of the surprised nonprofits who did not solicit these gifts is simply delightful). Finally, All In WA announced nearly $3 million in grants to child care providers, among other investments.

With our focus on state-level work, it is also important to acknowledge and recognize these corresponding investments contributing to our state’s recovery.

Trivia Answers

According to “Weird Facts,” it is illegal in Washington state to:

  • Walk about in public if he or she has the common cold.
  • Paint polka dots on the American flag.

Attach a vending machine to a utility pole without prior consent from the utility company. (Assuming this law came as a result of some prank?).
Locally, the following acts are illegal in these municipalities:

  • In the City of Wilbur, one may not ride an ugly horse.
  • In the City of Walla Walla, it is illegal to give noxious substances to a bird in any city park.
  • And in the City of Spokane, it is illegal to kneel on a pedestrian skywalk.

Given the filters imposed for 2021, it is highly unlikely any “weird” laws will be added to this list as a result of 2021.

The Illinois Policy Team at Start Early is proud to share our first-ever policy agenda! This new, three-year policy agenda represents Start Early’s policy priorities in Illinois through fiscal year 2023 and encompasses not only our advocacy efforts in Springfield, but the administrative policy and systems-building work we do with our public and private sector partners.

Our agenda demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that Illinois has an early childhood system that is designed, implemented and sustained in order to equitably provide a continuum of high-quality services to children from before birth through age 5.

To that end, we will be focused on five key priorities:

  1. Increasing investments in and strengthening the design and implementation of Illinois’ core early care and learning programs
  2. Strengthening the infrastructure of Illinois’ core early care and learning system
  3. Recruiting and retaining a representative, well-compensated and qualified workforce
  4. Improving the health, mental health and well-being of young children and their families
  5. Improving economic security for families with young children

Incorporated in this agenda are objectives that support the work of the Illinois Prenatal to Three Coalition, a collective effort to advance the Illinois Prenatal to Three (PN3) Policy Agenda. The comprehensive and multi-year PN3 Agenda was developed by a broad group of more than 100 diverse stakeholders with a goal to ensure that Illinois’ youngest children and their families, especially those furthest from opportunity, are on a trajectory for success. In partnership with the Governor’s Office of Early Childhood Development, we are thrilled to continue leading efforts to forward the work of the Coalition. We are eager and excited to roll up our sleeves alongside so many partners and get to work for Illinois infants and toddlers! Learn more.

In addition to our three-year policy agenda, each winter we will unveil our one-year legislative agenda, which features our top priorities for the state’s General Assembly. Stay tuned for our 2021 Legislative Agenda in January. Until then, we invite you to read our Start Early Illinois Policy Agenda for Fiscal Years 2021-2023. To stay in touch and learn about new publications or updates on our agenda, please sign up for Illinois policy email alerts and follow Start Early’s Illinois Policy Team on Twitter (@EarlyEdIL).

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Start Early’s policy priorities in Illinois for Fiscal Year 2021 – Fiscal Year 2023.
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As the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the U.S. last spring, decisions to close schools in many places came relatively quick. Decisions about child care, however, were another matter. Astute governors recognized that, although we didn’t know much about the impact of the virus on children, essential workers still needed child care – and not just first responders and health care providers, but millions of low-wage workers who are foundational to the functioning of our economy. In Illinois, as in most states, child care programs remained open, even in diminished capacity.

Though programs continued serving children and families across the country, there was significant concern about what impact this health crisis would have on the child care industry and its long-term viability. The sector was already struggling with undervalued and undercompensated staff and slim, complicated budgets often built on a mix of insufficient public funding and private payments from families.

There was also concern for the health and well-being of early childhood caregivers. Although child care providers’ orientation to health and sanitation has shown to help reduce transmission of the virus within child care settings, exploding community spread is challenging decisions to keep programs open. Further, the majority of those who care for children in child care programs are Black and Latinx women who find themselves and their communities at greatest risk for both contracting COVID-19 and experiencing poor outcomes due to the systemic racism that underscores health disparities in our country.

Early in the pandemic, key portions of Illinois’ early childhood system were stabilized with safeguarded funding for services, whether they continued in-person or virtually. Providers serving children in the state’s Child Care Assistance Program were afforded enrollment-based payments, and later modified attendance-based payments. Stipends and rate add-ons were also available to those deemed as “Emergency Child Care.”

While these steps were critical, it was clear that more work needed to be done to reach child care programs who had less of their budget covered by these public funding streams, or who serve smaller percentages of children in Child Care Assistance Program.

Fortunately, Congress acted quickly in the spring to pass federal COVID-19 relief packages, including the CARES Act. In Illinois, Governor J.B. Pritzker worked with the Illinois General Assembly to direct CARES Act dollars to help businesses cope with the loss of revenue they were experiencing and support small businesses through the pandemic so that they could return post-pandemic.

Notably, Governor Pritzker dedicated 50% (i.e., $270 million) of those business interruption funds to a specific program for child care providers, Child Care Restoration Grants (CCRG), to fill the gap between their usual levels of revenue and the resulting impact of reduced enrollment and attendance in classrooms. The program, which kicked off in September, permitted eligibility for all licensed child care programs, both home- and center-based and regardless of source of revenue.

Unfortunately, though, CCRG ended on November 30, with no future federal funding available to continue. Since the programs first grants, more than $250 million has been distributed to nearly 6,000 child care providers in 95 of Illinois’ 102 counties – the majority of which are home-based providers in areas outside of the larger metropolitan Chicago area and its collar counties. Providers who received the grants were more likely to report that private pay from families makes up around 40-50% of their revenue, with Child Care Assistance Program funds making up most of the balance. A much smaller percentage of providers received other state or federal revenue. Fortunately, only a very small number of programs were found to be ineligible for the CCRG funds.

The CCRG program proved to be critical for allowing child care programs to remain open, especially those with less access to public funding. While the state should leave no stone unturned to find a way to continue these grants, the reality of a COVID-19-impacted state budget and the failure of the Fair Tax proposal in the recent election, state dollars are scarce or worst, nonexistent.

To make child care supports available and reliable for the duration of this tragic public health emergency, the federal government must step in. Multiple COVID-19 relief bills drafted this fall have demonstrated that child care funding is a key priority for some. In addition, public polling continues to show that Americans understand–whether due to their own personal challenges or common sense–that strengthening our child care sector is a critical element of economic recovery. However, the longer Congress waits, the more child care programs will close. While some closures are temporary, others are permanent. This number will only increase as this crisis continues without an urgent response from Congress.

Child care programs not only provide safe and enriching settings for children, but also fundamentally allow parents to work and be successful employees, while knowing their children are being well-cared for. Programs also serve as employers and economic drivers – they are small, community businesses that purchase food, supplies and transportation services necessary for carrying out their function and mission.

A fundamental question remains for us. Will we act now to secure the economic health of the child care sector? Or, like our initial response to the COVID-19 pandemic, will we wait until the problem is so bad that recovery becomes near impossible?

Once we can gain control of the pandemic and begin to return to normalcy, the economic health of our country will depend on the availability of child care for parents to physically return to their jobs. This is true whether you are a middle-income American currently juggling work and caring for your children at home right now, or whether you’re a low-wage worker, who saw your job evaporate during the pandemic.

A robust COVID-19 stimulus package is desperately needed by the American people on many fronts. Congress should make this its top priority – and ensure the passage of a package that directs significant funds to child care programs across our country and invests in young children and their families.

Trivia Question

Do the Washington State Senate and House of Representatives take final roll call votes on bills in the same manner?

Election Results

Washington State Elections Leave Balance of Power in Olympia
Unchanged.

As a fully mail-in ballot state, it is not uncommon to see initial election night results shift as further ballots are received and counted. On election night, it appeared that House Democrats would gain some seats and Senate Democrats might as well. While there were some swaps where incumbents were unseated by members of the other party, ultimately the overall party breakdown remained the same with House Democrats maintaining a 57-41 majority and Senate Democrats maintaining a 28-21 majority (one Democrat votes with Republicans, so the effective Senate breakdown is 27-22).

Lots of New Faces “Headed” to Olympia

Over the weekend I was perusing social media and came across this picture of House Democratic leadership welcoming its new members (they held a welcome event via Zoom). This picture demonstrates that our legislature is becoming more diverse (and younger!). We look forward to working with all of the new legislators in each of the four caucuses. Bonus points for Speaker Jinkins background – she represents public health well with her background!

Come January, there will be 21 new legislators. We will see five new Senators – one new Democratic Senator and four new Republican Senators. There will be 16 new House members – 9 new Democrats and 7 new Republicans.

What’s Up Before the End of the Year

Uncertainty Continues to be the Theme for 2020

With Governor Inslee’s November 15th announcement of a four-week modified shutdown to combat the accelerating COVID crisis, the tone and
tenor is reminiscent to the early days of the pandemic. In addition to the pressing questions around hospital capacity and sufficient public health infrastructure, there is heightened discussion around the budget impacts of the pandemic (particularly with restaurants and retail largely shuttered during the holidays); if, when and how the federal government will provide relief; and how should the state provide counsel for in-person services. Further, as expected, rumors abound as to whether Governor Inslee will join the incoming Biden Administration to advance climate change. If he makes that move, that will set off dominoes, including our newly elected Lt. Governor temporarily assuming the Governor’s seat until an election could be held.

Updated Revenue Numbers Released

On November 18th, the State’s Economist Dr. Lerch provided the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council with an updated revenue forecast. The forecast came with the following caveats (2020 – the
year of the asterisk):

  • The forecast is on the conservative side as it assumes there
    will not be another federal stimulus, resulting in projected
    lower personal income in Q4 in 2020 and Q1 in 2021
  • The forecast does not reflect projected implications of the
    restrictions the Governor instituted on November 16th (which
    could be substantial).
  • It came with a general statement about continued uncertainty
    due to COVID and its related economic impacts.

The potentially momentary good news is that our projected budget
gap for the remainder of this biennium and the upcoming 2021-23
biennium continues to decrease. The three-year budget gap fell from
a projected $4.2 billion in September to $3.238 billion. The shortfall for 2019-2021 (biennium we are in now) fell from $2.3 billion to $1.666 billion and the gap for 2021-23 (starts July 1, 2021) fell from $1.9 billion to $1.572 billion.

This information will inform the Governor’s budget work that is
underway and the next formal revenue forecast will occur in March –
right before the Legislature is scheduled to finalize its budget.

Legislative Committee Days Approaching

The Senate and the House will gather the week of November 30th for virtual Committee days. Committee days typically have a “first day of school feel” with legislators, lobbyists and staff gathering for a few short days together under the auspices of preparing for the next legislative session. This year the social (and fundraising) part of committee days will not be possible, so it’s like the first day of school with homework as the sole focus!

What will I be watching? There are a lot of hearings throughout the
week, but on November 30th I will definitely be tuned to TVW.org to
watch the Senate Ways and Means Committee at 2:30 and the House
Appropriations Committee at 3:30 (you can always catch-up on
missed hearings by looking at the archive button on TVW.org). Those
hearings will provide a deeper dive on fiscal matters that will influence the budget. I will be particularly watching to hear the questions from
legislators – they are always telling.

There will also be two policy committee hearings focused on child
care and COVID – the House Human Services and Early Learning
Committee is holding a work session on the issue on Tuesday,
December 1st at 1:30 p.m. and the Senate Early Learning Committee
will hold one on Friday, December 4th at 2:00 p.m.

Governor’s Proposed Budget Expected Mid-December

The visual below was developed by the Governor’s budget shop, the Office of Financial Management (OFM), to depict the budget process. As you can see, budget preparation is a year-long affair.

In September, state agencies submitted their recommendations for inclusion in the Governor’s proposed budget for the 2021-23 biennium (which runs from July 1, 2021 to June 30, 2023). These are called decision packages. Given our state’s fiscal situation, OFM issued a strict directive to not request new funding and to instead suggest areas where savings could be achieved.

Since the submission of decision packages, the staff at OFM has been reviewing the proposals and meeting with the Governor’s staff and the Governor himself to identify priorities and get direction. The revenue forecast released on Wednesday, November 18th provides additional guidance about the state’s fiscal outlook and that information informs what the Governor will propose.

Typically, the Governor releases his proposed budget in mid-December. We will get hints as the time gets closer. We can expect the Governor’s budget to be “aspirational.” He will likely propose new revenue (such as a carbon tax) and propose investments predicated upon passage of this new revenue.

The Governor’s budget is an important step in the process, but not the end of the process. Once the Governor’s budget is released, attention turns to the legislature as they prepare their response.

State Biennial Timeline

What do we know about the 2021 Legislative Session?

Virtual Legislative Sessions on the Horizon
Most legislative activity will be conducted virtually. Both bodies have announced that committee hearings will be virtual and, at this time, the Senate does plan to hold rolling, in-person floor sessions (with Senators being able to vote remotely if they prefer). Limited staff will be in person for support and the entire Capitol campus will be closed to the public and lobbyists. Legislators have advised managing expectations and the virtual nature will mean fewer committee hearings. Additionally, legislators have been directed to limit the number of bills they introduce.

Trivia Answer

The Senate and the House approach their floor votes differently. The Senate does “voice votes” with Senate staff calling out each Senator’s name in alphabetical order. Senators respond with aye or nay. If a Senator is off the Floor for a meeting with staff or a lobbyist, the Presiding Officer calls the names of the missing Senators after going through the list once. To help signal votes are coming, Senate Sergeants will bellow “roll call” so Senators can be prepared to come vote. Since there are 49 Senators, each roll call vote on each bill can take up to five minutes.

At Start Early, we believe that every child deserves the chance to reach their full potential in life. Our mission is to advance quality early learning for families with children, before birth through their earliest years, to close the opportunity gap.

As Washington state continues to grapple with the wide-ranging human and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Start Early Washington recognizes there are a number of strategies that could be deployed to respond to the emergent needs of families. The following are the most pressing budget and policy priorities identified by Start Early Washington to support children and families in the state:

  1. Leverage the Home Visiting System to Support Families

    Throughout the pandemic, home visitors have continued working with and supporting families virtually. Depending on family preference, home visitors are engaging with families either on devices like
    laptops or iPads or by telephone. Visits have continued consistently and many home visitors are having more frequent contact with families who are experiencing increased isolation. The home visiting system is well positioned to address the resource connection and social and emotional needs of families. This is a strength of our state’s home visiting models and the system could serve as a vehicle to reach and engage isolated families, particularly those with newborns.

  2. Reform Family Co-Pay for Working Connections Child Care

    Early in the pandemic, the Department of Children, Youth and Families waived the family co-pay due to uncertainty around participation in care and also to ease the financial burden on working families. That copay went back into effect on July 1st and the co-payment levels are temporarily capped, with $115 as the maximum co-payment level. The issue of the family co-pay, particularly the cliff that families hit the closer they get to the income thresholds, was identified as problematic long before the pandemic. Long-term copayment reform would provide relief for working families and address the cliff that has long been a barrier.

  3. Maintain Working Connections Child Care Rate Increase

    Beginning July 1st, the Working Connections Child Care rate was increased to the 65th percentile of market rate. This increase is funded with CARES funding for State Fiscal Year 21. Ongoing funding is needed to preserve this rate increase. Similar to the family co-pay, the reimbursement rate for Working Connections Child Care has long been problematic. Maintaining this rate increase helps families have greater access while also reimbursing providers closer to the true cost of quality.

  4. Preserve Funding for Health and Human Services

    COVID has resulted in far-ranging health and economic impacts for Washingtonians. Our state’s recovery is tied to the availability of systems and services. As such, Start Early supports passage of a fully-funded state budget with adequate revenue to address racial inequity and to fund early learning, child welfare, health and other prevention programs, including home visiting.

Resources

Start Early Washington 2021 Budget & Policy Priorities

Document

Download a PDF copy of Start Early Washington’s 2021 Budget and Policy Priorities as of November 23, 2020.

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