Rescue Rhode Island Act

Sen. Mack, Sen. Acosta, Sen. Anderson, Rep. Morales, Rep. Henries

A $300 million legislative package meant to simultaneously address climate change, racial injustice, and economic inequality, among other crises. 

https://www.ecori.org/social-justice-archive/2021/1/18/progressive-act-addresses-environmental-social-justice

Affirmative Action

Sen. Mendes

Hello RIght from the Start Campaign Friends!

We have four important hearings this week where we need you to show support for Campaign priorities.  Probably our busiest week of the Session! 

The first hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, March 29th in the Senate Finance Committee at 5:00 in the Senate Lounge.  This hearing provides an opportunity to support the Governor’s FY23 Budget Proposals related to child care.   H-7123, Article 1, Section 16 includes one year more of ARPA funding to support retention bonuses for early educators, funding to expand Rhode Island’s T.E.A.C.H. Early Childhood workforce development program, and funding for an early educator registry which will help us understand more about the needs of the workforce and staffing turnover challenges.  H-7123, Article 13 includes funding to permanently increase rates for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), permanently increase the family income limit to allow more families to qualify for CCAP, and to make college student eligibility for CCAP permanent. See this  Campaign Fact Sheet on the Governor’s FY23 Budget Proposals for details.  We are supporting his proposal, but clearly stating that it is not enough.  Ask the Committee members to pass Senator Cano’s Child Care is Essential Act and Early Educator Investment Act that will be heard in Senate Education on Wednesday. Submit written testimony by noon on Tuesday to Jamie Plume, Senate Finance Committee Clerk, at jplume@rilegislature.gov Be sure to include the bill number and Article numbers in your written testimony and to state your position clearly. 

The second hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, March 30th in the Senate Labor Committee at 4:00 in Room 211.  This hearing provides an opportunity to support Senator Lawson’s bill S-2445 to add 4 additional weeks to the paid family leave program (TCI) on top of the 6 weeks that will be in place in 2023, so we’ll have 10 weeks, closer to the minimum 12 weeks recommended by experts and offered in Massachusetts and Connecticut.  This bill does not address the need to increase the wage replacement rate which will help lower-wage workers be able to take the leave they are entitled to and provide more economic security for families when they have a new baby.  See the attached DRAFT Campaign Fact Sheet on several paid family leave proposals.   Submit written testimony by noon on Wednesday to slegislation@rilegislature.gov  Be sure to include the bill number in your written testimony and to state your position clearly. 

The third hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, May 30th in the Senate Education Committee at 5:00 in the Senate Lounge. This hearing provides opportunities to testify in support of two long-standing RIght from the Start Campaign priorities, Senator Cano’s Child Care is Essential Act S-2681 and her Early Educator Investment Act S-2235.  We made some progress last year with the Child Care is Essential Act, but we need to make substantially more progress to ensure that the state rates for CCAP meet the federal equal access standards for children of all ages and in all settings, that we raise the family income limits so more families can get help paying for child care, and that we de-link child support enforcement from CCAP eligibility. The Early Educator Investment Act passed the Senate last year (but not the House).  This year we added a funding request to the planning bill to help child care programs keep their most qualified and skilled educators by piloting the Child Care WAGE$ program, offering tiered wage supplements to child care educators based on their skills and knowledge like 15 other states do.  See the attached Campaign Fact Sheets on the Child Care is Essential Act and the Early Educator Investment Act and the Wage Supplement Infographic.  Submit written testimony by noon on Wednesday to slegislation@rilegislature.gov  Be sure to include bill numbers in your written testimony and to state your position clearly. 

Note: There are 3 exciting new bills that are also being heard in Wednesday’s Senate Education hearing related to early care and education.  One establishes a goal of providing high-quality Pre-K for all 3- and 4-year-olds within a diverse delivery system (child care, Head Start, and public schools).  Another would establish a new Cabinet-Level Office of Early Childhood Development and Learning to oversee child care, Pre-K, and Head Start collaboration.  And the third would establish regional Early Learning Hubs to coordinate support for early learning providers across the state.  At this point, the RIght from the Start Campaign is not ready to make any of these bills a priority for passage in 2022, but several of us on the Campaign Steering Committee will be testifying to both support and suggest improved language in the bills so Rhode Island will be prepared for a high-quality child care and early learning system that could serve 9 out of 10 families with children from infancy through age 12.

The fourth hearing is scheduled for Thursday, May 31st in the Senate Health & Human Services Committee at 4:00 in Room 211. This hearing provides an opportunity to testify in support of a S-2614, Senator DiMario’s Infant and Early Childhood Mental Wellness bill, a new Campaign priority which would require the state to develop a plan and strategies to promote best practices for infant and early childhood mental health in the Medicaid program, like other states have done. See the attached Campaign Fact Sheet on the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Wellness bill.  Submit written testimony by noon on Thursday to slegislation@rilegislature.gov  Be sure to include bill numbers in your written testimony and to state your position clearly.  Since we are still trying to educate legislators on the mental health challenges that very young children experience and the fact that evidence-based therapies are available, it would be particularly helpful if you can share real-life examples of the mental health challenges you see young children struggling with.

It is important to testify to show support for Campaign priorities through strong written and verbal testimony.  You can submit written testimony and also give in-person verbal testimony.  The General Assembly is not currently allowing for phone testimony and there are no advance sign-ups for in-person testimony being offered.  If you’d like to deliver in-person testimony at any of these hearings and you’d like help with signing up at the beginning of the hearings, please email me (lbarrett@rikidscount.org), Rachel Flum (rachelflumepi@gmail.com), and/or Kaitlyn Rabb (krabb@rikidscount.org).   Also, please note that the General Assembly is hearing bills on gun control on both Wednesday and Thursday so there will likely be many people at the State House those days and there will likely be noisy demonstrations from advocates in the rotunda and outside the State House.  Security will also be tight so give yourself more time to get into park and get into the building.  The gun bills are not being heard in any of the Committees our bills are in. 

An exciting week where each one of us can make a difference for kids!