California State Budget, Legislature & The Capitol

WELCOME BACK

As you may recall, during interim, Speaker Rivas made changes to Assembly leadershp and committee chairs. In late December, he also announced changes to Assembly committee appointments. See the changes here.

NEW CALIFORNIA LAWS 2024

New year means new statutes take effect! It also means the state minimum wage has increased to $16 per hour for all California employers, effective January 1, 2024.

There are several bills chaptered last year that took effect yesteray, January 1, 2024. However, some bills are set to take effect at a later date in 2024. Notable bills taking effect this year include the following:



• AB 12 (Haney): Tenant Security Deposits - limits landlords of unfurnished residential properties to asking for one month's rent as the deposit; however, landlords with one or two rental properties, but no more than four total rental units are exempt from the law. The law goes into effect January 1, 2024.
• AB 1228 (Holden): Fast Food Industry Minimum Wage - increases the base pay for fast food workers to $20, which includes all national fast food chains and franchises. The law goes into effect April 1, 2024.
• SB 4 (Wiener): Affordable Housing on Faith Lands Act or "YIGBY" - rezones land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions, such as mosques, churches, and synagogues, to allow for affordable housing. The law goes into effect January 1, 2024 until January 1, 2036.
• SB 274 (Skinner): Keep Students in School - prohibits the suspension the suspension or expulsion of public school students in 6-12th grade based on what’s known as “willful defiance.” The law goes into effect July 1, 2024 until July 1, 2029. 
• SB 407 (Wiener): Foster Care - requires potential foster families to demonstrate an ability and willingness to meet the needs of a child, regardless of the child's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expresssion. The law goes into effect January 1, 2024.
• SB 525 (Durazo) Health Care Workers Minimum Wage - implements a tiered minimum wage schedule based on specified factors for health care workers; requiring that they be paid at least $18 per hour, with minimum wages being set slightly higher in some circumstances, such as for employees in more populous counties, and annual increases occur for differing number of years. The law's tiered schedule goes into effect June 1, 2024.
• SB 616 (Gonzalez) Paid Sick Days - increases the number of paid sick days required by employers to provide to their employees from 3 days or 24 hours to at least 5 days or 40 hours. The law goes into effect January 1, 2024.

To see what other bills will take effect in 2024, check out the below articles:

• SF Gate: New California laws in 2024 include Airbnb refunds and a state mushroom
• CapRadio: New California laws that might affect your 2024

CALIFORNIA BUDGET UPDATES

To help support you staying on top of the 2024-25 budget process and materials connected to the budget, TFC is hosting everything in one place on its Budget Page.

The Governor has until January 10 to submit his proposed 2024 budget. Use this Excel document to help you track budget actions as it is updated in real time. 

Upcoming Budget Hearings:

• January 23, 2024 - ASM Budget @ 9:30am on Governor's Proposed 2024 Budget

Communications released related to the CA Budget:

• LAO Report: 2024-25 Budget: California's Fiscal Outlook

All of the above information can be found on TFC's Budget Page. Be sure to reach out to TFC staff with any questions.

IMPORTANT DATES, DEADLINES & BILLS

Upcoming dates and legislative deadlines to be aware:

• Jan 1 - Statutes take effect
• Jan 3 - Legislature reconvenes
• Jan 10 - Budget must be submitted by Governor 
• Jan 12 - Last day for policy committees to hear and report to fiscal committees fiscal bills introduced in their house in the odd-numbered year

Upcoming Committee Hearings:

• January 8, 2024 - SEN Human Services @ 3:00pm or upon adjournment of Session

2-Year Bills to Watch for in January:

• AB 51 (Bonta) Early Child Care and Education
• AB 679 (Wicks) Family childcare homes: meals: reimbursement rates.
• AB 1038 (Rendon) Family Childcare home education networks
• SB 533 (Limón) Income taxes: credit: childcare.
• SB 600 (Menjivar) California CalFresh Minimum Benefit Adequacy Act of 2023

Resources:

• See the full 2023-24 Legislative Calendar here.
• Visit TFC's legislation page to find a comprehensive list of bills of interest.
• Visit TFC's Budget Page for full budget bill details, as well as budget hearing video archive links.
• Visit TFC's dedicated page to find a full list of Senate and Assembly Committee chairs and contact information.
• Click here to view all the bills that the Assembly and Senate introduced this legislative year.

Did you know?

Child Care Q&As

Question: What is the difference in payment and service months for Cost of Care Plus for home-based childcare and center-based childcare?

Answer: For Cost of Care Plus Rate payments, it's a bit simpler than the Transitional Payments. Alternative Payment Programs (APPs) administering the Bridge Program, CalWORKs Stage One, C2AP, C3AP, CAPP, CFCC, or CMAP shall provide the per-child payments directly to child care providers starting with the December 2023 service month that is processed in January 2024 and conclude with the May 2025 service month that is processed in June 2025.

Question: Does the recently-released Budget Letter from DOF affect the actual executing of contracts for new funding? 

Answer: BL 23-27 does not impact the execution of Child Care and Development contracts that have already been executed or awarded.

Partner Updates

Data Dashboard: Child Care and Early Learning

in the United States

The Center for American Progress has developed a data dashboard that allows users to explore national- and state-level data trends on a range of child care and early learning topics, including access to affordable care, the child care workforce, and Head Start.

Click here to see data from this year and past years.

Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to Support the Head Start Workforce and Consistent Quality Programming

The Office of Early Childhood Development is pleased to share this news from the Office of Head Start (OHS). Head Start is proposing significant changes to the Head Start Program Performance Standards (HSPPS) to ensure fair compensation is a key component of high-quality early care and education. The proposed changes are designed to stabilize the Head Start workforce and improve the quality of the comprehensive services that Head Start families count on. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the HSPPS will be open for public comment in the Federal Register on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023.

The proposed HSPPS updates would benefit the Head Start workforce, children and families, and programs. They would significantly increase compensation for many Head Start staff, integrate mental health services into Head Start programming more broadly, and otherwise enhance services to help Head Start programs effectively and equitably meet the evolving needs of the communities they serve.

Resources:

• Preview of the NPRM on the Federal Register website, including the Preamble and the proposed changes
• New Rule Proposed to Improve Head Start Program Quality and Support the Workforce on the ECLKC website
• Overview Fact Sheet
• Detailed Summaries of Proposed Changes

Federal Update

Federal Update

Check back here next week for the first Federal updates of 2024!

Putting the Pieces Together for Families with Young Children: Aligning State Health and Human Services, Nutrition, Child Care, and Paid Family and Medical Leave

The prenatal period through the first three years of a child’s life is a critical developmental moment. Positive interactions with caregivers during these years can produce long-term benefits for children and families. And yet many families—especially families of color and families with low income—face systemic barriers and economic hardship when children are young. Public policy can help foster the nurturing environments children and families need to thrive and help reduce long-standing racial and ethnic disparities. To improve economic, social, and health outcomes for our country’s youngest children and their families, CLASP set out to explore the value and importance of integrating or aligning programs that support families with infants and toddlers.



Read the report here.

Most Viewed Bills of the Week:

1. H.R.2670 [118th] National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024
2. H.R.3016 [118th] IGO Anti-Boycott Act
3. S.2226 [118th] National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2024
4. S.596 [117th] Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2021
5. S.1323 [118th] SAFE Banking Act of 2023
6. H.Res.57 [117th] Impeaching Joseph R. Biden, President of the United States, for abuse of power by enabling bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors.
7. H.R.82 [118th] Social Security Fairness Act of 2023
8. H.R.5378 [118th] Lower Costs, More Transparency Act
9. H.R.2 [118th] Secure the Border Act of 2023
10. H.R.1042 [118th] Prohibiting Russian Uranium Imports Act

Social Media Spotlight

Field Highlights

Next step for early learning advocates: Child-care subsidies for middle-income families

At a recent news conference, she spoke of calls she's received from parents eager to enroll their children and the silence that follows when she tells them the cost: "It is heartbreaking to have a mom who is excited to have found child care at all ... realize she will have to decline her new job offer because she cannot afford child care," Messenger said.



According to early-childhood advocacy group Think Small of Little Canada, the median Minnesota family with one infant spends about 21 % of their household income on child care, compared with the 7 % of income that the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a nonprofit think tank, deems "affordable." EPI put the average annual cost at $16,087.

Click here to view the full article.

$24 billion projected budget deficit may test California’s resolve to grow safety net amid recession

California faces a projected deficit next year even if the U.S. avoids a recession. Despite the expected shortfall, policymakers say they’ll maintain spending on social programs though advocates are calling for more.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office recently said in its annual forecast that Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Democratic Party-controlled Legislature are facing a $24 billion projected budget deficit for the next fiscal year.

If the state enters a recession the outlook is even worse, with revenues predicted to fall short by $30 billion to $50 billion. The governor signed a record-breaking $308 billion budget in June.

Click here to view the full article.

CDSS & CDE Information & Updates

CA Cost of Child Care / Alternative Methodology Special Meetings

To better understand costs related to serving specific populations of children and families, Prenatal to Five Fiscal Strategies (P5FS) and WestEd are now hosting the next round of ad-hoc meetings. At each meeting participants will discuss program operations, expenses, resources, and supports necessary to provide services related to each topic. 

We encourage participants to plan to attend both meeting dates for a given topic area, as the discussion will build and be inter-related. Feel free to attend more than one topic. 

Register to participate by following the links below:

Geography

• January 8, 2024 10:00am-11:30am 

Migrant Programs

• January 9, 2024 @ 1:00pm-2:30pm 

State Preschool 

• January 10, 2024 @ 1:00pm-2:30pm 

Child Welfare/ACEs 

• January 11, 2024 @ 1:00pm-2:30pm 

Inclusion Works! Webinar Series - Part 3 Registration Open!

The CDSS is partnering with WestEd to offer a free expanded virtual webinar series on inclusion. This training is for all who wish to support inclusion and inclusive practices in their child care and development program, child care home, or in programs they support.

This trio of workshops builds on one another and work best when taken as a series. Using the book and accompanying video series, Inclusion Works! Creating Child Care Programs that Promote Belonging for Children with Disabilities, participants will receive training with optional follow-up technical assistance sessions after each workshop to enhance implementation. The book and videos provide a unique and comprehensive baseline for providing quality inclusion. This series offers a strong foundation in inclusive practices, has self-assessment checklists and other useful forms available for use. Participants will also develop a plan of action for implementing ideas in their settings. Participants will be assigned Inclusion Liaisons who will consult with them following each webinar.

All sessions will be simultaneously interpreted into Spanish and all materials will be available in Spanish.

Virtual technical assistance sessions will be offered regionally after each training.

Part 3: Jan. 18, 2024, 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Planning in Inclusive Setting

Register Today!

Happening This Week, January 2nd-5th:

Tuesday, January 2nd:

-TFC Weekly Member Call @ 1:00pm. Email to register.

Wednesday, January 3rd:

-TFC Public Policy Meeting@ 2:00pm

Thursday, January 4th:

-TFC Public Policy Workgroup on Funding @ 1:00pm

Friday, January 5th:

-Child Welfare Policy Roundtable @1 0:00am

Thriving Families California (formerly CAPPA) is committed to supporting our field with a coordinated calendar. Click here to see current calendar of events. If you have an event to add, email us and it will be added.

The Weekly Good

An uplifting way to start the week, for those of us who need a break from the chaos that is our lives.

During this time where we are all stressed, it would be great to celebrate the positive. Each week we will celebrate everyday heroes, inspiring movements and great things happening in our field. 

Our annual Holiday Toy Giveaway was yesterday! We served 172 families, giving 362 children 2 new toys and 2 new books each. Plus families got to shop for food, diapers, and wipes. We are so proud to be able to put a smile on the face of some of our 4Cs families this holiday season. If you missed our event, you can find more toy giveaways in Alameda County by visiting 4calameda.org/AlamedaCountyToys