Childcare update

On Thursday, August 26th the Legislature received the grim news that the September forecast showed a $377.5 million shortfall.  This is on top of the $577 million shortfall we received in June that resulted in 9% across the board budget cuts to all state agencies.  Now the Governor is ordering another 8% across the board budget cuts. 

New calculations of the Employment Related Day Care program (ERDC) shows that if we keep the cuts ordered by the Governor in June (access solely to families who are leaving TANF, capping enrollment, and creating a reservation list), it will mean that 7,000 families and 13,000 children will lose their child care assistance.

What is going to save ERDC is two fold:  One, due to Congress passing Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentages (FMAP), Oregon will receive around $260 million to patch up some of the hole.  Two, we need to have every single provider and their parents, and friends contact their state legislators to protect ERDC.  You can find your legislator here: http://www.leg.state.or.us/findlegsltr/

During a time of record high unemployment, it is important to protect the programs that are going to keep families working and to prevent more families from being added to state assistance, driving up more cost to the State of Oregon.

Contact Emergency Board Members right away

Sen. Peter Courtney, Co-Chair - Salem           
sen.petercourtney@state.or.us             503-986-1600

Rep. Dave Hunt, Co-Chair - Clackamas           
rep.davehunt@state.or.us                        503-986-1200

Sen. Alan C Bates - Medford and Ashland           
sen.alanbates@state.or.us                        503-986-1703

Sen. Betsy Johnson - Astoria
                                   
sen.betsyjohnson@state.or.us                        503-986-1716

Sen. Rod Monroe - East County
           
sen.rodmonroe@state.or.us                        503-760-4310

Sen. David Nelson - Pendleton
                       
sen.davidnelson@state.or.us                        503-986-1729

Sen. Chip Shields - North Portland
                                    
sen.chipshields@state.or.us                        503-986-1722

Sen. Jackie Winters - Salem
                                   
sen.jackiewinters@state.or.us                        503-986-1710

Rep. Vicki Berger - Salem
                                   
rep.vickiberger@state.or.us                        503-986-1420

Rep. Peter Buckley - Ashland
                       
rep.peterbuckley@state.or.us                        503-986-1405

Rep. Bob Jenson - Pendleton
                                   
rep.bobjenson@state.or.us                        503-986-1458

Rep. Betty Komp - Salem
                                   
rep.bettykomp@state.or.us                        503-986-1422

Rep. Tina Kotek - North Portland
                       
rep.tinakotek@state.or.us                        503-986-1444

Rep. Nancy Nathanson - Eugene
                       
rep.nancynathanson@state.or.us            503-986-1413

Rep. Greg Smith - Hermiston                                   
rep.gregsmith@state.or.us                        503-986-1457

Share your story with legislators.  How will this affect your business?  How will this affect your families?  How will affect the children?  Urge your State Senator or State Representative to protect ERDC by fully restoring it for the rest of the biennium.  You can do that by following this link.  (It is important to share your story, but please refrain from relaying what other state programs should be cut)

Another good resource for advocacy is by going to: www.cffo.com/erdc. 

Save Employment Related Day Care (ERDC)

Quality, affordable childcare is vital to keeping parents in the workforce. Unfortunately, too many Oregon families struggle to afford childcare, which averages $20,000/ yr for two children. The Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) assistance program helps working families whose income is less than 185% of the Federal Poverty Level ($40,800 annually for a family of four) afford day care.

But ERDC could disappear if the Legislature doesn't act soon! Cuts will be Effective October 2010 (Families will have until Jan 1, 2011 to find a new way to pay for child care), the Governor's budget cut eliminates ERDC coverage for 4,658 working families (nearly 10,000 children) who rely on the program. The program will only be available for families recently entering the workforce after receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), a state welfare program.

Please act now to save ERDC. Write or call state budget leaders, urging them to fully fund ERDC.

Representative Hunt: 503-986-1440 Senator Courtney: 503-986-1600

SEND AN EMAIL INSTEAD USING THE FOLLOWING LINK

Write an Email Instead

Affordable, quality childcare is essential to the well being of children, the economic stability of families, and the productivity of businesses large and small. Childcare helps children succeed in school and allows parents to work. Ask your legislators to save ERDC for...

Working Families
Eliminating ERDC will make it difficult for parents to afford day care & maintain employment. Many will be forced to turn to unemployment insurance or TANF if they cannot afford to work.

Children
Nearly 10,000 Oregon children will be left without care. Many parents will be forced to either leave children home alone or quit their jobs to stay home with their kids.

Oregon's Economy
When parents, who represent a large portion of Oregon's workforce, have to quit their jobs because they cannot find stable care for their children, productivity of businesses and local economies will also suffer. This cut could result in adding thousands of parents and child care providers to the unemployment rolls.

Emergency Jobs Vote

Thanks to your calls, the U.S. Senate just passed a bill (H.R. 1586) that will provide $26.1 billion to state and local governments to prevent massive job losses. Every single Democratic senator voted for the bill. With the exception of two courageous senators from Maine, every Republican senator voted to hand you a pink slip.

Now we face a final vote in the House of Representatives. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi considers this bill so important that she has ordered every member of the House to fly back to Washington to get it done right away.

This is an urgent situation. This bill must pass the House of Represtatives. Tell Congress to pass H.R. 1586 - Now

Call your U.S. Representative Peter DeFazio now at 202-225-6416 They will vote tomorrow 8-10-10

and use the script below.

"Hello, I'm calling to urge Representative DeFazio to vote yes on H.R. 1586, which includes desperately needed funding for state and local governments and school districts.

We don't have a choice - if Congress fails again to offer aid to state and local government, more than 900,000 public and private sector workers will lose thier jobs.

You have an opportunity to save and create hundreds of thousands of public and private jobs this year, all without adding a penny to the deficit.

This is an emergency situation. Americans need jobs Now. Do the right thing.

Can I count on you to support jobs by voting for H.R. 1586?

We need everyones help to stop the cuts to ERDC please share this with parents, family members, employers and anyone else who will be impacted by the Governors proposed cuts. Call Representative DeFazio's office today 202-225-6416.

Emergency Jobs Vote

Thanks to your calls, the U.S. Senate just passed a bill (H.R. 1586) that will provide $26.1 billion to state and local governments to prevent massive job losses. Every single Democratic senator voted for the bill. With the exception of two courageous senators from Maine, every Republican senator voted to hand you a pink slip.

Now we face a final vote in the House of Representatives. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi considers this bill so important that she has ordered every member of the House to fly back to Washington to get it done right away.

This is an urgent situation. This bill must pass the House of Represtatives. Tell Congress to pass H.R. 1586 - Now

Call your U.S. Representative now toll free at 877-442-6801

and use the script below.

"Hello, I'm calling to urge Representative Schrader to vote yes on H.R. 1586, which includes desperately needed funding for state and local governments and school districts.

We don't have a choice - if Congress fails again to offer aid to state and local government, more than 900,000 public and private sector workers will lose thier jobs.

You have an opportunity to save and create hundreds of thousands of public and private jobs this year, all without adding a penny to the deficit.

This is an emergency situation. Americans need jobs Now. Do the right thing.

Can I count on you to support jobs by voting for H.R. 1586?"

We need everyones help to stop the cuts to ERDC please share this with parents, family members, employers and anyone else who will be impacted by the Governors proposed cuts. Call Representative Schrader's office today 877-442-6801.