Monday, January 16, 2023
Welcome to the second edition of the child care campaign’s weekly blog post!
- The second week of legislative session was a busy one for Vermont’s child care campaign as energy shifted from the excitement of the Governor’s inaugural address to the Speaker of the House and Senate President Pro Tempore who are organizing their agenda and making key decisions that will impact child care this session.
Which is why we invite you to implore the Speaker and Pro Tem to act NOW on child care!
Send an email to Speaker Krowinski @ jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us and President Pro Tem Baruth @ pbaruth@leg.state.vt.us with the following sample messages: Vermont's child care crisis has never been more dire. We are counting on you to solve it this year. We need you to take bold action and lead by passing a child care bill in 2023.
Here's a look at the week ahead:
- We expect a Paid Family & Medical Leave bill will be introduced the week of Jan-16th, which makes sense since the legislature has passed a paid leave bill twice before and its content is largely drafted (though it failed to override the Governor’s veto both times). Our collective work is to continue to deliver urgent energy for big action on child care this session. We expect a child care bill to be introduced in the next week or two.
- Committees are already familiarizing themselves with child care while they await the Child Care & Early Education Financing Study results on the 17th. The Legislature’s Social Equity Caucus is supporting committees to integrate into their work equity considerations – we applaud our elected officials for working to disrupt systemic inequities, and we know solving child care is a key piece of the puzzle!
- Meanwhile you all have been incredibly busy this week organizing your peers, contacting legislators, signing petitions, volunteering to testify, sharing your stories, and more; thank you!
- The week of Jan-16th brings with it key campaign milestones including: results from the Child Care & Early Education Financing Study on Jan-17th; joint hearings on the study on Jan-18th; committee hearings with testimony from business leaders on Jan-19th; and the Governor’s budget address on Jan-20th…phew!
Finally, in case you missed it, enjoy this newsroom roundup:
VT Digger: Waiting for the Price Tag on Child Care Reform.
Williston Observer: Letter: Child care as public infrastructure