SACRAMENTO – The United Domestic Workers (UDW/AFSCME 3930), a union representing over 171,000 home care and family child care providers in California, issued the following statement in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s May Revision to the 2024-25 State Budget:
“We are disappointed to see Governor Newsom put a halt on expanding subsidized child care slots, ultimately failing to meet the goal of 200,000 slots promised nearly three years ago” said Deputy Executive Director, Johanna Puno Hester. “In times of economic uncertainty, the failure to add more slots only serves to hurt the families who need it the most. How can parents go to work and care for their families if they don’t have access to affordable, quality child care?”
In the 2021-22 State Budget, the Administration included a plan to release 145,000 slots over the course of two years, with a final goal of 200,000 slots by 2025-26. However, in the previous two budget cycles we have seen a deferral of the slot expansion from year to year, with over 80,000 slots still yet to be released. The need for quality child care will only continue to grow, which is why it is frustrating to see budget solutions produced at the cost of one of our most critical programs for California’s working families.
UDW Executive Director Doug Moore added, “While we are grateful to see no cuts directly to the In-Home Supportive Services program, we’re deeply saddened to see that the Governor’s plan to expand access to the program for undocumented individuals who are aging or living with disabilities is proposed to be clawed back.” In addition, this budget fails to include continued funding for the IHSS Career Pathways program, a first of its kind statewide training catalog for home care providers seeking to improve their skills in this space. The career pathways program gained more momentum and desire from the IHSS provider community in the past year, which is why it is incredibly unfortunate that this program is being cut short prematurely.
“It’s disheartening to see cuts impacting our most vulnerable Californians. Our state has a responsibility to stop trying to balance the budget off of the backs of those who need our help the most. In a state that is still the 5th largest economy in the world, we believe there are better steps we can take to balance our budget. We will continue our work to urge the Administration and legislative leadership to protect the programs Californians need most.”
“This also highlights the need for our federal government to take the care crisis more seriously. We continue to call on members of Congress to pass legislation that will fund long-term care for our rapidly growing population nationwide, and to support expansive funding for child care so that every child can have access to care and a quality early childhood education, regardless of family economic status.”
The Administration, the Assembly and the Senate will now continue to have further discussions to create a final budget plan in time for the constitutional deadline of June 15th.
