(SACRAMENTO) – Today, Senator Monique Limón and Assembly Majority Leader Eloise Gómez Reyes (D- Colton) introduced legislation to address the growing child care crisis. This legislation seeks to make child care more affordable for families while also increasing provider pay.
Specifically, SB 380 and AB 596 seek to address the outdated reimbursement model for child care workers to ensure child care providers are paid more equitably for their work to care for our youngest Californians. This legislation will also make child care more accessible to all families by suspending the family fee waiver until a sliding scale for family fees can be established to make it possible for low-income families to access affordable child care. Last year, Majority Leader Reyes authored similar legislation.
“We are at a crisis point in our child care system. Child care employment rates have long struggled to meet the need for California families,” said Senator Limón. “Providers have been underpaid, undervalued, and over utilized. It is past time that we pay child care workers what they are worth.”
“With prices skyrocketing, families cannot afford another bill. It is critical that we fight to ensure better access to affordable child care for working families. We must also ensure that child care providers receive a dignified wage that allows them to keep their doors open to serve more families,” said Assembly Majority Leader Reyes. “There are many families across California who started to receive child care during the pandemic and have not paid a family fee as a result of the waiver. Those families will begin receiving a monthly bill of up to $595 a month at the start of July, unless we take action.”
At the end of 2022, The US Department of Labor estimates over 100,000 workers have not returned to the child care workforce. Prior to the pandemic, 60% of Californians lived in a child care desert with limited access to child care providers. Without a resurgence in the child care workforce families will continue to pay skyrocketing child care costs. According to the Economic Policy Institute, California is ranked 3rd out of 50 states and the District of Columbia for most expensive infant care.
Contacts:
Majority Leader Reyes: Jenn.Hardy@asm.ca.gov
Senator Limón: Christina.Montoya@sen.ca.gov
Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes is the Majority Leader of the California State Assembly, representing Assembly District 50, which includes the cities of Colton, Fontana, Loma Linda, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands and San Bernardino, as well as unincorporated Bloomington
Monique Limón represents the 19th Senate District, which includes Santa Barbara, Ventura, Goleta, Buellton, Carpinteria, Guadalupe, Lompoc, Santa Maria, Solvang, Camarillo, Fillmore, Ojai, Oxnard, Santa Paula, and Port Hueneme. She currently serves as the Chair of the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee.
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