On a busy afternoon at the State Capitol, a group of parents and kids stake out a portion of a crowded waiting area outside a committee hearing. They have crayons and coloring books – one kid is on the verge of an early afternoon meltdown.
They’re with the organization Parent Voices and have come to the Capitol to ask lawmakers for more childcare funding in the state budget.
Mary Ignatius heads the organization and says it isn’t easy getting families to Sacramento so they can participate in the budget hearings.
“But, you know, we work it out,” Ignatius said. “We've got paper and crayons and pencils and books and we're singing ‘Wheels on the Bus’ and ‘Itsy-Bitsy Spider’ and we're letting them run up and down the halls. I mean, they are the future and this is what members of the legislature are supposed to be fighting for.”
The group of parent advocates and their kids stand out in a hallway flooded with suited-up lobbyists.
“It's not easy. A lot of these families, you know, they're not paid lobbyists. This isn't their full-time job,” Ignatius said.
Some of these moms have driven for hours, or even boarded flights to Sacramento. Most have 30 seconds or less to give public comment in the budget committee. The group also schedules meetings with some lawmakers and staff to make the case for childcare funding outside of the public hearing process.
Securing funding in the state budget isn’t an easy feat to begin with. During peak budget season in Sacramento, grassroots advocates are competing with full-time, professional lobbyists for lawmakers’ attention and time. Some lawmakers see this dynamic.
Democratic Assemblymember Corey Jackson chairs the budget committee on human services, where Ignatius’ group has come to testify.
Jackson says the legislature should allow folks to call in to testify, which was allowed during the pandemic, but is no longer accommodated. As a committee chair, he’s tried to make accommodations for families and those who have traveled to give comment early on in committee hearings.
“I truly believe that we should continue to provide opportunities for people to participate virtually because we're dealing with some of the most marginalized and historically oppressed populations,” Jackson explained. “But at this point, our rules do not allow it.”
The state budget dominates discourse at the Capitol this time of year. But the reality is, the budget advocacy process starts much earlier.
Scott Graves, budget director at the California Budget and Policy Center, says advocates who end up having success in securing money hold private meetings with policymakers, sometimes as early as a year in advance.
“Advocates who have the best connections to policymakers, to key staffers, to key members of the state legislature, to key members of the governor's administration, they're the ones who are most likely to be able to have their voices heard during this critical period,” Graves added.
Graves also notes that corporate tax credits aren’t annually reviewed in the same way as the spending grassroots advocates fight for, which he sees as a disparity.
“There are substantially larger tax breaks going to corporations and the wealthy that we never take a look at, that are just sort of on autopilot and that deprive the state of revenue that could be invested in critical programs and services that Californians really need,” Graves said.
Ignatius with Parent Voices would like to see more scrutiny when it comes to corporate tax credits. She comes back to the Capitol every year to ask for funding for social services families rely on.
“Our dream over the next few years is to really see a review of the billions we give away in corporate tax breaks to the wealthiest individuals and corporations,” Ignatius said. “They don't have a budget hearing where they have to defend those investments. They're not like us where we have to defend our programs every single year.”
But, that won’t happen for this year’s budget.
Governor Gavin Newsom released his revised version of the budget, the May Revise, on May 14. After some fine tuning by the legislature, lawmakers will approve the final budget before June 15th.
In the meantime, Ignatius says she’ll keep finding ways to bring families to the Capitol – and fighting for the funding they need.
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