Washington Legislators: Thank you!

Victory! Thanks to the advocacy of moms and families across Washington, the Washington State Legislature is ending the 2020 legislative session with some major victories on childcare and early learning, maternal health, comprehensive sex ed, and unemployment insurance access for family caregivers!

This is huge and it is thanks to parent advocates like you rising up and taking action. Our work isn't done yet. We will continue building MOMentum as we prepare for the 2021 legislative session. But before we do that, it's time to say thanks to our legislators for their hard work this session. Use this page to send your state legislators a quick note of appreciation and remind them that constituents like you are standing in strong support of these victories.

Here's what we're celebrating:

Early Learning Investments: The Washington Legislature invested significantly in early learning to help our littlest learners, their families, and their teachers! The state committed $6 million to help lower parents' childcare co-pays and they made investments in scholarships for early learning providers as well as in dual language instruction. Lawmakers also increased reimbursement rates for ECEAP (the state preschool program) and childcare meaning that childcare and pre-k providers will be compensated at higher levels for the care they provide to children and families with low-incomes. Higher reimbursement rates will also make it easier for providers to keep their doors open and will make it easier for families to find care options.
ESSB 6128 Postpartum Apple Health Coverage: Extends postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60-days to 12-months when federal funds become available. The final budget also allocated funding to allow the Health Care Authority to begin the technological and internal work necessary to implement this expansion so that it can go into effect immediately upon availability of funds.
ESSB 5473 Studying Barriers to Unemployment Insurance for Caregivers: This study will identify how family caregivers are experiencing the unemployment insurance system and provide data on the potential impacts of changing good-cause quits to be inclusive of family caregiving responsibilities for young children and vulnerable adults.
ESSB 5395 Comprehensive Sexual Health Education: Ensures life-saving access to medically-accurate, LGBTQ+ affirming sexual health education for Washington students and ensure that our children know the importance of affirmative consent.
HB 2456 Homeless Child Care: Extends the grace period for families experiencing homelessness to fulfill Working Connections Child Care program requirements from 4 to 12 months.

We are also thankful for the bipartisan work that led to a $200 million in state funding to help local communities and families respond to the growing COVID-19 outbreak. Help us say THANK YOU by taking action here!

On behalf of MomsRising and as your constituent, I am writing to thank you for your hard work over the 2020 legislative session.

Families across Washington are writing to say thank you to the Washington State Legislature for your hard work during the 2020 legislative session! We understand that being a legislator means time away from your family, home, and job and we are so very grateful for your public service to the people of Washington.

MomsRising members are especially celebrating big wins from our legislative agenda. We thank the Washington State Legislature for taking action on the following bills, all of which were MomsRising priorities this year:

Early Learning Investments: The Washington Legislature invested significantly in early learning to help our littlest learners, their families, and their teachers! Thank you for taking action to increase reimbursement rates, lower parents' childcare co-pays, provide scholarships for early learning providers, and offer grants for dual language instruction.
ESSB 6128 Extending Postpartum Apple Health Coverage: Thank you for taking action to extend postpartum Apple Health coverage from 60-days to 12-months when federal funds become available. The final budget also allocated funding to allow the Health Care Authority to begin the technological and internal work necessary to implement this expansion so that it can go into effect immediately upon availability of funds. This is a huge win for Washington moms and families.
ESSB 5473 Studying Barriers to Unemployment Insurance for Caregivers: MomsRising has been raising this issue in the legislature for years, thank you for taking action with this strong first step. This study will identify how family caregivers are experiencing the unemployment insurance system and provide data on the potential impacts of changing good-cause quits to be inclusive of family caregiving responsibilities for young children and vulnerable adults.
HB 2456 Homeless Child Care: Families experiencing homelessness are incredibly vulnerable and need our support. Thank you for extending the grace period for these families to meet the requirements of the Working Connections Child Care program to 12 months. Continuity of care will help parents in their job search and give children a sense of stability during a difficult time.

Families like mine are also thankful for the bipartisan work that led to a $200 million in state funding to help local communities and families respond to the growing COVID-19 emergency. We thank you for your continued work as our state weathers this unprecedented crisis.

Sincerely,

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