2024 Budget Act Signed
The Senate, Assembly, and Governor have arrived at a three-party Budget agreement which includes 19 budget-related bills. The Budget Act has been signed and is effective as of July 1.
Since the May Revision, the R&R Network, members, and coalition partners have worked hard to push back on proposed cuts to child care and other vital safety net programs such as CalWORKs. Thanks to these collective efforts, we received 3 of our 4 asks:
- A commitment to fund 200,000 child care spaces by 2028. ✅
- Restored funding for 11,000 CCTR spaces in the FY24-25 budget. ✅
- An alternative rate methodology that reflects the true costs of care, a timeline for its adoption, and a hold harmless policy. ✅
- A child care reversion account that maintains unspent ECE dollars for ECE purposes. ❌
Key Budget Highlights Include:
- SB/AB 108: Amendments to Budget Act of 2024 (“Budget Bill Jr.”)
- CCTR Spaces: Includes an $8 million adjustment to reflect the costs of funding 11,038 new General Child Care slots in 2024-25 and ongoing, partially funded by increased federal funds.
- Emergency Child Care Bridge Program: Re-appropriates a total of $47 million in Emergency Child Care Bridge funds from 2023- 24 into 2024-25. Total General Fund levels for Emergency Child Care Bridge remain at $83.4 million ongoing.
- CCTR Spaces: Includes an $8 million adjustment to reflect the costs of funding 11,038 new General Child Care slots in 2024-25 and ongoing, partially funded by increased federal funds.
- SB 163/AB 163: Early learning and Child Care
- Slot Expansion:
- Codifies the 2021-22 Budget Year agreement to grow the state-subsidized child care system by over 200,000 new children served.
- Delays the fulfillment of all 200,000 slots until 2028 with legislative intent to resume expansion in 2026-2027
- CCTR Slots:
- Fully funds all 11,000 awarded expansion slots from existing child care appropriations, beginning October 1, 2024.
- Alternative Methodology:
- Requires DSS to report implementation progress through January 2026.
- Creates a hold harmless policy in the Alternative Methodology to maintain 2024-25 child care and preschool rates, inclusive of one-time cost of care plus payments.
- Slot Expansion:
- SB 161/AB 161: Human Services
- CalWORKs Home Visiting Program (HVP): Modifies proposed cuts and instead reduces funding for the CalWORKs HVP by up to $30 million in 2023-24, and temporarily reduces by up to $25 million in 2024-25 and 2025-26.
- CalWORKS Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services: Modifies proposed cuts and instead reduces funding by up to $30 million in 2023-24, up to $37 million in 2024-25, and up to $26 million in 2025-26.