September 11 was the last day for the state Legislature to pass bills and send them to the Governor's desk to be signed. Now, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has until this Sunday, October 11, to sign or veto these pieces of legislation and all bills signed by him...
New RAND Recommendations on Investing in High-Quality Early Education
The final report in the RAND Corporation's series on California's preschool system confirms that early childhood education is a critical part of K-12 reform. The study shows how California can invest in a high-quality early learning system to help close the state's...
Policy Pick: First 5 Association of California Responds to the Failure of Proposition 1D
El Cerrito, Calif - The First 5 Association of California has issued a statement in response to the voters' rejection on May 19 of Proposition 1D, which would have redirected $268 million annually from First 5 commissions to the state General Fund for five years,...
Policy Pick: Governor's Budget Would Slash First 5 Funding
Governor Schwarzenegger's 2009-10 budget proposal calls for the elimination of First 5 California and what amounts to a permanent 60 percent reduction in funding to the state's 58 county commissions, including First 5 LA. Although the Governor's proposal is less...
California's Budget Shortfalls Impact Most Vulnerable Population: Children
California's budget deficit, and the proposed 10 percent cut to Medi-Cal and other state-supported services, threatens to undermine much of the work that healthcare providers and children's advocates have undertaken in the last 10 years. Although most polls show that...
Policy Pick: California’s Historic Health Care Reform Deal
Health care reform advocates throughout the state were dealt a major setback as the governor's health care reform package failed to make it out of the Senate. On Monday, Jan 28th, the Senate Health Committee voted to oppose the Governor and Speaker Nuñez's health care...
Policy Pick: Congress Moves to Improve & Expand Head Start
One of the key items on First 5 LA's Public Policy Agenda made significant progress last week in Congress. By overwhelming margins, a bipartisan measure passed in both the House and Senate to reauthorize Head Start, a comprehensive child development program for...
First 5 LA Calls for Permanent Solutions to State's 800,000 Uninsured Children
First 5 LA, the largest local funder of children's health insurance in Los Angeles County, last Thursday joined a coalition of health care funders and advocates in calling for state officials to create permanent, long-term policy solutions to provide health coverage...