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Browne, Orie Call for Child Care Funding
Legislators Urge
Congressional Action to Increase Support to States
HARRISBURG -- State
Senators Pat Browne, R-16th District, and Jane C. Orie, 40th District, today
called on Congress to provide $6 billion in new child care funding for
low-income working families and families attempting to transition from welfare
to work.
The two legislators are the
prime sponsors of resolutions in the state House and Senate calling on Congress
to re-approve the funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)
program and to also enact a supplement to the Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) bill that would provide $6 billion in new mandatory child care
funds.
“Now, we are calling for
action, for Congress to act in a unified, bi-partisan manner, to give the states
the additional resources that will help families today and give hope to all
Pennsylvania’s children for a brighter future,” Senator Browne said.
“These programs provide a
crucial safety net for parents and families as they transition from welfare to
work,” Orie said. “This funding will help to encourage people to become
self-sufficient and replace a welfare check with a paycheck.”
Senator Orie’s legislation,
Senate Resolution 59, and Senator Browne’s legislation, House Resolution 222 --
which he introduced prior to moving over to the Senate after an April special
election, are identical in their wording.
On March 9, the Finance
Committee of the United States Senate adopted a bipartisan bill including $6
billion in mandatory child care dollars, echoing the will of the full Senate
which voted 78-20 in March 2004 to include more than $6 billion in child care
resources for America's families.
The CCDBG currently provides
$4.8 billion annually to states for child care services, $2.7 billion in
mandatory funding annually for the period of reauthorization and $2.1 billion in
discretionary funding, subject to annual renewal by Congress. The Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania currently receives approximately $177 million each year through
CCDBG, providing about 100,000 children -- one-fourth of all eligible
Pennsylvania children -- with child care assistance.
“Finding affordable child care
is undoubtedly one of the largest hurdles that families must overcome in their
efforts to move beyond welfare, and unfortunately, it is all too often a
stumbling block that prevents adults from becoming productive members of our
society,” Senator Browne said.
“What’s worse,” Senator Browne
continued, “if parents can’t work and are unable to succeed in life, then that
raises the bar against their children and they can easily fall behind as well
and become enmeshed in a vicious cycle of dependency and deprivation.”
Many more families in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania request child care assistance than can receive it,
resulting in a waiting list that has hovered between 1,000 and 2,500 children
for the past 18 months.
“Our goal is to eliminate
this waiting list and ensure that families have the resources they need as they
move from welfare to work,” Orie said. “It’s an investment in children,
families and in breaking the cycle of dependency and encouraging more
Pennsylvanians to become productive members of society.”
Sen. Browne's Remarks
TANF/CCDBG funding
June 8, 2005
Just one week ago, people in
communities across the nation gathered for a series of special events
recognizing Stand for Children Day. For 10 years, June 1 has been set aside as
a day for individuals and organizations to reaffirm their commitment to
improving the quality of life for our young people.
There are many good reasons for
this event. Regardless of what we achieve as individuals, our legacy as a
people will be determined by the generations that follow us. That is a
cornerstone of our existence and for the most part, each generation has worked
to improve the lives of their children.
We, as a society, have come a
long way since the dreary conditions that Charles Dickens made famous in his
books. Today, Pennsylvania is moving forward to give each and every child the
opportunity to succeed in life. Our health care system, buttressed by the CHIP
program, helps keep kids healthy. Our public education system is empowered and
mandated to ensure that no child is left behind academically. Our communities
are working with law enforcement officials at every level to keep children safe.
But are we doing enough and are
we focusing our resources and efforts in the right directions?
Those are questions that we in
state government must consider constantly and particularly now as we finalize a
state budget for the coming fiscal year. We have a finite amount of resources,
so we must be fiscally responsible in determining the best uses of that money.
While the General Assembly
ultimately determines how to allocate state funding, we must rely on the wisdom
and benevolence of Congress when it comes to receiving federal support for
needed quality of life programs.
Just by seeing the tremendous
competition that goes on in Harrisburg each year for funding under our state
budget, it’s hard to imagine the battle that goes on in Washington over the
federal budget.
Consideration of our $24
billion state budget is a massive undertaking, but it pales in comparison with
the wrangling that takes place over the trillions of dollars that are allocated
by the federal government. Congress must decide the best ways to channel that
money to meet the needs of the federal government, while providing funding to
the fifty states as well as numerous other domestic and international groups,
organizations and governments.
My colleague Jane Orie and I
have introduced legislation calling on Congress to continue its support and
increase the funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program,
which currently provides $4.8 billion dollars annually to the states for child
care services.
Senator Orie’s legislation,
Senate Resolution 59, and my legislation, House Resolution 222 -- which I
introduced as a state Representative, are identical in their wording. They both
call on Congress to re-approve the funding for the CCDBG program and to also
enact the provisions of the Snowe Amendment, a supplement to the TANF bill in
the last Congressional session that provided $6 billion in new mandatory child
care funds.
This additional funding was
approved by the U.S. Senate’s Finance Committee on March 9 but is still
awaiting a final vote by the full Senate. If it comes to the floor, we are
hopeful that it will see the same success that it did in March 2004 when it was
approved by a solid 78-20 majority.
Overall, Pennsylvania currently
spends about $512 million for child care programs. The proposed $6 billion
increase in funds would bring approximately $200 million additional dollars to
Pennsylvania over the five-year life of the federal legislation. This
additional money would be a major boost in our effort to help families
transition from the welfare roll to the payroll.
Pennsylvania is already
struggling to meet the child care needs of working families. Only one in four
eligible families is receiving child care assistance in the state and a majority
of Pennsylvania’s counties have or have had a waiting list for child care
services during the past two years. In fact, 2,600 children were on the waiting
list for child care services in March.
Finding affordable child care
is undoubtedly one of the largest hurdles that families must overcome in their
efforts to move beyond welfare, and unfortunately, it is all too often a
stumbling block that prevents adults from becoming productive members of our
society.
What’s worse, if parents can’t
work and are unable to succeed in life, then that raises the bar against their
children and they can easily fall behind as well and become enmeshed in a
vicious cycle of dependency and deprivation.
Senators Santorum and Specter
have already voted in favor of providing the additional money needed to boost
child care efforts in the states and help us work with families and employers to
break that vicious cycle.
Now, we are calling for action,
for Congress to act in a unified, bi-partisan manner, to give the states the
additional resources that will help families today and give hope to all
Pennsylvania’s children for a brighter future.
  Browne
Orie
# # #
At a June 8 news conference in
the Capitol Media Center, Senators Pat Browne, at podium, and Jane Orie, left, call on Congress to provide $6 billion in new child care funding for
low-income working families and families attempting to transition from welfare
to work.
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