A government’s budget should help every person work, live, and raise their family with dignity, creating a more equitable society for everyone. Yet our state and federal leaders have recently passed budget bills that harm large populations of our communities– choosing to deepen inequality across our state and nation.
The Child Care Law Center denounces any state or federal policies or cuts rooted in racism and discrimination.
Federal Budget
July 4th, 2025 was a devastating day for our nation’s history. On a day meant to celebrate the strength and beauty of our diverse communities, the extremely damaging federal budget reconciliation bill (H.R.1) was signed into law. In this bill, federal lawmakers make deep and dangerous cuts to basic need programs that children, families, and child care providers rely on (like MediCal and CalFresh), and increase costs to the majority of people who live in the United States. On top of this, it includes massive tax cuts for the most wealthy individuals and significantly expands the militarized operations of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). With the passing of this bill, our federal Republican leaders have chosen to inflict pain, suffering, and death onto our communities.
State Budget
In California, our state leaders let us down as well. Showing their lack of political bravery, they have passed a budget that lacks vital protections for our immigrant and child care communities. State leaders focused on closing the budget shortfall without raising revenues, which resulted in discriminatory policies that harm the same populations that the federal government is targeting. The state budget cruelly cuts back immigrants’ health care, and does not fund new affordable child care spaces for the 1.8 million eligible children on waiting lists nor the pay increase needed to fully stabilize the child care workforce while they wait for fair pay to be implemented.
*Stay tuned – our full analysis of the California 25-26 State Budget will be published on our website in the fall.*
Our Response
While we have just witnessed some very dark days in the history of state and federal budgets, this has only strengthened the Child Care Law Center’s commitment to fighting for anti-racist and equitable policies so that everyone involved in child care can thrive. Together, with you and our child care partners, we will hold policymakers accountable.
We will uplift the impact that these harmful and racist policies have on human lives. We will amplify opportunities for families, child care providers, policymakers, and the general public to stand up against inequitable policies and move towards a vision of justice and collective-wellbeing. We will continue to fight for what is just and right.
While our state and federal leaders act, speak, and vote in ways that harm the very people they are meant to protect and support, we must remember that the power still lies within us: the people. And the opportunity to make good trouble is boundless and infinite.
When we prioritize our children and those who nurture them, our communities will thrive and be more vibrant, now and into the next generation.
