Dear League Members and Friends,
Please find attached the October Newsletter from the Huntington League of
Women Voters. A focus is their Fall Membership and Finance Drive. *Please
support your Local League! *
We encourage local Leagues and League members to share news and updates
with our statewide list and to create relevant content for our website. If
you have submissions, please reach out to Jonathan (jr(a)lwvwv.org) or I.
ICYMI: Our legislative scorecard is making some noise!
https://westvirginiawatch.com/2023/11/02/the-league-of-women-voters-in-wv-r…
The full scorecard in searchable format is available at https://lwvwv.org/.
While you're there, check out our latest Action Alerts for other ways to
make some noise.
-- Julie
Julie Archer
President, LWVWV
julie(a)lwvwv.org
(304) 610-9094
*MAKE SOME NOISE: Tell our Congressional delegation to support funding for
child care*
On March 11, 2021, Congress passed the AMERICA RESCUE PLAN ACT (ARPA),
which allotted $24 billion specifically for childcare providers. The
childcare funding provision of ARPA ended on September 30, 2023, causing a
steep drop off in federal child care funding.
The Century Foundation <https://tcf.org/content/report/child-care-cliff/>,
a think tank based in New York, predicts that five states will suffer the
most from the loss of federal child care funding — Arkansas, Montana, Utah,
Virginia and West Virginia
<https://tcf-ccs-map.netlify.app/assets/factsheets/Child%20Care%20State%20Fa…>.
Without
intervention, 23,231 children in our state are expected to lose their
child care as a result of the loss of federal funding
On September 13, 2023, U.S. Senators Patty Murray, Bernie Sanders,
Catherine Clark and Rosa de Laura, along with 33 additional colleagues
introduced the Child Care Stabilization Act to extend the federal child
care stabilization funding. Additionally, 78 members of the US House of
Representatives signed the bill.
*To date, West Virginia Senators and Representatives have failed to join
with the other members of Congress. *
*MAKE SOME NOISE! Tell our Congressional delegation to SUPPORT the Child
Care Stabilization Act (S. 2777 and H.R. 5433). *
*Let them know that West Virginia children deserve high-quality care,
childcare, and education!*
*The Honorable Joe Manchin III*
United States Senate
306 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3954
E-mail: senator_manchin(a)manchin.senate.gov
*The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito*
United States Senate
172 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington DC, 20510
Phone: (202) 224-6472
E-mail: https://www.capito.senate.gov/contact/contact-my-office
*The Honorable Carol Miller*
U.S. House of Representatives - 1st District
465 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-3452
Email: https://millerforms.house.gov/contact/
*The Honorable Alex Mooney*
U.S. House of Representatives - 2nd District
2228 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C 20511
Phone: (202) 225-2711
Email: https://mooney.house.gov/contact/
*Want more information?* LWVWV members Nancy Ulrich and Joe Golden have a
summary of the bills and child care issues in West Virginia in the fall
issue of the <https://lwvwv.org/2023/10/30/fall-voter-2023/>WV Voter
<https://lwvwv.org/2023/10/30/fall-voter-2023/>.
Child care is critical for West Virginia's economy and families, but many
have no or limited access to it. Watch this short video to learn more about
the child care crisis and what we can do to address it:
https://tinyurl.com/WVNeedsChildCare
*Help LWVWV and partners #SolveChildCare.*
Additional resources:
https://www.dominionpost.com/2023/10/11/local-childcare-advocates-push-for-…https://tcf.org/content/report/child-care-cliff/https://childcareforeveryfamily.org/action/
*Want to know how your state legislators voted on issues related to
protecting children and families? *Explore LWVWV's Legislative Scorecard at
https://lwvwv.org/. To learn more, check out this article on the scorecard
at West Virginia Watch
<https://westvirginiawatch.com/2023/11/02/the-league-of-women-voters-in-wv-r…>
.
