Dear Editor,
Last week, I attended the monthly meeting of the Sonoma County Child Care Planning Council (SCCCPC), an advisory body charged with determining the care and education needs of children living in Sonoma County and making recommendations concerning how those needs should be met.
The special election on May 19 was discussed-especially Proposition 1-D, which would transfer funds that are currently distributed at a local level (through county commissions commonly referred to as First Five Commissions) to the legislature (which would use the funds to pay for programs that usually are paid for from the General Fund). This proposition is commonly-and misleadingly-referred to as the one that "protects children" and "balances the budget."
The SCCCPC is composed of a variety of professionals who work on behalf of children.
Some of the members represent organizations that might temporarily benefit from
Prop. 1-D; these programs have been informed that without propositions like 1-D, existing General Fund programs will be cut. Others represent organizations that will suffer a direct negative impact if Prop. 1-D passes, such as the loss of vital programs for children in our community when funding from First Five disappears.
In other words, whether Prop 1-D passes or fails, the children of California will lose.
Because Prop 1-D does not provide adequate protection for children's services, and because it does nothing to solve California's long-term fiscal challenges, I urge you to vote no in the special election on May 19. We simply cannot balance the budget at the expense of our children. Instead, we must demand that our elected officials work to find innovative ways to address the budget crisis without asking children to pay the cost.
For an easy-to-read history of California's budget woes, along with suggested solutions (solutions that do not take money from some programs in order to fund other programs but DO address California's long-term fiscal health), visit
www.4children.org/issues/2009/may_june/california_budget_gridlock_grandma_tells_the_story/.
~Chiara Bacigalupa
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