Assembly hearing: advocates, providers warn May revision undermines child care progress; administration defends technical funding for federal changes

Assemblymember Phil Ting Jackson, chair of the Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 2 on Human Services, opened a May revision hearing on child care by saying the state faces “one of the more difficult budget problems since the Great Recession” but emphasized a priority to “ensure our most vulnerable Californians stay housed” and that child care remain a core investment.

Majority Leader (as identified in the hearing) told the committee the May Revision “fails to adopt the urgent need for child care rate reform and slot expansions,” urged the Legislature to “reject all cuts to child care and to restore the cost‑of‑living adjustment known as the COLA,” and said the May Revision breaks a promise to add 200,000 subsidized slots announced in 2021.

Jennifer Troia, director of the California Department of Social Services, summarized the administration’s May Revision outline for child care and development: $6.8 billion total funds in 2024–25 and $6.4 billion in 2025–26, maintenance of about 46,000 slots added since 2021–22, and funding to begin administrative work required to implement a federally required shift to prospective payments for providers. Troia said the administration expects a federal waiver delays full…