Children First for Oregon

Children First for Oregon 2010 State Legislative Session Wrap-up

The 2010 special session has come to an end and CFFO had HUGE VICTORIES in this tough economy!

A special THANK YOU to those of you who wrote or called your legislators. Your emails and calls to your legislators over the past few weeks were heard.

We must also remember that no victory is possible without strong leadership at the Capitol. Join us in sending a well deserved thank you to those who helped make this happen! Click HERE to send your legislator a Thank You !

Keeping Children Healthy

Expanded Oregon Health Plan coverage to former foster youth:

While in foster care, children have all their health care needs covered. Previously, at age 18, foster youth became solely responsible for themselves almost overnight. These Oregon kids who have been abused or neglected found they had little or no support when they became young adults.

Foster youth are considered to be a population with special health care needs by the American Academy of Pediatrics because of the high prevalence of medical, mental health and developmental issues. Providing health coverage alleviates one major challenge for these youth as they transition out of state care and into adulthood.

Legislative Victory! CFFO organized members of the Oregon Foster Youth Connection (OFYC) and Juvenile Rights Project (JRP) to bring compelling testimony to legislators all month and YOU sent emails and made calls. Our hard work paid off when HB3664 passed unanimously out of the House and passed with a 24-6 vote out of the Senate! Youth who age out of foster care at 18 will now continue to receive the same health coverage they had while in foster care, which means they can even keep their same medical and mental health providers!!

Special thanks to Representative Greenlick, and the House Health Care Committee for sponsoring HB3664. Also thank you to Representative Kotek, Representative Buckley the Department of Human Services and the Office of Healthy Kids for securing funding for this expansion.

Click HERE to see how your legislator voted on HB 3664. Click HERE to send them a Thank You.

Bill to protect children from synthetic estrogens in children’s products voted down in the Senate::

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is a synthetic estrogen found in plastic which leaches out into food and beverages, and then into our bodies. More than 200 scientific studies have linked very low doses of BPA to prostate and breast cancer, obesity, altered brain development, cardiac disease, diabetes, and early puberty. The bill would have banned bisphenol A in food and beverage containers intended for the use of children under 3, including baby bottles.

More work to do next session: Legislators and advocates fought hard to remove BPA from products specifically for children under 3 years old, but the bill was voted down in the Senate. Advocates will continue this charge to protect Oregon’s smallest citizens from this harmful product.

Strengthening Families:

Extended funding for Employment Related Day Care (ERDC) until 2011:

ERDC helps families with incomes below 185% of poverty (about $40,800 per year for a family of four) pay for child care. Affordable, quality childcare is essential to the well being of children, the economic stability of families, and the productivity of businesses from large to small.

The original 09-11 budget only funded ERDC through July 2010, when severe budget reductions would have left an estimated 2,913 families (5,500 children) without child care. The parents of these children would have been forced to either leave children home alone or quit their jobs.

Legislative Victory!: CFFO, child care providers, child care recipients, YOU and other advocates joined forces to make sure legislators knew that ERDC keeps kids healthy and safe, and that it keeps parents working. In the end, legislative leadership heard our messages and extended funding for ERDC to 2011!

Special Thanks to House Speaker Dave Hunt and Representative Tina Kotek for their strong support on this issue. Thanks also goes to the Senate Commerce and Workforce Development Committee and the House Sub-Committee on Workforce for highlighting this as a jobs issue.

Paved way for expanded use of the Earned Income Tax Credit:

The federal EITC has been the most successful anti-poverty program, lifting over 2 million American children out of poverty every year. Oregon currently has one of the lowest levels of state EITC, not fully utilizing the federal max. Passing this bill would bring Oregon in line with the majority of states, eliminating income taxes on families below the poverty line with one or more children. Lifting families out of poverty gives children the best chance at a healthy, safe, and successful life.

More work to do next session: Hearing rooms were packed with supporters wearing “have a heart” stickers. Legislators heard eloquent testimony from Oregonians who have been helped by EITC and legislators recognize that this tax credit is what low- income, working families need to make it in a tough economy. The informational hearings were a huge success and both advocates and legislators will be working hard over the coming months to have a strong proposal for the 2011 session.

Download a one page summary of the 2010 Legislative Wrap Up.pdf