Dozens of childcare providers rallied in front of the state building in downtown L.A. on Thursday, voicing their anger at Gov. Newsom for failing to come up with the money to cover the true cost of childcare for working-class families.
Providers thought they had a deal a couple of years ago that would bring their pay up to the true cost of care by now, but a big hole in the state budget forced the governor and lawmakers to make cuts. The additional funding for childcare didn't make it into the revised budget plan.
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"It is written in a collective bargaining agreement that providers would be compensated for the actual cost of delivering quality care by 2025," SEIU Local 99 Executive Director Max Arias said during the rally. "I don't know about you, but I am clear that contracts are binding. They're not optional."
It is Arias' opinion that Newsom missed an opportunity to honor his commitment to children and their families, but instead, he is "Using the Trump administration's devaluing of early education and people and immigrants and women and black people as an excuse to maintain a broken system."
The childcare workers and advocates planned to drop off a letter at the governor's office demanding that the state honor its commitment or risk worsening a bad situation.
"If we don't get fair pay, California will continue to see more providers leaving the workforce and shutting down," one speaker said, adding, "We refuse to be ignored and overlooked by the state."
California is facing a projected $12 billion budget deficit, which Newsom blames on the Trump administration, calling it a "Trump Slump."
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