California Child Care Providers Struggling, With Some on the Financial Brink
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren
Connecting state and local government leaders
STATE AND LOCAL ROUNDUP | Missouri AG intervenes in local gun case … New York Assembly passes bill to protect undocumented immigrants … Shooting in Chicago leaves 15 wounded.
Child care programs throughout California are under financial pressure and some are closing down permanently as the coronavirus surges in the state. This comes on top of the health risks workers in the industry are facing from the virus. Disruptions with child care are shaping up to be a problem as parents look to go back to work. The University of California Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Child Care Employment says that a quarter of the state’s child care programs remain closed, and among those that have opened, 77% have lost tuition income and 80% are covering higher cleaning costs. “Providers are taking on credit card debt, missing rent or mortgage payments, and paying employees but not paying themselves,” said the center's Sean Doocy. [San Francisco Chronicle]
BRANDISHING WEAPONS | Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has intervened in a case brought by St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner against Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a St. Louis couple who brandished firearms last month at protesters who were marching to the mayor’s house nearby. Schmitt, who is seeking to have the gun charges dismissed, said that his involvement in the case is “appropriate” because of “the chilling effect that [the case] might have with people exercising their Second Amendment rights.” U.S. Rep. Rasheen Aldridge, a Democrat from St. Louis, called Schmitt’s involvement in the local case a “political sideshow.” [St. Louis Post-Dispatch]
UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS | The New York State Assembly passed a bill on Monday to protect undcoumented immigrants during court proceedings. The bill prohibits immigration related civil arrests for anyone traveling to or from court. “This bill will ensure that all New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status, are able to participate in our justice system without fear of arrest or deportation," Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said. The bill now awaits a hearing in the state Senate. [Spectrum News]
MAJOR SHOOTING | A shooting outside a funeral home in Chicago left 15 people wounded on Tuesday. Mayor Lori Lightfoot called the shooting "horrific" and urged anyone with information to come forward. "When a person picks up a gun, we suffer as a city. This cannot be who we are," she said. [CBS News]
MAYOR’S HOUSE | Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf’s home was vandalized on Tuesday with graffiti messages and red paint. The messages said things like “Blood on your hands” and “Defund OPD.” [San Francisco Chronicle]
Emma Coleman is the assistant editor for Route Fifty. Bill Lucia is a senior reporter for Route Fifty.
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