Alabama Advocates Tap Alliance Network for Big Child Care Tax Credit Win 

But Bridgeforth says it takes more than advocates to get a big score for women and communities  like the recent child care bill. “Having core support from partners and experts is essential,” she says. And in this case, Women’s Foundation of Alabama tapped the Alliance network for this expertise.  

Doubling Down on Responsive Support  

While for many years the Alliance has engaged national advocacy groups to complete reports, research, and other projects, the organization’s experience with advocates in all 50 states has led to a strategy that is paying even bigger dividends – customized just-in-time support for state advocates.  

“The advocacy landscape in states changes by the day,” says Helene Stebbins, Executive Director of the Alliance. “In October, they might anticipate that the window might open in February to land a major piece of legislation. Or they may not see opposition coming and have to pivot to avoid a major setback. They tell us time and time again that having someone to call in those moments is priceless and can make the difference between losing funding and a $100 million win.”   

So today, the Alliance curates a network of experts that stands ready to help advocates in all 50 states with tailored responsive support. Advocates are not charged for this assistance—it is funded with pass-through funds from investors who see the return on strategic, targeted investment in state advocacy.  

In the case of Alabama’s HB 358, when Bridgeforth’s team of advocates saw an increasing interest in the state for workforce supporting policy, they reached out to two Alliance responsive support providers for insights and expertise about the nuances of tax credit policy.  

Bridgeforth’s team began working with Louise Stoney of Stoney Associates, an expert in early care and education finance and policy, and Grace Reef, senior outreach consultant with the Committee for Economic Development of The Conference Board, an expert in federal and state policy and tax code related to families with children.  

While the Women’s Foundation of Alabama team knew the state landscape well and had strong relationships, they knew they could use a deeper bench when it came to developing a complex policy recommendation for state policymakers. Bridgeforth says Stoney Associates and CED could speak about the child care tax credit issue from a national perspective and were well versed in approaches undertaken by other similar states.  

“It accelerates us as state-based advocates to have expertise from people from other parts of the country,” she says. “If we want Alabama to be a model, we wanted to bring real depth on the processes and policies that have led to success in other states.”  

Reef says both perspectives are essential to strong policy. “As state advocates share the state’s history, challenges, and the opportunity, national responsive support providers can say, ‘Oh interesting, this exact issue came up in another state and here’s how they handled it.’ Or, ‘You know there’s something like that at the federal level and it’s structured like this’,” Reef says.   

Advocates in the states are experts, too, and when there is a need, the Alliance state network activates to support each other. When they heard about this policy opening from Bridgeforth in Alabama, Alliance staff connected her with a fellow advocate in Nebraska, where they had just passed a similar tax credit. The Nebraska advocate, who had written the successful Nebraska tax credit bill, was able to provide comments on the Alabama bill language. 

Getting Across the Finish Line  

For Women’s Foundation of Alabama, access to the lliance’s responsive support roster was time-saving and impactful. “It freed up advocates in the field to go hard on the win and not worry about every detail, like finding a legal team, analysis, and policy research,” said Bridgeforth.  

For example, at one point in the HB 358 process, legislators considered changes that would have limited the bill’s impact. Reef provided immediate analysis including parallels to federal law. Bridgeforth was able to use this knowledge during negotiations to eventually reach a deal.  

“Being able to arm advocates with what they need while they are there in the room can have a huge impact,” said Reef.  

“State advocates sometimes need a sounding board or examples or context,” says Stoney. “We are responding at any hour, day or night, because that’s how policy gets made. When it’s the eleventh hour, you don’t have time to wait,” she said. 

“For us,” Bridgeforth says, “the responsive support could have been the difference between winning and not winning.”   

To help advocates pursue similar success in their own states, Bridgeforth shared what she perceived as two essential elements f their success: