by Helene Stebbins,
Executive Director, Alliance for Early Success
To my colleagues who invest critical philanthropic dollars to make the biggest impact for young children and their families, hear me when I sound the alarm: state advocates are now both our front lines and our firewall. And they need reinforcements.
The checks and balances are not working in Washington, DC, and in spite of intense advocacy, H.R. 1 is now law. The new sprawling bill will balloon the deficit, shrink tax revenues, and cut more than $1 trillion from programs essential to child well-being, including Medicaid and SNAP.
States will face enormous challenges in the aftermath of H.R. 1, and the scramble to address them starts now—because unlike the U.S. Congress, states must balance their budgets.
H.R. 1 blows huge holes in state budgets by mandating states assume the cost of existing programs while reducing tax revenues. Many state legislatures will have no choice but to go back into session to amend their current budget, with some considering ending programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Children and families in every state are at risk of losing health care, mental health services, nutrition, child care, and other supports that are the foundations of strong, vibrant communities. This may happen directly with cuts to funding, or indirectly through new policies that change eligibility, erect enrollment hurdles, cut program staff, and otherwise slow the delivery of these crucial programs.
The good news is that there is already a counterbalance in place—a strong network of state early childhood policy advocates who have cultivated in-state coalitions and are strategizing across state borders. Even in these uncertain times, they are holding the line on early childhood state funding in Louisiana, creating a dedicated revenue stream for infrastructure in Montana that early childhood programs can access, preventing the elimination of child care child/staff ratios in Idaho, and increasing funding for child care in Texas. They learn from each other, lean on each other, and are more effective because of the network they create.
The bad news is they will have to fight like hell to hold on to these wins, and few have the capacity for the coming escalation. While they have the connections and skills to fight the intensifying battle, I can tell you they do not have the capacity to defend against devastating state budget cuts, delayed federal payments, sudden rule changes, and implementation slowdowns—all happening across multiple issue areas. In addition, some just lost federal direct service grants that are essential to their operating budgets.
We’re increasing our support for their work—we will send out a record $13 million to support high-performance state advocacy organizations and coalitions this year—and new investors continue to join our pooled fund. But it’s not enough to fuel what’s possible in a “normal” year, and it’s certainly not close to what will be necessary to defend crucial programs in the coming decidedly-not-normal years.
Philanthropy colleagues—now is the time to invest in state policy advocacy capacity.
The Alliance for Early Success has built the infrastructure to mobilize. We know the state advocacy ecosystem. We know where direct investments will have the most impact. We can advise on philanthropy in your home state’s advocacy community or facilitate an investment in the 50-state pooled fund. And we commit to passing through 100 percent of any new investments to the state advocates working on the front line.
We all want to live in communities where families flourish and children thrive, and the fight to defend that value is now in the states. As state policymakers are forced to make tough choices, it’s time for philanthropists and foundations to mount a bold defense for young children and their families.
Whether it’s through the Alliance for Early Success or a direct investment in your home state’s advocacy community, now is the time to invest big in capacity.
They need it yesterday.
About the Alliance for Early Success
In 2005—20 years ago this fall—leaders at the Buffett Early Childhood Fund were beginning to worry about the very limited capacity of early childhood policy advocacy at the state level. They reached out to leadership at the Irving Harris Foundation, the George Kaiser Family Foundation, and the J.B. and M.K. Pritzker Family Foundation, and together they founded the Alliance for Early Success to fund and provide technical assistance to advocates in seven states. Today, the Alliance for Early Success funds diverse advocacy organizations and coalitions in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, provides real-time policy expertise through a network of national organizations and consultants, and cultivates in-state and cross-state connections. For more information, watch this two-minute video and email us at alliance@earlysuccess.org
