Passage of Federal Stimulus Package from U.S. House on the Brink

Weeks after the inauguration of President Biden, Democratic leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives has indicated it will fast-track legislation containing the administration’s priority pieces around economic stimulus and pandemic recovery. At this point it appears the legislation – costing $1.9 trillion in total - is poised to move out of the chamber by the end of this week. Several provisions of interest to PPC are Included in the package:

• $150 million in stimulus funding for evidence-based home visiting;
• $40 billion in funding for child care;
• $130 billion into K-12 schools;
• $880 million in funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC);
• Extends the 15% increase in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit through September, which currently expires at the end of June; and
• $350 billion into state and local aid.

How much these elements or amounts might change is unknown in the Senate, with its 50/50 split between Democrats and Republicans, and Vice President Kamala Harris serving as the tie-breaking vote. However, in Pennsylvania, Republican majority leaders in the state House and Senate will be closely watching how much federal aid is received from Washington as they look to use those funds as a means to approach our own FY 2021-22 state budget.

Regarding timing, many observers believe the goal is to wrap the stimulus package up by March 14^th before the next unemployment insurance supplement expires.

NEW! Childhood Begins at Home Shows Benefits of Evidence-Based Home Visiting

As a founding partner of the statewide home visiting coalition Childhood Begins at Home, we are pleased to share this new video we helped produce that shows the many benefits of voluntary, evidence-based home visiting services for the children, families, and expecting mothers they serve.

In this brief video you can see for yourself the amazing work of the six state-funded evidence-based home visiting models operating in Pennsylvania, and how they deliver services to meet the unique needs of families. 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, home visitors have been a tremendous source of support for families facing isolation, stress, unemployment and lack of resources, and PPC is committed to ensuring policymakers support the programs at the federal and state level.

We will be working with policymakers to realize a pragmatic investment in the 2021-22 state budget to provide more pregnant women, children and families with needed evidence-based home visiting services. While the governor’s proposed FY 2021-22 state budget level-funds home visiting services, we will be advocating for a reasonable increase to expand these much-needed supports.

Federally, this week the campaign sent a letter to the state’s congressional delegation in the US House of Representatives asking for a vote in support of the current stimulus package, which is expected to receive a full vote in that chamber perhaps this week. In exciting news, current language of the bill contains $150 million in stimulus funding for evidence-based home visiting. To date, home visiting has not received federal stimulus support.

National WIC Association Releases Inaugural State of WIC Report

The National WIC Association released its inaugural The State of WIC report, which takes an in-depth look at the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and makes policy recommendations for strengthening the program and reversing declining participation. The report also provides national and state profiles with various data points regarding the WIC program – the most recent data shows there were more than 232,000 WIC participants in Pennsylvania, more than half of whom are children. Forty percent of infants born in the commonwealth participated in WIC in 2017, however, during that same year, less than half of all eligible individuals participated in the program. 

Pennsylvania has seen steady declines in participants in recent years, and Pennsylvania’s Prenatal-to-Age-Three collaborative is working closely with advocates, WIC providers and the Department of Health’s WIC Bureau to modernize the program and increase participation.

In addition to the release of the report, the collaborative sent a letter to the state’s congressional delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives – similar to what was done for home visiting – advocating for inclusion of stimulus funding for WIC in the package coming up for a vote imminently in that chamber. Specifically, the letter calls for support of the $880 million in funding included in the legislation, with $390 million of that allocated for modernization initiatives and $490 million to increase the allotment provided for the fruit and vegetable benefit package – ensuring participants are offered more nutritious options.

Celebrating Career and Technical Education

February is National Career and Technical Education Month, and PPC is proud to recognize and celebrate the educators and programs that support students in becoming career or post-secondary ready. Career and technical education (CTE) programs provide students with pre-apprenticeships, on-the-job skills, and higher education credits all before graduating high school. CTE also is a critical piece of the school-to-workforce pipeline that supports our economic development, and the return on investment is immeasurable.

It is disappointing that the economic contributions of CTE was not in the Governor’s proposed budget, given the ever increasing need to strengthen and rebuild the workforce due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Policymakers should prioritize increased funding for career and technical education in the final 2021-22 state budget by making a $10 million investment, with $3 million allocated through the formula-driven Career and Technical Education Equipment Grant line, and $7 million appropriated through the Career and Technical Education subsidy.

Additionally, the legislature recently enacted SB 109, which allocated $20 million in GEER (Governor’s Emergency Education Relief) funding for career and technical centers in the state.