May 9th Events at Congressional Conventions

What is this?

On May 9th parents and child care providers from across the country will be holding a “Day Without Child Care” to call on Congress to include child care funding in the budget reconciliation. This action was inspired by CT’s March 15th Morning Without Child Care.  Rather than ask Connecticut providers to close again, we noticed that our members of Congress will be in their districts that evening for the party conventions that will renominate them to run for reelection.

On May 9th we plan to greet the convention delegates as they arrive.  Connecticut’s delegation in Congress has been supportive, but we want them to push hard to get child care in budget reconciliation, which may be our last chance to move this at the federal level for several years.Why will child care providers, parents and kids be going to these conventions?

First and foremost, we know that the members of Congress will be there.  Second, the delegates who will gather to nominate them for reelection are among the most politically connected people in the state.  We’ll be looking for new friends who can help us move our child care agenda with our Representative in Congress as well as next year when the state legislature starts on a new biennial budget.