Dear Groundwork Team, This week I had the opportunity to tune into a webinar from the First Five Years Fund (FYFF) summarizing findings from their 2017 voter poll. I want to share some of the highlights of the poll that I found to be powerful as we consider best strategies to advocate for increased investments in Ohio's early childhood education system. First, the results offer hope because, although we are in an increasingly polarized political environment, the poll overwhel

Groundwork advocacy paid dividends for kids in the latest budget deliberations. We are celebrating the Ohio Senate's passage of the budget bill yesterday. The bill restored $5 million of cuts made to the early childhood education system since the Executive's proposal back in January. As the legislature faced troubling state revenue projections, we are grateful to the leadership of the Ohio Senate for prioritizing investments in early childhood education. We also thank our ear

Dear Groundwork Team, This week our advocates made a strong showing at the Statehouse with three Groundwork Executive Committee members, in addition to myself, delivering testimony before the Senate Finance Committee in support of new investments in Ohio's early childhood education system. Additional supportive written testimony was submitted by Ohio United Way and the United Way of Central Ohio. We enjoyed some press coverage of our activity in addition to a column publi

Dear Groundwork Team, As you know, the Director of the Ohio Department of Budget and Management, Tim Keen, advised earlier this year that the legislature would have to adjust the executive budget proposal downward due to weaker than expected state revenue projections. The update we received today after May tax revenue numbers were analyzed, tells us that the state projections continue to lag estimates. This means it will be more challenging than ever for our legislative cha

Dear Groundwork Team, I am thrilled to announce that Ohio Senate President Larry Obhof will be speaking to you at Groundwork's Advocacy Day! President Obhof will join us during our luncheon to be recognized for his commitment to the developing child and share his experience and insight on advocating for increased state investments in early childhood education. As the presiding member of the 33-member Senate, President Obhof (R-Senate District 22), is responsible for leadin

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Dear Groundwork Team I am happy to report that Groundwork's testimony that I delivered in the the House Finance: Health and Human Services Subcommittee concerning the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services executive budget proposal was well-received. Our testimony highlighted the need for greater investment in quality early childhood education programs. I am encouraged by the feedback we have received from legislators as we continue to engage members to support our ask d

Dear Groundwork Advocates: It's hard to believe that I've already been on the job for 60 days! I've met so many amazing people and have learned so much. Thank you all for helping me get acclimated to this new position. I'm encouraged by the talent and expertise within our ranks and am excited about Groundwork's future. Check out some of my personal snapshots from a few of the things I've been doing around the state on behalf of Groundwork... State Budget Update Committee hear

Lynanne Wolf is joining the Groundwork Ohio team as the new Policy and Advocacy Associate. This position was created to support Groundwork’s crucial advocacy mission and our immediate need for legislative support during the current state budget discussion. Many know Lynanne through her service on Groundwork's steering committee as a representative of Voices for Ohio’s Children. She was most recently a Policy Associate at Voices, but prior to returning to policy development a

As you already know, Governor Kasich introduced his state operating budget for FY 2018-19 last month and it is currently receiving hearings in the Ohio House of Representatives (House Bill 49). The legislature and advocates alike have been analyzing the text as the House Finance Committee and the various subcommittees invited testimony from state agencies. Groundwork continues to review the Governor’s proposals to identify the bill’s level of commitment to the early care an