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 early childhood education champion, Senator Peggy Lehner, for her tenacity in bringing the needs of Ohio kids to the forefront of tough budget decisions.
The bill, as passed by the Senate, now moves on to Conference Committee where representative leadership from the Ohio Senate, the Ohio House and the Executive will again deliberate over the priorities of each body. We are hopeful that, with our continued advocacy, the system will not lose ground as final changes are made to the bill. Accordingly, we need your support now! Time is of the essence!
CALL TO ACTION! Please contact the following legislative members of the Conference Committee within the next 48 hours via phone, email and engage them on social media using the directions below:
Phone & Email
1. Introduce yourself to the member or their staff and briefly tell them why you believe investments in quality early childhood education are important.
2. Ask them to protect kids in the budget by first maintaining current proposed levels of funding for Ohio's early childhood education system as reflected in the budget bill passed by the Ohio Senate.
3. Then ask that they consider making additional investments into the system by fully restoring all or part of the remaining cuts in the total amount of $11.1 million.
4. Thank them for their time and consideration.
Social Media
1. Tag the member you want to engage.
2. Insert the following text on Twitter: Thanks for protecting Ohio's #ECE system, the smart investment for all Ohioans.
3. Use Groundwork's hashtag #LaytheGroundwork and tag Groundwork too!
Example: @GayleManningOH, Thanks for protecting Ohio's #ECE system,the smart investment for all Ohioans. #LaytheGroundwork @GroundworkOhio