COVID-19 State Policy Agenda
The Arizona Senate re-convened last Friday and notified the House that it plans to adjourn. The House appears to be more divided and has yet to indicate if it will follow suit. Whether the legislature will continue the current session or agree to end session and wait for Ducey to call a special legislative session is very unclear at this point. What is clear to us at Children’s Action Alliance are the critical actions state lawmakers must take to ensure that children and families’ needs are addressed during this crisis.
CAA has been working with stakeholders to identify the key state policy asks for COVID-19. Among them are to:
- Place a moratorium on youth aging out of extended foster care at age 21 and provide placement and other supports for them.
- Urge Governor Ducey to utilize COVID-19 emergency funds to provide grandparents and other informal kinship caregivers access to “child-only” TANF.
- Make it easier to extend health coverage to more people, particularly those that find themselves newly uninsured.
- Appropriate $88 million in federal child care money to provide financial support to centers so that they aren’t forced to shut their doors permanently.
- Invest in broadband infrastructure in rural and tribal areas to reduce disparities in access to education and telehealth services.
Read more about our policy asks here. The CAA team continues to work with impacted individuals, lawmakers, and other stakeholders to lift up the needs of families already pushed to the edge. We will continue to provide you updates and more in-depth information in the coming weeks.
