Children's Alliance News

Did They Vote For Kids? 2008 Legislative Scorecard

Yesterday we released our second annual report on how Washington State legislators measure up on issues that impact kids in our communities. The 2008 legislative scorecard, Did They Vote For Kids? provides a detailed analysis of the track record of your State Senators and Representatives as well as a 1-5 star rating for each lawmaker.

This report gives you the power to know exactly what legislative action your Senators and Representatives took for kids this year and you can even compare your legislators' performance in 2007 to this year. 

If you're not sure who your state legislators are, you can look up your district now.

Download and read the report the way you want to read it:

Full Report
Senate Voting Record
House of Representatives Voting Record
Voting Record by District

2008 Legislative Session Review: Keep Our Promises to Kids

Want to know where kids stand after the legislative session? A lot happened in just 60 days.

Kids in foster care saw long-awaited promises finally kept (in part), the legislature made a commitment to start connecting farms to schools and legislators opened the door for 23,000 families to get food stamps.

Meanwhile kids are still waiting for the legislature to cut out the co-pay on school meals for kids grades 4-12 and early learning investments for home visiting were put off for another year.

The Children's Alliance 2008 Legislative Session Review contains an understandable explanation of what happened this session and an easy to read list of bills and budget items impacting kids and families

Read the full report, the Executive Summary or quick issue pullout sections.

Cost of insurance far outpaces income

Americans who get health insurance for their families through their jobs have seen their premiums increase 10 times faster than their income in recent years, according to a new analysis of government data. The study, "Squeezed: How Costs for Insuring Families are Outpacing Income," was released today by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It shows that a growing share of workers’ earnings is being absorbed by the increasing cost of health insurance. In Washington state, the amount employees pay for family coverage increased 37 percent from 2001 to 2005, while family policyholders’ income increased 6 percent over the same period.

“This study makes plain what every working parent knows—that providing insurance coverage takes a bigger bite from the family budget every year,” said Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Children's Alliance is working to ensure that every child in Washington can get comprehensive, affordable health insurance through effective implementation of the state's Cover All Kids law. For more information, visit our health policy page.

Advocacy Campers Put Lessons Into Action For Kids

"People change, families reunite."

That was the first line of a column in the Seattle Times on November 1st, just weeks after Advocacy Campers in the birth parent work group crafted that same message. Jerry Large's column highlights the need for funding to enable families to get healthy and reunite, and echoes another important message for kids; "Change is possible when people get the support they need."

Congratulations to advocacy campers from Catalyst for Kids for their great work getting the message out for kids. Catalyst for Kids Director Nancy Roberts-Brown said the training made a difference:

"We absolutely could not have done as well without our shared Advocacy Camp experience."

For more information on Advocacy Camp see the Children's Alliance website.

Washington drops from 2nd hungriest state in the nation to 32nd!

The Children's Alliance report "Hungry in Washington" was released Nov. 14th. The report shows that Washington has made a lot of progress in addressing hunger over the past seven years. At the same time, more work needs to be done.

The report states that:

"Washington’s food insecurity and hunger rates improved for the second year in a row, thanks to efforts to expand access to key anti-hunger programs such as food stamps and school meals. However, 88,000 Washington households went hungry in 2006 despite the progress made and 251,000 were stretched so close to the edge financially that they couldn’t be sure they’d have money to put food on the table every day."

Citing cuts made as part of welfare reform legislation in 1996, the report finds that in 2007 an average family receives $400 less in benefits per year than they would have if 1996 cuts had not been made. The report is a call to action for a greater federal investment in the Food Stamp Program, which it calls the "cornerstone of America's effort to fight domestic hunger".

The U.S. Senate is currently debating the 2007 Farm Bill, which will determine the level of funding for the Food Stamp Program. 

Read more of Hungry In Washington. And if you aren't yet a member of the Children's Action Network, sign up now for alerts and get ready to take action to end childhood hunger.

Did They Vote for Kids?

Have you ever wondered how your legislators voted on the issues we promote? Ever wanted to know how their voting record compares to others on children's issues?

Now you can find out. The Children's Alliance is pleased to release our legislative scorecard, "Did they Vote for Kids?"

This scorecard rates your two State Representatives and your State Senator with a percentage score indicating their support for specific children's issues in the 2007 state Legislative Session. The purpose of the scorecard is to inform advocates for children and the general public about the voting record of state legislators on selected legislation affecting children and families.

Read "Did they Vote for Kids?" here.

The scorecard is for educational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement for or against any lawmaker or candidate.

2007 End of Session Report Available

Our report on the 2007 Washington State Legislative Session is now available online.

Read more about the historic gains for children that were fueled by consistent advocacy from individuals, organizations and political leaders this year. Children's health coverage, early learning and children's mental health received unprecedented state support that will have a direct and immediate impact on children across the state.

This year, the report is broken up into sections that pull out. Choose which parts you download, print and save:

Executive Summary

Health Coverage for Every Child

Quality & Funding for Early Learning

Improving Foster Care for All Children

More "Brain Fuel" for Hungry Children

Bill/Budget List

Full Report

KIDS COUNT 2007 Data Book

The 18th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book, a project of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, provides national and state-by-state information and statistical trends on the conditions of America’s children and families. The on-line version allows you to create special reports using state-level data. You can, for example, get a Washington State profile here.

The full report is available at the Annie E. Casey Foundation website.

Pre-K investment pays off for every state

Robert G. Lynch, author of the book Enriching Children, Enriching the nation from the Economic Policy Institute, has created new fact sheets for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The sheets examine the costs and benefits of pre-K programs and their positive impact over time on federal and state budgets, crime costs, and the earnings of participating children and adults.

View or download Washington's fact sheet here.

Food Stamp Erosion in Washington

This new report we released today finds that:

the food stamp benefits received by over a half million Washingtonians are eroding in real value with each passing year, making it harder for struggling families to afford an adequate diet.

Read the full report, "Food Stamp Erosion in Washington" (pdf). Then contact Congress today and ask them to take action for hungry families.