SACRAMENTO – Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez (D-Los Angeles), who made fighting for jobs the centerpiece issue of this year’s budget negotiations, today issued the following statement in response to the Governor’s shortsighted elimination of child care for working parents that have worked their way off the welfare rolls and into the workforce:

“With the stroke of his ‘blue pencil’ to eliminate the critical Stage 3 Child Care program, Governor Schwarzenegger terminated the jobs of 60,000 Californians and threw them into complete crisis.

“Since Welfare Reform established the CalWORKS program, the welfare rolls in California have dropped by 50 percent. This is largely due to the work requirements of the programs and the tools that are available to ensure that work is a realistic option for struggling families – available child care is perhaps the most valuable tool.

“Without Stage 3 Child Care, parents that have worked their way off of welfare but are in such low paying jobs they cannot afford the full cost of Child Care will be left with daunting choices to care for their kids: either quit their jobs and go back on welfare or leave their kids in vulnerable settings.

“Clearly, it is not in the state’s economic or moral interests to force parents back onto welfare or to force parents to leave their kids in vulnerable situations – the state simply cannot afford either outcome.

“Therefore, we are not going to simply add this to the list of all the other failures of the Schwarzenegger Governorship, instead we will fight for these families and undo the Governor’s elimination of Stage 3 Child Care.

• The Assembly will introduce a bill that takes effect immediately to fully restore funding for Stage 3 Child Care on the first day of the new session.  Since Stage 3 Child Care is an educational program, the bill will only require a majority vote. This bill will be sent to the Governor's desk on the first day the new Governor takes office;
• Also, the Assembly will work to find ways to qualify families for other Child Care programs that remain intact and other solutions to provide a bridge for families and small businesses until the program can be restored.

“As I first stated soon after learning of the Governor’s devastating and shortsighted vetoes, it is disappointing but not surprising that the Governor would do so much damage on one of his final acts in office.

“But we will not let his child care veto go unanswered; we will fight to keep the 60,000 parents in their jobs and their kids in safe and enriching environments.  Both are critical to economic interests of our state.”