Sign the petition: Pass the End Child Poverty Plan in FULL

There’s a question we should be asking our leaders in 2020: What kind of people are we in California?

If you ask me, Californians are people who don’t shy away from tough problems. We’ve saved lives by passing the country’s strictest gun-safety laws. We’ve fought climate change by implementing ambitious clean-air rules. We’re pioneers. And we know that, in our fight to end extreme child poverty, we can make California a model for the nation.

Sign the petition to tell elected officials: Let’s make 2020 the year we pass the End Child Poverty Plan in FULL.

We’re the only state with a research-based, achievable plan for ending deep child poverty, and we’re counting on our leaders in Sacramento to make it a reality. But California’s otherwise solid 2020-2021 state budget proposal, which Governor Newsom released Jan. 10, is missing an absolutely crucial element of the plan: the Child Poverty Tax Credit. Read our full statement on the budget here.

The Child Poverty Tax Credit is a critical tool for lifting 450,000 children out of extreme poverty — and they can’t wait another year. Right now, too many parents have to choose between paying rent, putting food on the table or paying for transportation to work. They’re losing jobs because they don’t have the sick leave to take care of their children or the child care to cover their schedules. Many are living with their kids in cars, with no water or power.

Without the Child Poverty Tax Credit, the hurdles are enormous for California parents to climb out of poverty and give their kids an equal chance at a better life.

Let’s tell our elected officials: Fully enact the End Child Poverty Plan in 2020. Together, we can end extreme poverty for 450,000 California kids and cut the overall child poverty rate in half!

California parents are striving to build a bright future for their kids, and your signature is a powerful symbol that you’re with them. We look forward to sharing this petition — and your voice — with our elected officials soon.

Let’s do this,

Conway Collis
President and CEO
Grace and End Child Poverty California