Cut the Red Tape for Homeless Kids- First Focus Campaign for Children

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Ad: Cut the Red Tape for Homeless Kids

Our April, 2012, ad sends a simple message: kids shouldn’t be denied the help they need because government can't agree on definitions. This half-page adappeared in two go-to publications for Members of Congress and Capitol Hill staff, Roll Call and CQ Today, on April 16th.

The Homeless Children and Youth Act, sponsored by Illinois Republican Congresswoman Judy Biggert, fixes a definitional problem that denies more than 700,000 homeless children the help they need. A key congressional subcommittee has already passed the bill, and it’s headed for a vote in the House Financial Services Committee.

The Campaign for Children has endorsed the bill. We’re working with a coalition of children’s advocates, advocates for the homeless, educators, and other concerned voices to make this important legislation a win for children.

Special Interests Kill Lifesaving Child Labor Rule

The U.S. Labor Department withdrew a proposed rule in April that would have protected children from the most dangerous forms of agribusiness labor. For decades, federal regulations have prevented kids from driving forklifts, handling dangerous chemicals, and working in places where they might fall or be crushed. But an outdated loophole has denied similar protections to kids working on farms. The Campaign for Children supported the proposed rule, which would have closed this loophole without limiting parents’ opportunities to work side-by-side with their children on their own family farms. But misrepresentation and aggressive lobbying by the American Farm Bureau Federation and other Big Ag allies prompted the Labor Department to abandon the reform plan. Read our press statement criticizing that decision and calling for immediate passage of legislation to close the loophole.

Campaign for Children Challenges Rep. Ryan’s Budget in Wisconsin’s Largest Paper

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, has authored a budget plan that would make deep cuts to children’s health, nutrition, economic stability, care, and safety. Our letter to the editor of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel points out that these investments deliver for kids and urges Wisconsinites to challenge Rep. Ryan and other lawmakers to deliver a budget that protects children and their families.

North Carolina Ad Backs Family Tax Credits

North Carolina’s May 8th presidential primary election makes Under the Dome, the state’s most widely-trafficked political blog, even more impactful right now. We partnered with Action for Children of North Carolina to place a family tax credits ad on April 30th that will run in Under the Dome through the end of May.