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UWP will be hosting a 2-1-1 Day press event at the State Capitol building on Monday, February 5th. UWP will be live streaming the event on Facebook and distributing the video via social media.
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UWP 2nd annual Hill Day registration is now open!
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UWP will be hosting a legislative Hill Day on Tuesday, April 17th to give our membership, board members, public policy committees and United Way volunteers the opportunity to get in front of state legislators and advocate on behalf of issues important to the United Way network, namely Pre-k and PA 2-1-1.
Registration for the event is now open and we hope to have a good group of supporters advocating with us! You can register for the event, and read more details about the schedule of events here.
Please note- the registration will only be open until Friday, March 16th. This deadline is to allow UWP time to get meetings scheduled. So, if you plan to attend PLEASE REGISTER BY MARCH 16
.
Prior to our Hill Day, UWP will be hosting a webinar training on the materials and priorities that will be discussed in legislative meetings. This training will take place on Tuesday, April 10 at 3:30 PM. You will have the opportunity to register for the webinar following your registration to Hill Day. Please be prepared to attend or view a recording of the webinar after, as this will be the only issue training prior to the event.
It is our hope we will have a strong showing of United Way representatives for the event. You are encouraged to invite your boards, public policy committees, staff, and volunteers. We will be sending further information on Hill Day in the next couple weeks, including a schedule of events, a list of legislators we will be meeting with, as well as options for a hotel and parking if you are planning to attend. If you have any questions regarding Hill Day, please contact Maggie (maggie@uwp.org).
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Governor Wolf will present his proposed budget on Feb. 6
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Governor Wolf is preparing to deliver his fourth budget proposal outlining his priorities for the state of Pennsylvania on Tuesday, February 6, 2018.
For the last couple of years, certain initiatives and priorities of the governor have been previewed in press events around the state in the days leading up to the budget. This year, it appears that the entire unveiling will take place on Feb. 6. Here are some predictions from UWP staff:
- Expect a budget that continues to focus on the "Schools that teach, jobs that pay and government that works" themes of the previous Wolf budgets.
- Expect a budget that doesn't include significant increases in spending overall. However, another call from Wolf for a PA severance tax is almost guaranteed.
- Expect the Governor to continue to focus on increased education funding, as well as initiatives to address the opioid epidemic.
- Expect a proposal to make the first contribution to Pennsylvania's Rainy Day fund in many years, as our state has the dubious distinction of being among six states that have less than one week of funds to run government in their rainy day funds.
Coming into the budget address, Pennsylvania's revenues continue to track with estimates of both the Governor's budget office and the Independent Fiscal Office. The IFO revised its revenue estimate upward very slightly, by $35 million. While some revenue sources are weak, such as corporate net income tax, the IFO is now projecting more money from gaming expansion based on the results of auctions for the first two licenses. The IFO is also projecting an increase in sales tax revenue due to more disposable income for consumers as a result of federal tax reform.
The PA Department of Revenue's January collections report put Pennsylvania nearly $100 million ahead of estimates from the Governor's budget office for the fiscal year to date. Corporation taxes and personal income taxes exceeded expectations, while sales and use tax revenues fell short. The state's fiscal position was boosted by non-tax revenues that hit the books in January, including the auction of two gaming licenses and a leaseback of the Farm Show Building.
The budget speech, which Wolf will deliver to a joint session of the House and Senate, will be broadcast in several places, including the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN). It will be live streamed from the House Republican (www.pahousegop.com) and Democratic (www.pahouse.com) caucus web sites.
UWP staff will review and analyze the proposed budget, and provide a summary to members which focuses on topics of interest for United Way's work in education, health and human services. Please watch your email for updates.
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Heinz Endowments provides $300,000 grant to DHS for high quality childcare
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The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS) announced that it has received a grant from the Heinz Endowments in the amount of $300,000 over two years to support improving high-quality early child care programs.
The Heinz Endowments are based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and are concentrated on successful learning outcomes for young people and their families, a sustainable future for the community and planet, and a culture of engaged creativity for all citizens.
The grant was awarded to DHS in partnership with Tuscarora Intermediate Unit 11 to pilot regional shared-service alliances. The shared-services model allows small early childhood programs to pool together resources, cut administrative costs, and offer additional professional development. This allows early childhood staff to focus their efforts on teaching and guiding the children in their care. Business management will be sourced out to subject matter experts.
According to the release, the grant will set up three pilot sites that will reflect a variety of populations in Pennsylvania. During the pilot, DHS will focus on scaling shared services at the local level across diverse community settings. Supportive policy practices will be identified and implemented at the state level, with a goal of incentivizing the adoption of the shared-service model throughout the state and building sustainability.
DHS believes this innovative collaboration can strengthen the early child care system and continue the mission to bring high quality services to every child throughout Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit the DHS website
here.
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Partner with UWP to promote 2-1-1 day from Feb. 5 through Feb. 11th
PA 2-1-1 Day is right around the corner! The celebration of 2-1-1 will take place on Sunday, February 11th, and we have a lot of materials to help you join in! Events will be kicking off on Monday, February 5th with UWP's PA 2-1-1 Day press event at the Capitol and running through 2-1-1 Day. We will be livestreaming the press event, so please plan to share this with your social media networks and partners.
In addition to the press event, we have social media messages and graphics available for your use throughout the week leading up to 2-1-1 Day. We also have social media 2-1-1 videos available that we encourage you to use throughout the week. Additionally, a press release template is available that can be tailored to your local community, and we developed talking points you can use when talking to the press. These materials can be found on the members' only section here.
We hope you will be celebrating PA 2-1-1 Day with us! If you have any questions about these materials or how we are promoting 2-1-1, please contact Maggie (maggie@uwp.org).
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Tune in to the UWW public policy update webinar
Join United Way Worldwide's Public Policy team to hear the latest outlook from Washington. They'll touch on tax reform takeaways and next steps as well as policy updates on education, financial stability, and health priorities for the new year. Come learn to engage in critical advocacy to strengthen and protect policy goals in 2018.
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Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) kicks off the new Medicare card campaign
In A
pril 2018, CMS will begin sending
new cards to Medicare beneficiaries. The social security number will be removed from the new cards and will be replaced by a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) to prevent possible identity theft. The new cards will be mailed to the address on file for each beneficiary for free. If beneficiaries need to update their address, they can do so by contacting the social security administration (SSA)
here.
CMS is asking all non-profits to help inform people with Medicare about the upcoming changes and direct them to resources available at the CMS website
here.
The Partners and Employers website (accessible
here
) has many resources such as social media graphics, flyers, and posters with information about the upcoming new cards. Printed materials can be ordered for free from CMS from the link on the partner's website.
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Annual membership certification for United Way Worldwide due June 30, 2018
United Way Worldwide (UWW) has finalized the process for submitting membership certification for 2018. To submit the certification, a local United Way must submit the certification form, complete Database 2, and pay their annual dues.
UWW uses DocuSign to collect the certification forms.
Two signatures are required to sign the certification form. This is usually a CEO and the board chair.
The Database 2 Survey will launch in March and will be due May 15, 2018, or June 30, 2018, depending on which type of fiscal year the United Way runs. Dues will be calculated according to the Database 2 survey.
For additional information, please visit UWW
here.
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