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Pennsylvania Growing Greener III
More legislators in Harrisburg are seeing the benefits of a renewed Growing Greener program!
The Growing Greener Coalition is drafting a new version of the Growing Greener III legislation to be introduced in mid-April by Senators Alloway, Killion and McIlhinney with (currently) 21 co-sponsors. A bill is also planned to be simultaneously introduced in the House, brought forward by four prime sponsors - two Republican and two Democrat members.
We're gaining momentum in all our pre-training workouts - now for the push to the starting line!
You can make a difference:
1.
Call your Senators and Representatives today and urge them to support Growing Greener III.
(Currently Senate Democrats do NOT have access to their emails: they've been knocked out by a virus. Any emails sent now may be lost.)
We are looking to especially persuade the following Senators: Boscola, Brooks, Corman, Farnese, Haywood, Hughes, Langerholc, Laughlin, Leach, Martin, Scavello, Stefano, Street, Tartaglione, Tomlinson, Vogel, White, Williams, Yaw.
The PRPS Office is developing a cross-referencing database of all state legislators with PRPS Members. It is nearly complete and we will share that resource soon. In the meantime,
use this link to find your legislators.
3.
Share Growing Greener
in your newsletters, emails and in social media. We must communicate the urgency and opportunity.
- Twitter: @PaGrowGreener
- Facebook: @PaGGC
- Instagram: @KeepPaGrowingGreener
4.
Plan on visiting the Capitol on May 9
to meet with legislators throughout the day and attend a cocktail reception in the Main Capitol Rotunda in the early evening, hosted by the Growing Greener Coalition. More information to come!
Proposed Federal Budget Impacts
After-school and summer learning programs
The President's budget calls for eliminating funding for local after-school and summer programs. It's now up to Congress to counter the cut-or execute it and eliminate programs relied on by families across the nation to keep kids safe and engaged. Nearly two million children and families would be left without reliable after-school choices.
20 million families want and need more afterschool and summer learning opportunities. For every child in a program, two are waiting to get in. Closing more than 10,000 after-school programs will hurt families and children in every part of the country.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program
The CDBG offers critical funding to communities to address serious infrastructure, economic development, housing and other community development needs, including park and recreation improvement projects.
Between 2005-2013, $864 million in CDBG funds directly supported park and recreation projects. If CDBG were eliminated, the loss would leave an insurmountable gap in funding for many projects, especially in low-income communities.
The President's Budget is the suggested blueprint that kicks off the federal budget process. Only Congress has the final say on which programs stay or go, and how much funding those programs receive.
You can make a difference:
1. Call on Congressional representatives
to protect funding for after-school and summer learning programs.
For more information and to send a letter:
2.
by the CDBG Coalition, of which National Recreation and Park Association is a member. NRPA is already a signatory on this letter.
Other Updates
- Further actions are being developed on the issue of Public Preschool Recreation Programs vs. Childcare facility certification regulations. Watch for future updates.
- The complete PRPS Advocacy Platform, including both State and Federal Legislative Priorities for 2017, is now posted in the PRPS website.
- To increase your contribution to your profession and your Society, consider serving on the PRPS Governmental Affairs Committee. Please contact me if interested!
Tim Herd, CPRE
CEO
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