How Schools and Communities First Will Work For You!
DHF in collaboration with Cali Calls, a statewide coalition of over 30 organizations, has been working, since November 2019, knocking on doors and talking to voters, rain or shine, to collect over a million signatures to qualify the Schools and Communities First initiative on the November ballot.
For more than 40 years, California has been suffering from lack of resources due to an outdated tax code that was thought to be untouchable until recently. The Schools and Communities First (SCF) initiative will bring $12 billion dollars back into California every year by closing a tax loophole and requiring businesses valued at $3 million or more to pay their fair share in property taxes. Although the opposition is, and will, continue to spend millions to trick the public into believing otherwise, the initiative is only focused on increasing taxes on large corporations and will not affect taxes for homeowners, small businesses, or agricultural land.
Out of the reclaimed $12 billion dollars, 40% will be distributed to schools and community colleges based on local control funding formulas and the remaining 60% will go to public services like hospitals, libraries, and infrastructure and more. If passed these funds will provide our students with more of the services they desperately need: counselors, librarians, and nurses in our schools. It means more funding for emergency medical services and firefighters. It levels the playing field and benefits small businesses who are already paying their fair share in property taxes. It’s time to invest in its schools, communities, and economy so that everyone can prosper.
Please learn more about this initiative at www.schoolsandcommunitiesfirst.org. Share this information with your family and friends and local small business owners. And remember to vote YES on Our Schools and Communities First in November 2020!
ECPCA Leaders 
ECPCA Group Picture
ECPCA’s Plan to Save Low-Income Families
On February 21st, 2020, Dolores Huerta joined over 100 people from 25 organizations partnering with End Child Poverty California (ECPCA) gathered at St. John’s Well Child and Family Center in Los Angeles to advocate for lawmakers to take action to end the cycle of poverty for children in the state of California. At the LA Campaign Launch, Dolores Huerta, whose activism was inspired by seeing her poor students go without food and shoes, said, “Our abundance should benefit everyone in California, especially the poorest among us. The solutions are in front of us. We know we can get this done!” Last year, ECPCA celebrated legislative wins that secured $5 billion dollars in state funding doubling the California Earned Income Tax Credit for low income families, expanding healthcare access for people ages 19-26 regardless of immigration status, and investing in housing for homeless youth and families. This year, ECPCA is fighting for 5 policies:
1. > The Child Poverty Tax Credit to provide families more money where they need to use it
2. > Housing support to increase available housing and reduce homelessness.
3. > Childcare to improve access for working parents.
4. > Healthcare to strengthen and expand access in communities with health disparities which will lead to higher success rates in education attainment and lift up families out of poverty.
5. > Coordination of Services to improve the cost-effectiveness of programs that support families, focusing on community-based, collaborative, research-based solutions.
To support ECPCA and end extreme poverty for 450,000 California children, please sign the online petition: https://www.endchildpovertyca.org/petition-2020/
