With bipartisan leadership, Florida can give families a chance at prosperity | Opinion [Miami Herald]

Miami Herald (FL)

Imagine your boss calls you into her office with big news: Your hard work is being recognized and you are getting a raise. This should be a moment to celebrate, but you realize the negative impact on your family budget. Fifty cents an hour more at your full-time job will bring about $1,000 more into your bank account that year, but you’ll lose a subsidized health insurance plan for your daughter, and those costs rise from $240 to $3,000.

It’s hard to celebrate when you’re on the edge of a cliff.

When a small increase in income brings a loss in public benefits — whether for food, housing, health insurance or childcare — resulting in fewer net resources for the family, we call that a “fiscal cliff.” As a matter of public policy, we should not create situations where parents are forced to decline a pay raise, choosing their children’s well-being over the financial independence of their family.

I lead a movement focused on getting all children ready for kindergarten, advocating for the health access, early learning and parent support they need to thrive in the first five years. I am also a wife and working mother with two young boys, so I know that children get sick—a lot. When they do, their health and learning is affected and it creates challenges for our entire family.

Having a relationship with a pediatrician or trusted health practitioner is critical. You don’t have to go too far back in history to a time when close to a million children in Florida were without health coverage. Thankfully, elected leaders from both sides of the aisle have prioritized eliminating unnecessary barriers and expanding access, which has helped to lower that number. Today, through Florida KidCare, qualified families that make too much to access Medicaid can enroll in subsidized, comprehensive coverage for $15-$20 per month — for all children in the household.

This year’s legislative session — under the leadership of Speaker Paul Renner, Sen. Alexis Calatayud, Sen. Keith Perry, Rep. Robin Bartleman and Rep. Dana Trabulsy — the Florida Legislature expanded eligibility for Florida KidCare from about 200% of the federal poverty level ($60,000 a year for a family of four) to 300% ($90,000 a year). Families may pay a bit more when a new sliding fee scale is established, but less than the $250 per child per month that the full-pay program offers families that are over-income.

This policy moves us in the right direction to support family prosperity and reflects the economic reality that the cost of living in Florida is outpacing wages.

As state leaders look for other ways to smooth out fiscal cliffs, they will find a significant opportunity in Florida’s School Readiness program, which provides subsidized early learning options so young children can learn while parents work. Educational childcare is crucial to children’s success, and a new study from the Florida Chamber reminds us it is also vital for our economy: Our state loses nearly $5.4 billion annually because of inadequate childcare.

In Miami, School Readiness serves families working in the core of our economy: in retail, restaurants and hotels. However, with entrance eligibility capped at 150% of the federal poverty level, a two-parent household where both adults are employed full time making minimum wage is too wealthy to qualify, no matter how many children they have. An income under $50,000 certainly does not allow a family to pay for childcare (about $10,000 a year per child) and afford to live in this community.

Creating glide paths for family-support programs that allow parents to grow in their careers is critical to the wellness of all Florida families — and to the success of Florida’s children. We thank the Legislature for placing these issues front and center in the policy debate and look forward to celebrating what bipartisan leadership can continue to achieve.

Then more families can celebrate, too.

Madeleine K. Thakur is president and CEO of The Children’s Movement of Florida.