2019 ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Influencing Policy

EMGA advocates for local and statewide policies and funding to increase access to high-quality early education and care.

Highlights include:

January

  • EMGA represents the business voice at Texas Cares for Children’s Legislative Briefing at the State Capitol “STARTING OFF STRONG: PRE-K POLICY OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE 2019 LEGISLATURE”.

  • Letter to the Editor about the importance of investing in Pre-K published in The Dallas Morning News on January 25, 2019, written by EMGA' Steering Committee member John Cullen, along with Peter Beck, and Jim Postl.

  • EMGA presents at the Jewish Communities Day Event at the State Legislature: “Quality Early Learning for All Children”.

March:

  • EMGA joins 56 business leaders in a letter to Governor Abbott supporting funding for full-day Pre-K.

  • EMGA Steering Committee Member, John Cullen, profiled in the The Texas Standard advocating for full-day Pre-K as part of the business community reaching out to the Governor and the Legislature.

  • EMGA members join advocates from across the state at Pre-K Day” at the Capitol on March 25, 2019. Scott McClelland, President of H-E-B, calls funding for full-day pre-k “critical”.

  • “Full-day pre-k backed by business, education leaders”, publishing in The Austin American Statesman on March 25, 2019

  • Raise Your Hand TX’sPower of Pre-K” video profiles EMGA Steering Committee Member, John Cullen, making the business case for high-quality pre-k.

April:

  • EMGA submits testimony to the Senate Committee on Education in support of full-day pre-k in the school finance reform.

June:

  • During the 86th Legislative Session, several bills EMGA championed were signed into Law by Gov. Abbott, including:

    • HB3: Signed into law by Gov. Abbott on June 11, this major school finance reform that provides ongoing investments in early childhood education, including funding for full-day prekindergarten.

    • HB680: Requires the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) to assess and report the average cost of child care and the total number of providers and children participating in the state’s quality rating system.

    • SB 568: Signed into law by Gov. Abbott on June 10, this ensures more information is available to parents on the safety records of child care centers and strengthens the child care license renewal process.

    • SB706: Reinstates an investigation unit within the Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to seek out illegally operating child care facilities.

    • SB708: Directs HHCS to collect data on caregiver-child ratios and group size standards, as well as serious violations and injuries.

  • EMGA advocates for support of City Council Resolution #89, which directs the City Manager to present Council options for using new tax revenue for items including “child care and early childcare education” and other services related to homelessness and mental health. On June 20th, the City Council voted favorably on Item #89 with a vote of 10 - 1.

August:

October:

  • City of Austin earmarks funding in its FY’20 budget for free drop-in child care at the Municipal Courts; creating a child care center for the Austin Municipal Courts located at Bergstrom Tech; and start-up costs for eight new pre-K classrooms.

November:

  • EMGA hosts a “deep-dive” on child care funding and systems for Austin Delegation members and staff at Mainspring School.

  • EMGA staff make the case about “Why Pre-K” to the Austin Area League of Women Voters with the goal of including high-quality early education as a priority on their legislative agenda.

  • San Antonio launches an Early Matters Chapter joining Austin, Dallas, and Houston in working to expand access to high-quality early education.

 

1. Austin delegation members join EMGA at Mainspring Schools for a “deep-dive” on child care; 2. Rep. Dan Huberty address the crowd at Power of Pre-K Day at the Capitol; 3. Rep Goodwin visits with children from Open Door Preschool at the Capitol.

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Family-Friendly ATX

EMGA believes that supportive workplace practices and policies increase organization productivity and support the physical and emotional health of employees and their families.

January:

  • EMGA researches, plans, drafts, and publishes Austin’s first Family-Friendly Workplace Toolkit to encourage Greater Austin Area businesses to adopt family friendly workplace practices as a baseline for improving conditions for young children and families in our community while meeting business goals for recruitment and retention.

  • Greater Austin Area Chamber of Commerce endorses the Family-Friendly Toolkit.

April:

  • The Texas Tribune hosts a panel discussion about the growing momentum for Pre-K. EMGA Steering Committee member Libby Doggett participates, discussiong EMGA’s Family-Friendly ATX campaign and toolkit. The event had over 150 audience members and was streamed live to a larger audience.

May

  • EMGA’s launches “Family-Friendly ATX”, partnering with Mayor Adler, Mayor Pro-Tem Garza and Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison, to introduce the Campaign and Toolkit to over 35 Austin-area business leaders at City Hall.

  • Mayor Adler praises Family-Friendly ATX noting that, “Family-friendly should be the norm, what is expected.” He thanked the businesses in the room for their commitment and noted “Austin’s leading businesses make family-friendly business practices a priority. The Family-Friendly Toolkit will be a great way for other businesses to support their workers. In this town, it’s a key to success.

  • EMGA members Early Maxwell and Gay Gaddis spoke about the importance of family friendly practices and how they have seen the benefits of a family friendly culture in both the outcomes of their employees and their thriving children.

  • Press from the launch included: KXAN News and In Focus on Spectrum News

June:

  • The Austin City Council passes a Family-Friendly Resolution on Consent. The Resolution directs the City Manager to assess the City’s employment practices and identify areas where they may improve to become a more family-friendly employee.

July:

August:

  • The first bi-monthly Family-Friendly Newsletter is emailed to 71 business leaders across greater Austin.

October:

  • EMGA Launches a Family-Friendly LinkedIn Page promoting #familyfriendlyATX

  • EMGA Steering Committee member, Jeanette Ward, and EMGA Director, Cathy McHorse, participate in local panel discussions focused on Developing Family-Friendly Workplaces and Building a Family Friendly Environment to Stay Ahead of Workplace Initiatives.

September:

  • EMGA leadership met with the City’s Economic Development Team to outline a plan for promoting the Family-Friendly Toolkit within their business network.

November:

  • The Greater Austin Asian Chamber and the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber endorse Family-Friendly ATX.

December:

  • 35 business have signed on as part of Family-Friendly ATX

1. The cover of the Family-Friendly Toolkit; 2. Mayor Adler at the launch of Family-Friendly ATX; 3. Ali Khatah, CEO, Encotech Engineering Consultants, Gay Gaddis, CEO of T3 and Cathy McHorse, Director of EMGA at the Family-Friendly ATX launch. Both Encotech and T3 are part of Family-Friendly ATX.

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Innovation

EMGA seeks to establish the Greater Austin area as a region positioned to incubate, pilot, and scale innovative solutions to challenges of access and affordability in the early childhood sector.

January:

  • Austin is positioned to partner with Promise Venture Studios to become an innovation hub for incubating, piloting and scaling innovative ideas. 

March:

  • EMGA co-hosts an early education and innovation happy hour during SXSW EDU

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