Donna's blog

Last week, in a heartless act of fiscal folly, the California Budget Conference Committee voted to increase red tape for children with Medi-Cal coverage by requiring families to re-enroll in the program every six months.

As if the price of gas wasn't bad enough, now Exxon Mobil is aggressively lobbying to defeat our efforts to ban phthalates, a toxic chemical, from kids' toys.

Dear CA MomsRising.org member,

Paperwork a new hazard to California's children? Unfortunately, it could be. In an effort to cut the budget, legislators are considering a truly twisted tactic right now: Cutting eligible kids off healthcare coverage by increasing red tape. The result -- more than 471,000 children could lose their health insurance.[1]

It was an amazing experience to deliver MomsRising.org member messages along with compasses telling legislators to get back on track to covering all kids! Our fabulous group of moms and kids reminded me again of the power of personal stories. One of the Assembly’s health policy experts was even moved to tears by the personal story of one of the moms delivering the Compass-o-Grams.

When I'm really lost, I need some serious help to get re-oriented -- a map, a compass, and someone giving me directions! It looks like the California legislature may also need some serious navigational help to back on course with healthcare for all kids.

Wow -- are we ever getting noticed in the halls of Congress these days! MomsRising.org members have made it clear that we expect our government and business leaders to make sure all toys and children's products are safe.

Just a few months ago, our leaders were breathlessly close to expanding healthcare coverage for kids. Now?

I’ve never really been a purist when it comes to my kids. I must admit that they’ve consumed more than their share of Kraft macaroni and cheese. And when a friend announced that she was only going to give toys made of wood to her children, I just rolled my eyes.

Jim Johnson, the owner of Johnson Moving and Storage and a self-described conservative, also knows firsthand about the benefits of a family-friendly workplace.  After attending a talk by Joan Williams, author of Unbending Gender, Jim decided that his company would define individual jobs according to goals rather than just by the hours worked and where the job was done.  Now, a quarter of his employees are off-site or virtual workers.  Many others work flexible hours to fit their family or personal schedules.  Jim's company now enjoys low rates of turnover and a higher quality workforce.