BOCA minutes - member meeting March 3, 2025 at 1:00 PM

Location of Meeting:

Virtual (GoToMeeting – available for one month) https://transcripts.gotomeeting.com/#/s/c794afaf96dbe750ca611efe05801e4952ac3511de33ab8c8f7cccad10762f10

In Attendance:

Board:
Rebecca Compton Dr. Day Care
Amy Vogel Dr. Day Care
Haley Paige Coggeshall Club/Haven Middletown

Missy Davis Dr Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center
Becky Madden Little Acorns Academy
Marie Walkow My Learning Tree
Beni Arroyo East Bay Community Action Program Head Start

Guest:
Rick McAuliffe Mayforth Group

(members arriving after 1:05 were not recorded)

Agenda:

Welcome and introductions
Guest speaker: Rick McAuliffe, Mayforth Group
Legislative updates
Bring questions or concerns to our Lobbyist
Seeking BOCA board member nominations
Join BOCA – membership for 2025
Next meeting on March 24, 2025
Questions & discussion

Meeting Notes:

Members introduced themselves
Rick update:
- Still in the beginning of getting legislation – General Assembly began introducing legislation in January. Last week there were 410 Bills in the senate, 600 in the house. Expect another 2-3 weeks of legislation coming in.
- Big concerns this year – DHS rates, child care for child care workers
  - Senator DiMario & Rep Grace Diaz are the co-chairs of the Perm. Leg. Committee, sponsoring legislation to make the pilot child care for child care permanent. 2 opportunities to support – in the Senate and again in the House
- Bill is well-intentioned but may have repercussions: S-154 waives the application fee for Background Checks. Who has to pay for it is not in the Bill. Leaves it on the employer to pay if it is not in the Bill.
- Budgetary – a couple of issues, continuing to make a push for better rates. But State budget is much tighter than the last couple of years. Previously received federal COVID money, CARES Act, federal funding, etc. Really cutting back. Budget that the Governor submitted is being reviewed now.
- Feels pretty strong that there won’t be increases. Rates went up, but still not at market rate. Will continue to work on it.
- Number 1 priority is child care for child care workers.
- The legislation he sends us is any that could affect your business (not just child care).
Amy – is there a minimum wage bill in? Rick – there is legislation in, state of RI increased minimum wage up to $15/hour. State of CT is at $16.50, MA is around the same, so there is a proposal to increase $5 over next 5 years ($1/year). Don’t think it has a chance this year, but it will be brought up every year.
Rick will be available – next call hopes to have all the bills ready to review
Reach out to BOCA any time if you have any questions or concerns for Rick to assist with or to address.
Open floor – no questions or concerns.