January is National Radon Action Month. Radon is an odorless, colorless, radioactive gas. Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, second only to tobacco. Radon occurs naturally from the breakdown of uranium. It is estimated that radon is responsible for more than 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year.

ARLINGTON, VA - Child Care Aware ® of America, the nation’s leading voice for child care will host its largest gathering of child care experts, including leaders from Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) agencies, early educators, child care providers, parents, researchers, funders and partners at Symposium 2016, taking place April 4 - 6, 2016 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. This three-day event will focus on the latest child care and early education policies, as well as research, practice and innovative approaches for child care that are shaping how families access quality child care.

Today, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published the much anticipated proposed rule-making on the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF).

This proposed rule will make changes to CCDF in order to comply with the 2014 CCDBG law. ACF is seeking comments from the public through February 24.

Late last night, House Speaker, Paul Ryan (R-WI) announced that a deal was reached on the FY 2016 budget and unveiled a $1.15 trillion spending bill that would fund the government thru September 30, 2016. This bi-partisan bill includes very favorable funding levels for programs that support low-income children and their families and early education, including:

This morning, President Obama signed S. 1177 (Conference Report H 114-354), the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” into law at a bi-partisan ceremony at the White House. The President was joined by Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, along with Senators Lamar Alexander (R-TN) and Patty Murray (D-WA), the senior leaders on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, as well as Congressmen John Kline (R-MN) and Bobby Scott (D-VA) from the House Education and the Workforce Committee, and other key congressional members and advocates.

As I write this, we’re a week into December and already the past month feels like an eternity ago! Our policy team was especially busy in November, though we had some other staff on the road before the holidays as well.