March 27, 2009 - This Week @ the Capitol
From Ready 4 K
This week at the Capitol continued the madness as the first deadline was reached on Friday….and all of our bills made it! Here’s a quick summary of where in the process the major bills and issues we’re tracking are (more information, including bill numbers, authors, and hearings, can be found on the Ready 4 K bill tracker):
Maintain current investments: The House has recommended no cuts to early care and education. While the Senate has recommended 7% across-the-board cuts, they have yet to release specific budget priorities within each area. The Senate heard their early childhood bill on Thursday, which included flat funding for early childhood programs within the education budget.
Increase access to quality: The bill to continue the three pilots (Pre-K Allowances, School Readiness Connections, FFN) was recommended for possible inclusion in House Omnibus Early Learning bill, while expanded funding for Allowances has been included in the Senate bill. These have also been included in discussion about possible uses for some of the federal stimulus dollars by the House, Senate and the administration.
Support parents: Family home visiting, with support and encouragement from the Minnesota Coalition for Targeted Home Visiting, has been left at base funding, with no cuts.
Build Quality: The QRS framework has been recommended for possible inclusion in both House and Senate omnibus bills, and quality supports and FFN are under possible consideration for federal stimulus dollars.
System supports: The Office of Early Learning has been recommended for possible inclusion in both House and Senate omnibus bills.
Bonding: $2 million is included in Senate bonding bill; TBD in the House.
In the House, on Tuesday the Early Childhood Committee heard an overview of the Governor’s supplemental budget for DHS, which includes simply delaying his recommended cuts. They also went over their planning process and proposed uses for Child Care Development Fund provisions of the federal stimulus dollars (for Minnesota this means $22.7 million for assistance to low income families, and $3.4 for quality).. While DHS is still waiting for guidance from the federal Department of Health and Human Services, they are initially proposing to use $22.7 million to manage the increased growth within CCAP, and splitting up the $3.4 million among three areas: 1.) “Getting ready” supports for early childhood programs in preparation for statewide QRS; 2.) Professional development aligned with QRS standards for providers; and 3.) FFN caregiver grants.
The committee also heard Growth and Justice’s bill to improve and expand opportunities for all students to attain educational success. On Thursday, the same committee heard the department’s child care licensing bills, which passed the committee and were sent to the floor.
Thursday also saw the presentation of the Senate’s early childhood bill, authored by Sen. Tarryl Clark. As mentioned above, it includes several of Ready 4 Ks priorities, including the Office of Early Learning, expansion of pre-K allowances, establishment of a quality framework for early care and education programs, establishment of a pre-k to third grade program, changes to the School Readiness program, use of federal stimulus dollars, and most notably, no cuts to early childhood programs. Among others, Ready 4 K president Todd Otis testified in support of the bill, which was laid over for possible inclusion in the committee’s omnibus education funding bill.
Coming Up @ the Capitol
Next week we will see the release of many omnibus spending bills, as the second deadline—for committees to act favorably on bills, or companions of bills, that met the first deadline in the other house—approaches on April 7.
