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Welcome to the 2008 Legislative
Session!
Welcome to the 2008 Kansas & Missouri legislative
sessions! The Capitol Child Advocate is a weekly
newsletter to keep advocates like yourself up to date with the
important issues affecting children and youth in the Kansas
& Missouri state capitols. We’ll make it easy for you
by telling you when to take action and contact your legislators
during the 2008 legislative session. Children can’t vote,
so we need to raise our voices to ensure that their needs are a
priority for state lawmakers!
Partnership for Children would also like to introduce our two
Policy and Outreach Coordinators that will traverse the halls of
Topeka & Jefferson City this year on behalf of the children
and youth of Greater Kansas City. Emily Smith recently joined
our staff after 3 years with the statewide children’s
advocacy organization, Citizens for Missouri’s Children.
Emily will focus her efforts on children’s health and
child protection policy issues. Carrie Shapton returns for her
2nd year at PFC and will concentrate on early care &
education issues.
KS & MO Lawmakers Return to the
State Capitol
The Missouri General Assembly convened last Wednesday,
January 9th with opening speeches from both House and Senate
leadership. This election year, advocates can expect to
hear a lot about immigration, health care, taxes and education
just to name a few of the issues set to dominate this
legislative session. The legislative session runs through
mid-May.
To hear the speech given by Speaker of the House Rod Jetton,
click here: http://www.house.mo.gov/
To
hear the speech given by Speaker Pro Tem of the Senate Michael
Gibbons, click here: http://www.senate.mo.gov/
The Kansas State Legislature kicked off the 2008 legislative
session today in Topeka. In an election year, the priority for
state lawmakers will likely be to keep the budget balanced
without raising taxes. The legislature also faces 21 policy
recommendations from the Kansas Health Policy Authority to
improve the accessibility and affordability of health coverage
in the state. Gov. Sebelius is urging the legislature to fund
the recommendations with a 50 cent-per-pack increase in the
cigarette tax. Partnership for Children will work with Kansas
Action for Children and the KS Coalition for School Readiness to
advance several health, early education, and child safety issues
this year.
To view Partnership for Children’s 2008 policy
agenda for Kansas & Missouri, click here.
To view the policy agendas for our coalition partners, click
on the following links:
Citizens for Missouri’s Children, Metropolitan Council on Early Learning
Kansas Action for Children
Blunt & Sebelius to Deliver State of
the State
Governor Kathleen Sebelius delivered Kansas’ annual
State of the State address Monday evening to outline her budget
and legislative priorities for the year. You can listen to the
address online at http://www.governor.ks.gov/.
Governor Blunt will deliver Missouri’s annual State of
the State address tomorrow evening (Tues, 1/15) at 7 PM. To
listen in live, go to http://go.missouri.gov/2008MediaBroadcasts.htm.
Partnership for Children will send out a special edition of
the Capitol Child Advocate this Thursday to outline both
governors’ priorities for children and families in
2008.
PFC testifies in House
Appropriations
Partnership for Children testified on Wednesday, January 9th
before the House Appropriations Committee on Health, Mental
Health and Social Services. An important focus for us has always
been to promote policy and spending approaches that utilize best
practices and achieve results in a cost-effective manner.
Partnership for Children shared the following budget
recommendations to increase health coverage for children and
youth and to improve the quality and affordability of early care
& education opportunities:
- Provide $3.3 million General Revenue to support the
expansion of presumptive eligibility statewide in all of
Missouri’s community health centers and rural health
clinics.
Presumptive eligibility provides instant 30-day coverage for
a child if their family is found to qualify based on an income
check. The family then has 30-days to complete the
traditional application. A provision in SB 577, the
Medicaid Transformation bill passed last year, required a pilot
study of presumptive eligibility in one of each of these
sites. The Department of Social Services worked in one
community health center in St. Joseph and one rural health
clinic. As a result, 63 children have been enrolled in the
MO HealthNet for Kids program since December 2007.
- Provide $1 million for general outreach activities
to increase enrollment in MO Healthnet for
Kids.
There are 127,00 children without health insurance in
Missouri. Since 2005, an additional 70,000 Missouri children
have lost coverage. An estimated 85,000 thousand children are
eligible for state health coverage but are not enrolled.
We know that access to health insurance is a key indicator in
ensuring children receive the preventive services and the
medicines they need to succeed in school and in life.
Direct outreach efforts are needed to enroll children who lost
coverage in the past two years and those that are already
eligible.
In addition to Partnership for Children’s budget
requests, the Governor has already outlined some key funding
decisions related to MO HealthNet for Kids. The governor is
recommending $4.8 million to fund two new provisions that passed
in last year’s SB 577. Approximately 3,700 children
will now be eligible who would otherwise be unable to get health
coverage due to pre-existing conditions or because their
families exceeded their annual maximum coverage limits.
- Support the Governor’s request for $2.1
million to maintain child care subsidy eligibility at 127% of
federal poverty ($21,800 a year for a family of 3) and establish
a long-term plan to raise eligibility to 185% FPL by 2012
($31,700/yr for a family of 3).
At 127% of federal poverty, Missouri’s income
eligibility level for child care subsidy is among the lowest in
the nation. The average annual cost of child care in Missouri
for two young children is over $7,000, yet if a single working
mother makes just $22,000 a year, she would not qualify for any
state assistance.
The national median eligibility is 179% of poverty. A
long-term plan to increase the affordability of quality child
care is a sound investment in the learning potential of our
youngest Missourians and in the earnings potential of our
working families.
- Support the Governor’s request for $6.4
million to offer transitional child care assistance to families
between 127% and 150% of federal poverty.
Currently, if a single mom making $21,800 a year gets a $1
raise, her $2,000 increase in annual income could cost her more
than $5,000 in child care costs for her two children when she
loses eligibility for child care subsidy. Transitional child
care assistance for families will allow parents to advance in
the workforce and gain independence without worrying about being
unable to afford the full cost of quality child care.
- Support the Governor’s request for $2 million
to increase and readjust child care provider
rates.
Except for a 5% rate increase in 2007, provider reimbursement
rates for subsidized child care have not increased since 1998
for infant care, and since 1990 for preschool and school-age
care. The Federal Bureau of Child Care recommends that
states set rates so that families can afford 75% of providers in
a given area based on the market rate. Missouri’s rates
are outrageously outdated; providers across the state, in rural
and urban areas, are reimbursed for less than half of the true
cost of care. A portion of the Governor’s budget request
will be used to increase infant & preschool care rates to
the 65th percentile of market rates and school-age care to the
50th percentile of market rates. Partnership for Children urges
the Governor and the General Assembly to establish a budget plan
to raise reimbursement rates to the recommended 75th percentile
by 2012.
- Appropriate $1 million from general revenue to
support initial implementation of a Quality Rating System for
early care and education and afterschool
programs.
A Quality Rating System will help parents choose child care
services for their children as well as assist providers in
improving the quality of their programs. Ultimately, children
will benefit from higher quality early learning programs that
make them better prepared for success in kindergarten and
throughout their educational careers.
If legislation establishing a Quality Rating System is
approved by the General Assembly this year, $1 million will be
needed to rate 11% of providers voluntarily participating in the
system in the first year. In the future, adequate funding will
be needed to give child care providers technical assistance,
professional development opportunities, and increased subsidy
reimbursement rates and wages for higher quality programs.
It is important to note that implementation of a Quality
Rating System must coincide with an increase in child care
subsidy eligibility and an increase in reimbursement rates for
providers to ensure that Missouri’s low-income and most at
risk children can still afford high quality early care and
education opportunities.
The Quality Rating System is already moving quickly through
the legislature this year, with a hearing scheduled on SB
726 in the Senate Education Committee this Wednesday, January
16th. Companion legislation, HB 1524, has been filed by Rep.
Ward Franz in the House and has been referred to the Special
Committee on Family Services.
Committee will hold 23 hearings on
Missouri’s uninsured
The Missouri House Special Committee on Health Care
Transformation will hold 23 hearings over the next six weeks to
evaluate Gov. Matt Blunt's (R) plan to enroll thousands of
working parents in health insurance plans later this year and
discuss other ways to aid the uninsured. Blunt's Insure
Missouri plan would cover about 54,431 working parents with
incomes below the federal poverty level. According to estimates,
the plan could cost nearly $600 million by 2010, $47 million of
which would be funded by the state. Blunt has asked the
Legislature for $43 million in funding for the program next
year, $5 million of which would come from general revenue.
The rest would come from matching federal funds and hospital
taxes. Rep. Schaaf says that the hearings will focus on
all areas of the plan, from demographics of the uninsured to
federal funding.
Click here for a schedule of this week’s
hearings in the Healthcare Transformation Committee
UPCOMING EVENTS
Child Advocacy Day – Tuesday, Jan. 29th,
2008
Join thousands of child advocates in Jefferson City on
January 29, 2008 for the 26th annual Child Advocacy Day. Come
show your support for better public policies to support
children. Participate in workshops, visit exhibit booths to
learn about new services and programs, discuss critical issues
affecting children with legislators, and network with other
advocates. For more information, visit the Child Advocacy Day
Web site at www.childadvocacyday.org
COMMITTEE HEARINGS -
MISSOURI
Tuesday, January 15th
SB 766 (Goodman): Criminalizes prenatal drug
or alcohol use
Judiciary – 2 PM –
SCR1
Wednesday, January 16th
Senate Appropriations – 8 AM –
SCR2: Overview of the FY 2009 Governor Recommendations, FY 2008
Supplemental Recommendations, & FY 2009 Statewide Issues
SB 726 (Shields): Establishes a Quality
Rating System for child care facilities
Education –
2 PM – SCR1
Thursday, January 17th
Senate Appropriations – 8 AM –
SCR2: Contd, Overview of the FY 2009 Governor Recommendations,
FY 2008 Supplemental Recommendations, & FY 2009 Statewide
Issues
Until next week –
Carrie & Emily
Policy & Outreach Coordinators
Partnership for
Children | 
