|
Quality Rating
System (SB4 & HB387): Last Tuesday, SB4
(Shields) was heard in the Senate Committee on Health, Mental
Health, Seniors, & Families. SB4 would establish a voluntary
statewide Quality Rating System for child care programs in
Missouri. Partnership for
Children joined several other Missouri organizations in
supporting this legislation, including: Center for Family Policy
& Research;
Citizens for Missouri’s Children; Greater KC LISC;
Jewish Family & Children’s Services; Mary Lee Johnston
Community Learning Center in Columbia; MO Catholic Conference;
MO Chamber of Commerce; MO Child Care Resource & Referral
Network; MO Federation of Teachers; MO Municipal League; MNEA;
and MO School Age Community
Coalition.
The companion
legislation in the House, HB387 sponsored by Rep. Wayne Cooper
(R-Camdenton), was re-referred last week to the House Committee on Elementary & Secondary
Education.
TABOR
(HJR23):
Last week, Representative Allan Icet (R-St.
Louis County) introduced
HJR23, a
constitutional amendment that limits the growth of
appropriations to inflation and population growth. This would
have a tremendous negative impact on Missouri’s ability to adequately
fund education, health care, corrections, transportation and
other vital state services for Missouri’s children and
families. It is similar to the MO Hancock amendment, which
limits the amount by which Missouri’s revenue may grow each
year, and to an initiative infamously known in Colorado
as TABOR (Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights). HJR23 was referred to the House
Budget Committee, chaired by Rep. Icet.
Youth Smoking Prevention
(SB 61):
SB61, sponsored by Senator
Yvonne Wilson (D-Kansas City), was heard in the
Senate Health, Mental health, Seniors & Families Committee
last Tuesday. Partnership for Children testified in support of
the legislation, which creates a “Youth Smoking Prevention
Trust Fund” to be funded through the Tobacco Master
Settlement Agreement. According
to the National Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, Missouri
ranks 49th in the nation for state spending on tobacco
prevention programs while smoking-related health problems cost
an estimated $2.13 billion a year. Missouri’s youth smoking rate is
23.8% and an estimated 8,500 Missouri youth become new
smokers every year.
Grandparents
First Pick for Foster Care (HB154): HB154, sponsored by
Marilyn Ruestman (R-Joplin), was heard in the House Senior
Citizen Advocacy committee last Wednesday. This legislation will
require the state to make diligent efforts to locate the
grandparents of a child needing emergency placement and requires
the grandparents to be given first consideration for foster care
placement. If the
grandparents are unavailable, preference is then given to other
relatives.
View PFC’s full tracking list for legislation relating to children’s
health, education, and safety.
-back to
top-
NEW
BILLS FILED
HB 509 (Stream) – Requires all school districts to
have physical education programs.
HB 609 (Oxford) – Raises the age of a child at which
the parent’s obligation to pay child support terminates
and repeals provisions terminating child support when certain
children received failing grades in
college.
HB 610 (Oxford) - Provides outreach services, educational
training for child care professionals, and subsidies for early
childhood programs.
HB 611 (Oxford)
– Requires all health insurance policies issued to
Missouri residents after
January 1, 2010, to include coverage for adopted children on the
same basis as other dependents of the
enrollee.
SB 306 (Dempsey) – Establishes the Show-Me Health
Coverage plan to provide health care coverage through the
private insurance market to low-income working
individuals.
SB 309 (Bray) – Enacts a state-wide smoking
ban.
SB 313 (Nodler) – Creates two separate funds within
the state treasury to receive and retain funds provided under
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009.
SB 314 (Smith) – Creates the Missouri Preschool Plus Grant
Program.
-back to
top-
PFC Testifies on Child Care
and the Low-Wage
Trap
Last Tuesday, Partnership for Children
presented information about Missouri’s child care
assistance program to the House Healthcare Transformation
committee. The Chair of the committee, Rep. Rob Schaaf (R-St.
Joseph), is interested in studying the problem of “the
low-wage trap.”
The goal of Missouri’s child care
assistance program is to help low-income working families
maintain employment, move off of welfare assistance, and afford
high quality early care and education programs for their
children. Yet low eligibility limits for assistance hinder
parents from actually advancing in the workforce and achieving
financial independence, trapping them in low-wage positions.
Parents receiving state subsidy for child care in Missouri
are often forced to turn down raises or higher paying jobs
because the high cost of child care is more than the benefits of
a higher salary.
Rep. Schaaf hopes that his committee can put
forward a new proposal around child care assistance this year
that will better promote families advancing towards financial
independence, which benefits Missouri’s economy and
state budget. Download a copy of PFC’s
full testimony online.
-back to
top-
-KANSAS
UPDATE-
Kansas House
Endorses $32 Million in Budget Cuts to Public
Schools
The House finished its work Thursday on the
budget which includes cuts of $32 million to public schools for
the 2009 fiscal year that ends June 30th. By a vote
of 74-48, the bill was approved and sent to the Senate.
The Kansas budget faces a
projected deficit of $200 million in the current fiscal year,
based on revenue collections through January. The House budget
proposal would reduce spending at almost all state agencies,
public universities, and state law enforcement and prisons by 4
percent. The House version cuts education spending by $66 per
student for the state's 295 school districts. The Senate
proposed cutting school spending by $7 million or $33 per pupil.
The two chambers must now reconcile their differing proposals on
education cuts. It is predicted that more cuts to education will
be made in the FY 2010 budget due to the State’s deficit
rising to $1 billion.
Kansas has increased school spending by $892 million over the
past four years because of a 2005 Kansas Supreme Court decision
claiming the state was failing to provide an adequate system for
funding public schools. House republicans believe that school
districts’ reserve funds could help absorb some of the
state cuts this year. Opponents contend that many schools do not
have enough funds in their reserves to offset the cuts,
especially in rural districts.
-back to
top-
SCHIP
Reauthorization: Impact in Kansas
The SCHIP Reauthorization recently signed by
President Obama could extend coverage to 8,000 more Kansas
children within three years. Currently, KS Healthwave offers
coverage for children in families with incomes up to 200 percent
of the poverty level, which is $35,200 per year for a family of
three.
The Kansas Legislature has already approved
increasing the income eligibility requirements for the program
to 250 percent of the poverty level by Jan. 1, 2010, but it
hasn’t committed the funding. This expansion was
authorized during the 2008 legislative session, and clearly the
economic and fiscal condition of Kansas has changed since them.
While more families are finding themselves unable to cover their
children due to economic hardships and layoffs, Kansas
has fewer economic resources to assist and implement the
expansion. Kansas Health Policy Authority says it would probably
cost about $3 million in additional state funds to make more
Kansas children eligible.
A Ways and Means Subcommittee met February
6th and 9th to discuss the
budget.
-back to
top-
State Wide Smoking
Ban
Senate
Bill 25 would ban smoking in the majority of public places
in Kansas, including restaurants,
bars and retail stores, along with workplaces, any government
building, and any private residence that is used for child care.
The ban also applies within 10 feet of any doorway, window or
air intake for any place where smoking is banned. The bill
exempts private homes and personal vehicles, tobacco shops,
state soldiers’ homes, hotels where smoking is allowed in
no more than 20 percent of the rooms, and adult care homes and
long-term care facilities with designated smoking areas. At
least 23 states require most public places and workplaces to be
smoke-free, including restaurants and
bars.
The Senate Public Health and Welfare
Committee endorsed the bill Tuesday after making a few changes,
including delaying its enactment until January 2010. Senator
Barnett, one of three physicians in the Senate, said the main
reason for a broad smoking ban is the effect of secondhand
smoke. According to
the American Academy of Pediatrics,
exposure to secondhand smoke for infants and children
can increase morbidity from
respiratory disease. SB25 would undoubtedly enable the children
of Kansas to live in a healthier
and cleaner air environment that they need to grow into healthy
adults.
For more information on second hand smoke
visit: http://www.aap.org/richmondcenter/
-back to
top-
Required Autism
Coverage for Private Insurance
Companies
Senate
Bill 12 would require insurance companies to cover the
diagnostic evaluation and treatment for autism disorders.
Currently, most policies exclude this coverage. Numerous states
have passed bills similar to the proposed SB12. Arizona, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina and Texas all mandate private
insurance coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism.
Opponents of the measure include several
insurance companies and business groups who say requiring
coverage would raise the cost of insurance premiums for everyone
else and could cause some employers to stop providing coverage.
Supporters claim that early treatment, enabled by insurance
coverage, would increase early intervention and thus be less
expensive long term for taxpayers. Early treatment will improve
the development of children with autism, allowing about half of
them to attend school and be successful without any special
support, according to James Sherman, a professor in the applied
behavioral science department at Kansas
University.
-back to
top-
KAC Policy
Update
Thanks to our Partners at Kansas
Action for Children for this update on children’s issues
relating to KAC’s 2009 Policy Agenda:
Graduated Drivers License:
The House
Transportation Committee this week discussed HB 2143, a proposal
put forth by Kansas Action for Children and other advocates
to update the state's drivers licensing system with a Graduated
Drivers License (GDL). A GDL subcommittee has been assigned and
will meet on Monday, Feb. 9, to further study the proposal and
make a recommendation to the full
committee.
KIDS College Savings Program: SB 225, which would make permanent the
KIDS College Savings Program,
was introduced in Senate Ways and Means this
week. The bill has been referred to the Senate Education
Committee for consideration. Kansas Action for Children will
testify in support of the KIDS Program on Feb.
16.
Child Care Assistance:
A Senate
Ways
and Means subcommittee will hear public testimony Feb. 10 and 11
on the SRS Budget. Kansas Action for Children will be testifying
on the importance of maintaining eligibility levels for the
Child Care Assistance program.
Financial Literacy:
The Senate Education
committee will hear testimony on February 9, 2009 on a proposal
to strengthen financial education requirements in Kansas
schools. Kansas Action for Children will testify in support of
this proposal as a means to increase the financial stability of
our next generation.
-back to
top-
- FEDERAL
UPDATE –
SCHIP Reauthorization and
Policy Directive Reversals
Last Wednesday,
President Obama signed the reauthorization and expansion of
SCHIP for 4 million more children. This legislation was twice vetoed by former
President George W. Bush, and is being touted as Obama’s
first step toward universal health coverage in the U.S. Obama
said during the signing of this legislation, “In a decent
society, there are certain obligations that are not subject to
tradeoffs or negotiation, and health care for our children is
one of those obligations."
The following day, Obama issued
a memorandum reversing two Bush administration policy directives that
limited states' flexibility in expanding SCHIP coverage to
children in higher-income families. According to an article in the Dow Jones,
states must still confirm that the number of eligible children
enrolled in private insurance does not decrease by more than 2%
as a result of expanded government
insurance.
The reauthorization of
SCHIP and the subsequent reversal of the restrictions on this
program will go a long way toward reducing the estimated 137,000
uninsured children in Missouri
and 51,000 in Kansas.
-back to
top-
Senators Seek Cuts to Economic Recovery
Package
The Senate
continued to debate the economic recovery package last week and
is expected to vote on a compromise bill today or tomorrow. Much
attention is now focused on the efforts of a bipartisan group of
perhaps as many as 20 moderate Senators, led by Senators Susan
Collins (R-Maine) and Ben Nelson
(R-Neb.), to reduce the overall cost of the package by
$100 billion or more in an effort to gain more bipartisan
support. The compromise proposal is expected to eliminate
or reduce the $40 billion education block grant, the $25 billion
state fiscal stabilization fund,
and funding for Head Start, Title I, IDEA, and Pell grants for college tuition
assistance.
Once the Senate
passes their version of the Economic Recovery Package, the House
and Senate will have to conference to come to agreement on
differences between the two bills. Although the final content of the
recovery package remains uncertain, the White House released
state-by-state figures last week on the number of jobs it
believes will be created by its proposal. An estimated 35,000
jobs in Kansas and 73,000 in
Missouri will be created or
saved because of the economic stimulus bill. In addition, an
estimated 1.06 million workers and their families in Kansas and 2.27 million in Missouri
will receive a tax cut of up to
$1,000.
More information on White House
estimates of the American Recovery & Reinvestment
Plan:
State by State Employment
Impact
White House State Data on
Economic Recovery
-back to
top-
- IN
THE NEWS - Media Coverage of
Children's Issues
Gary Brunk:
State Budget Priority Should be Children (Wichita
Eagle)
Our state and nation are
at a crucial juncture: Will our children play a constructive
role in the 21st century, or will they be a drain on our social
services? The decisions that elected officials make today will
determine the answer.
Read the full story
>>>
Missouri GOP not sold on stimulus (Springfield
News-Leader)
Top southwest Missouri Republican lawmakers used
Saturday's Greene
County Lincoln
Day event as a platform to denounce President Barack Obama's
economic stimulus package and Gov. Jay Nixon's plan to use
millions of it to balance the state's budget. House Speaker Ron
Richard, R-Joplin, suggested Missouri reject any federal bailout money
and "just send it on back" to Washington. Read the full story
>>>
Duncan:
‘Educate our way to a better economy’
(NPR)
The new secretary of
education, Arne Duncan, was visiting a charter school in
Washington,
D.C., with the
president and first lady. More school visits are in Duncan's
future, but his focus now is on the economic stimulus package
— and the $140 billion currently slated for schools.
Duncan knows that some of that money could be whittled back, so
he's trying to get the message out that Americans must "educate
our way to a better economy." Read the full story
>>>
State mulls rating day-cares (Columbia
Tribune)
JEFFERSON CITY — A statewide five-star rating system
for early-childhood centers had broad support from educational
groups during a Senate hearing this morning. What remains to be
seen is whether the so-called Quality Rating System will become
law this session. This is the third time Sen. Charlie Shields,
R-St. Joseph, has sponsored the legislation, and, although it
has passed the Senate, the bill has failed to gain support in
the House for the past two years. Read the full story
>>>
Shields reintroduces bill to rate child care
centers (St. Joe
News)
JEFFERSON
CITY — A St.
Joseph lawmaker is trying to transfer the concept
of awarding gold stars to children for good work to day care
centers in Missouri. Read the full story
>>>
-back to
top-
Until next week
–
Carrie Shapton & Jeremy
LaFaver
Policy & Outreach
Coordinators
Partnership for
Children
shapton@pfc.org; lafaver@pfc.org
816-531-9200 |
