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Budget
Update
House
Appropriations committees convened last week to review new
decision items in Governor Nixon’s FY ’10 budget.
The Health, Mental Health, and Social Services approps committee
is expected to submit recommendations to the Budget chair, Allen
Icet, this week.
While
Governor Nixon has vowed to maximize federal funding from the
economic recovery package, the House is planning to cut up to
$500 million from the Governor’s budget because it is
balanced with “one-time” federal money. The Senate
seems more open to using federal recovery funds to create a
bridge through this economic recession, but both chambers are
committed to not spending one-time funding on ongoing social
service programs. Legislation is also moving quickly in the
House and the Senate to set up separate treasury accounts to
receive and distribute federal stimulus funding.
Senator Nodler, chair of the Senate Appropriations
Committee, has introduced SB 313 to provide more
transparency to the process of receiving and disbursing federal
funds from the economic recovery package. SB 313 will be heard
in the Senate Appropriations Committee this Tuesday at 1:30
pm.
Even when federal
stimulus money does make its way to Missouri,
many lawmakers are objecting to using “one-time”
funds for on-going social service programs, especially health
care expansion. Yet
with the state unemployment rate rising to 7.3%, and more and
more families losing health coverage and at risk of falling into
poverty, Missouri must make immediate investments in healthcare,
education and our workforce to ensure that we pull ourselves out
of this economic recession and put families back on the path to
financial stability.
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Update on
Children’s Bills of
Interest
Health Coverage for
Autism: There was a lot of action last week with legislation
regarding insurance coverage for children diagnosed within the
autism spectrum.
Several bills were heard in committees in both the house
and the senate with a number of new bills being introduced in
both chambers. SB 167 (Rupp) was heard in the Senate
Committee on Small Business, Insurance and Industry on Tuesday
and House Bills 298 (Grisamore) and 357 (Scharnhorst) were heard in the
House Committee on Health Care Policy on Wednesday. Similar in scope, these
bills would require insurance companies to cover treatment of
children diagnosed with autism. Testimony for SB 167 will continue this Tuesday as
the committee will hear from the insurance industry who opposes
the bill, fearing that such a mandate will drive up the cost of
insurance. Also
being heard this week will be HB 76 (Lampe) which proposes to change
the laws regarding the identification, assessment, and education
of children with autism spectrum disorder, and HB 79 (Lampe) which is similar to HB 298 and HB 357. A number of other related bills will be
making their way through the process this week as
well.
Educational Rights for
Foster Children (SB
96): Sponsored by Senator Jolie
Justus, SB 96 was heard in the Senate Committee
on Health, Mental Health, Seniors and Families on Tuesday. Partnership for Children
testified in favor of this bill, hoping that it would provide
greater educational success for some of Missouri’s most
vulnerable kids.
This legislation would require each school district to
designate a staff person to be an educational liaison for foster
care children. This liaison would assist with proper educational
placements, transferring between schools, ensuring transfer of
grades and credits, requesting school records, and submitting
school records that have been requested. The committee heard from
several proponents of the bill who testified that, for many kids
in foster care who are forced to transfer schools, their school
records are not being transferred in a timely fashion. In some cases, foster
children are forced to wait up to two months before they are
allowed to be enrolled in their new school and some children are
years behind where they are supposed to be because of lags in
the system.
According to one witness, similar legislation in Florida
nearly tripled the graduation rates of children in foster
care. Similar
legislation proposed in 2008 and 2007 failed to get the approval
of Missouri’s General Assembly.
TABOR (HJR23): The House Budget Committee
approved a TABOR-like constitutional spending limit last
Wednesday by a vote of 16-13, divided largely along party lines.
HJR 23, sponsored by the chair of the Budget Committee Allen
Icet would limit growth in spending to inflation and popular
growth. A committee substitute for HJR 23 makes several changes
to the original bill, including making automatic tax cut
provisions temporary instead of permanent, and creating a fund
where revenues that can’t be spent can be held and later
appropriated if approved by a 2/3 majority in both
chambers.
Partnership for Children opposes
HJR 23, because of its potentially crippling impact on funding
for children’s services. If Missouri is truly dedicated
to reducing state spending and increasing the earnings of our
workforce in the future, then we should invest now in the
health, education, welfare, and the human capitol potential of
every Missouri child.
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Upcoming
Hearings
Autism Coverage &
Services
(HB569, HB76, HB79, HB525): Tuesday, Feb. 24th @
8am – House Committee on Health Care Policy.
(SB167): Tuesday, Feb 24th @
1pm – Senate Committee on Small Business, Insurance, &
Industry.
Physical Education in
School Districts (HB509
– Stream): Wednesday, Feb 25th @ 8am – House
Committee on Elementary & Secondary
Education
Child Care Licensing
(HB383
– Storch): Wednesday, Feb 25th @ noon – House
Special Committee on Professional Registration &
Licensing
Child Care Subsidies
(SB94 –
Justus): Wednesday, Feb 25th @ 3pm – Senate
Education Committee.
Persistence to
Graduation Fund (SB116 –
Bray):
Wednesday, Feb 25th @ 3pm – Senate Education
Committee.
MO Earned Income Tax
Credit (SB105):
Thursday, Feb
26th @ 8:30am – Senate Governmental
Accountability & Fiscal Oversight Committee.
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New Bills
Filed
HB 720
(Levota) Changes the laws regarding mandatory child
abuse reporting to include household witnesses of a child abuse
and neglect to the list of persons required to report child
abuse.
HB 726
(Levota) Revises the crime of murder in the first
degree to include knowingly causing the death of a child younger
than 18 years of age when a heinous element is involved in the
commission of the crime.
HB 744
(Icet) Creates the Missouri Family Recovery Plan Fund
and the Economic Stimulus Fund in the state treasury to receive
moneys provided under the federal American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009.
HB 755
(Grill) Requires certain food service establishments to
post the calorie content of food items on their menus or menu
boards.
HB 756
(Grill) Increases the penalty for the crime of selling,
providing, or distributing tobacco products to any person
younger than 18 years of age.
HB 757
(Grill) Requires local school districts to develop and
implement a coordinated school health program under guidelines
established by DESE, in consultation with
DHSS.
HB 758
(Grill) Establishes an advisory council and Office of
Child Nutrition and Wellness to promote better child nutrition
and wellness.
HB 760
(Grill) Requires health insurers to provide coverage
for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum
disorder.
HB 764
(Grill) Establishes the Missouri Books From Birth
Program to encourage preschool children to
read.
HB 782
(Frame) Establishes the Healthy Families, Healthy
Communities Act which requires all employers to provide sick
leave for employees.
HB 796
(Lampe) Consolidates the laws regarding insurance
coverage for mental health conditions and requires insurance
coverage for autism spectrum disorder.
HB 797
(Lampe) Requires health insurance coverage for autism
spectrum disorder.
SB 373
(Mayer) Creates procedures for open enrollment of
public school students across school district boundary
lines.
SB 388
(Barnitz) Modifies various provisions relating to
foster care and adoption.
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-KANSAS
UPDATE-
Primary Seatbelt
Legislation
Advances
SB 59, legislation establishing a
primary seatbelt law in KS, passed favorably out of the Senate
Transportation Committee last Thursday morning. The Senate
proposal would require all passengers in motor vehicles to wear
seat belts. Currently, only front-seat passengers age 18 or
older are required to buckle up. The measure would also let law
enforcement officers stop and ticket motorists for failing to
wear seat belts. Under current law, an officer must first stop a
vehicle for another reason, such as speeding, and may then issue
a citation for not wearing seat belt along with the other
offense.
According to the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment:
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Motor Vehicle Crashes are the
number one cause of accidental injury-related death for children
ages 0-14 in Kansas.
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In 2003, 61% of Kansas children
killed were not using safety belts or child safety
seats.
Furthermore,
observational
surveys conducted in KS in 2006 indicate
that:
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17% of Kansas children ages 0-4
are not protected by a car seat
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47% of Kansas kids ages 5-9 are
not protected by a booster seat or seat belt
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52% of Kansas kids ages 10-14
are not protected by a seat
belt
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State
Wide Smoking Ban
This past week, state
legislators have again taken up the issue of a state-wide
smoking ban. SB25 passed through the Senate Tuesday by a vote of
26-13 but faces more difficult prospects in the House. Currently
23 states have full public smoking bans, including neighboring
Colorado and Nebraska.
Lawmakers who support the
measure note that lung cancer remains the leading cause of
cancer deaths in the state, and tobacco-related illnesses claim
some 4,000 Kansans every year, according to state figures. The
Surgeon General has concluded that there is no safe level of
secondhand smoke exposure and eliminating smoking in indoor
spaces is the only way to fully protect children from exposure
to secondhand smoke.
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Kansas Payroll and Tax Refunds Not Issued Due to
Budget Dispute
Kansas tax refunds, employee
paychecks and money for schools are all on hold after a face-off
on Monday between Republican legislative leaders and Gov.
Kathleen Sebelius. Republicans, who hold majorities in both
chambers of the Legislature, blocked Sebelius’ proposal to
borrow $225 million from healthy state funds to cover shortfalls
in accounts used to meet the state’s payroll and issue tax
refunds. GOP leaders said they wouldn’t approve the IOUs
until Sebelius either cut the budget herself or signed the
budget bill they passed last week. Until the deadlock is
resolved, taxpayers anticipating refunds will have to wait.
Already, around $12 million in refunds have been delayed.
Read more:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics/story/1037848.html
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KAC Policy
Update
Thanks to our Partners at Kansas
Action for Children for this update from Topeka on
children’s issues relating to KAC’s 2009 Policy
Agenda:
SRS Prepares for Budget
Cuts
In a meeting Wednesday of the House
Subcommittee on the SRS Budget, the agency indicated how it
would absorb potential budget cuts. A 10% cut to the agency
budget could reduce eligibility for the Child Care Assistance
program from 185% of poverty to 150% of poverty. These cuts
would impact an estimated 2,600 families per month. A 13% or
higher cut to the agency budget would also eliminate the portion
of the Early Head Start program that is funded through
SRS.
Graduated Drivers License
Passes House
The House passed HB 2143 (103-16) on
Friday. The bill, which updates the state's drivers licensing
system with a Graduated Drivers License (GDL), will now move to
the Senate for consideration.
KIDS College Savings
Program
The Senate Education Committee passed SB
225, which would provide for continuation of the KIDS College
Savings Match program. The bill is currently in the Senate and,
because it is exempt from the standard deadline for passage of
the first house, remains viable for passage when the Senate
resumes work this week.
Child Support Enforcement Bill
Passes House
The House passed HB 2201 (114-5) on
Friday, a bill that Kansas Action for Children testified on
behalf of in the House Judiciary Committee. The bill will make
the use of professional license sanctions a more effective
incentive for non-custodial parents to pay child support. The
bill will next be considered by the Senate.
Financial Literacy Passes
Senate
SB 84 passed Senate on Thursday February
19th. This bill would strengthen the requirements for Kansas
school districts to teach personal financial literacy by placing
questions on this topic on state assessments starting in 2012.
The bill was introduced in the House on
Friday.
Increase in Property
Taxes?
HB 2150 will receive a hearing Feb.
25-26 in the House Taxation Committee. The proposal by Rep.
Steven Brunk would change the method by which property taxes are
determined in Kansas and institute an automatic annual property
value increase for homeowners. Kansas Action for Children is
scheduled to testify in opposition to this bill because of the
impact it would have on vulnerable homeowners and the local
property tax base.
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- FEDERAL
UPDATE –
Obama Signs Economic Recovery
Bill: Impact in KS &
MO
Last Tuesday, President Obama signed the $787 billion
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act
(ARRA).
Partnership for Children has created a fact sheet detailing
the estimated federal funding Kansas and Missouri will receive
for key stimulus provisions.
Sign on in Support of Education Begins At Home
Act
Recently
reintroduced by Senators Kit Bond (R-MO), Patty Murray (D-WA),
and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) prior to her confirmation as
Secretary of State, the Education Begins at Home Act (S. 244) would establish the first
dedicated federal funding stream solely for quality, voluntary
home visiting programs for parents with young
children.
To continue to
demonstrate broad national support for this legislation, the
National Home Visiting Coalition is redistributing a sign-on
letter that gained nearly 700 national, state and local
organizational supporters last year. Organizations can lend
their support this year by signing online to this letter for the 111th
Congress. Read more about the Education Begins at
Home Act.
Measure Advances to Combat Child Abuse in
Residential Treatment Programs
The House
Education and Labor Committee approved the Stop Child Abuse in
Residential Programs for Teens Act (H.R. 911) on Feb 11. The
legislation would create new safety standards for residential
programs, prevent deceptive marketing by residential programs,
requires the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to
conduct unannounced inspections of programs, and provide parents
the right to sue in federal court if the program violates
national standards.
The legislation
was developed following the release of Government Accountability
Office reports finding rampant ineffective management and
operating practices, along with poorly trained staff, leading to
abuse, maltreatment and even death for youth in residence. As of
2004, federal funding supported more than 200,000 youth to
attend government or private run facilities.
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Until next week
–
Carrie Shapton & Jeremy
LaFaver
Policy & Outreach
Coordinators
Partnership for
Children
shapton@pfc.org; lafaver@pfc.org
816-531-9200 | 
