The House Appropriations Committees finalized their budget recommendations this week, and submitted those recommendations to Representative Allen Icet (R-Wildwood), the House Budget Committee Chair.   The Budget Committee will consider the recommendations of the Appropriations Committees in preparing Fiscal Year 2009 budget bills, which are expected to be filed before the end of the month.   Partnership for Children closely monitors the Appropriations Committee for Health, Mental Health and Social Services as the bulk of funding for children’s services and programs are contained in these budgets.  This week, this Committee released a draft of their recommendations which included cuts to nearly all the recommendations for increased  funding by the Governor.  Although not all committee members have signed off on the following recommendations, it is anticipated that many of these items will be included in the final recommendations approved by the entire Budget Committee.  Here is a summary of the committee recommendations as they relate to children and families:

• The Governor recommended a $5/day increase for all children’s residential providers. The Committee recommends only partial funding of this item for a $2.50/day rate increase totaling $92,163 general revenue. The Governor recommended $1,000,000 general revenue and $271,456 federal funds for a $17 to$20 per month increase in foster care rates, depending on the age of the child. The Committee recommends partial funding of this item to provide an $8.50 to $10 per month increase totaling $500,000 general revenue and $135,728 federal funds.
• The Governor recommended $3,923,801 general revenue and $590,858 federal funds to address prospective caseload growth in subsidized adoptions (4.6%) and guardianship (12%). The Committee recommends partial funding totaling $2,900,000 general revenue and $436,785 federal funds.
• The Governor recommended $2,400,000 general revenue and $6,100,000 federal funds to maintain child care benefit eligibility at 127% of the federal poverty level, and to implement a transitional benefit for up to 150% of the federal poverty level. The Committee recommends partial funding of this item to maintain eligibility at 127% of poverty totaling $2,134,639 federal funds.
•  The Department of Social Services requested $1,526,028 general revenue to expand funding for juvenile court programs to help divert youth from the Division of Youth Services. The Governor did not recommend funding, but the Committee recommends partial funding of $250,000 general revenue.
• The Governor recommended $396,075 total to fund comprehensive eye exams for every child entering kindergarten or first grade as required by SB 16, but since MoHealthNet currently provides for vision screenings, exams, and services performed by an optometrist or ophthalmologist for children, the Committee recommends no funding for this item.
• The Committee recommends expanding presumptive eligibility for the SCHIP program to Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and Rural Health Clinics

Funding to increase child care subsidy eligibility, offer transitional child care assistance, and increase foster parent   rates and adoption subsidies are Partnership for Children’s highest budget priorities this year. PFC urges the House Budget committee to make Missouri’s children our highest priority by at least maintaining, if not increasing, the Governor’s FY ‘09 recommendations for these issues.

SB 1052, sponsored by Senator Rupp (R-St. Charles County), was heard in the Senate Ways & Means Committee last Monday. Testimony for and against the legislation focused more on controversial changes that would remove Missouri’s $500 loss limit on gambling and cap the number of licensed casinos in the state at 13, rather than on how increased general revenue would be used to fund budget priorities. A 1% tax on adjusted gross receipts over $40 million for all casinos would be directed to a new Educational Opportunities for Missouri’s Children Fund. Money deposited in this fund would first benefit the Missouri A+ Schools Program ($25 million) and the remaining funds would be split between the First Steps Program and the Early Childhood Development, Education & Care Fund (ECDEC). Appropriations for quality early childhood initiatives could increase from about $30 million currently to $37.7 million through the ECDEC Fund if SB 1052 passes. The MO Veterans Commission Capitol Improvements Trust Fund would also receive an increase of $4 million, for a potential total of $10 million each year.

With questions rising over Missouri’s budget outlook in future years, the state should certainly be looking at ways to generate more funding to invest in quality early childhood initiatives that will reduce future costs for special education, grade repetition, and the juvenile justice system. Partnership for Children will continue to monitor this legislation but any efforts to remove Missouri’s gambling loss limits are sure to be hotly debated in the state legislature.

Several bills that would improve the quality and affordability of child care continued to move through the state legislature last week. SB 776 (Justus), increasing eligibility for child care assistance and provider reimbursement rates, was voted out of the Senate Committee on Seniors, Families, & Public Health on Tuesday. Senators Champion, Goodman, Justus, Smith, Stouffer, and Wilson voted for the bill and Senator Bartle was the only dissenting vote. HB 1524 (Franz), establishing a Quality Rating System (QRS) for child care programs, was voted out of the House Special Committee on Family Services on Wednesday with a vote of 6-2. The QRS companion bill in the Senate, SB 726 (Shields), is on the Senate Calendar for Perfection and is expected to come up for debate within the next two weeks. For now, it seems that the House is waiting to see how quickly the Senate QRS bill can be passed out of that chamber before continuing to push forward HB 1524 separately.

Two bills in the House and Senate this year recognize and seek to address some of the challenges military children face in achieving school success because of the lack of continuity in their educational experiences. HB 1678, sponsored by Rep. David Day (R-Dixon), authorizes Missouri to enter into the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children which will work to prevent military children from experiencing delays with their educational progress and goals due to widely varying educational requirements between states. HB 1678 has already been voted out of the House Special Committee on Veterans and now awaits debate on the House Perfection Calendar.

SB 1167, introduced by Senator Stouffer (R-Saline County) last week, allows military children who do not meet Missouri’s age requirements for entering kindergarten or first grade to enroll if they have completed an accredited pre-k or kindergarten program in another state; requires the State Board of Education to develop recommendations for assessing the knowledge and proficiency of military children who relocate after the beginning of a school term; allows school districts to accept a course in state government completed in another state; and establishes a postsecondary education tuition grant program for spouses and children of war veterans who die or become severely disabled in combat.

Senate Appropriations:  Tuesday, 02/26; Wednesday, 02/27  at 8 am in SCR 2–  The Committee will discuss budget items related to the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Health & Senior Services.

Senate Seniors, Families & Public Health: Tuesday, 02/29 at 8:15 in SCR1.  Committee will hear SB 1103 sponsored by Sen. Michael Gibbon that modifies provisions regarding the Family Care Safety Registry.

House Budget:  Tuesday, 02/26 at 8 am in HR 3.  Committee will hear reports from the Appropriations committees.

KANSAS LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

Thanks to our partners at Kansas Action for Children for providing this weekly update from Topeka. 

Early Care and Education Budget Update

SRS Budget: The House Social Services Budget Committee held four days of hearings on the SRS Budget this week. Kansas Action for Children testified in support of the Child Care Assistance Program and early childhood care and education. After hearing testimony from almost 40 conferees, the Committee recommended to delay most funding decisions until the Omnibus session. This includes the Governor’s recommendation for $2.5 million to eliminate the shortfall in the Child Care Assistance Program and creation of the Early Childhood Block Grant that would be administered by the Children’s Cabinet.

Education Budget-House: The House Education Budget Committee held hearings this week on the Kansas Department of Education budget. Kansas Action for Children presented testimony in support of the Parents as Teachers program. Committee members had several questions regarding the growing waiting list for PAT services and why more than 70 school districts in the state do not have PAT programs. KAC also joined the Kansas Coalition for School Readiness in support of the Kansas Preschool Program and in ensuring the quality standards, accountability requirements and community-based partnerships currently found in the Pre-K pilot program are maintained. The Committee is not scheduled to hold deliberations on the budget until March 5.

Education Budget-Senate:  The Senate Ways and Means Committee approved the Senate Education Budget Subcommittee Report on Feb. 19 with little discussion. As reported last week, the Subcommittee is delaying consideration of new spending until Omnibus. Although it was not included in the Governor’s Budget nor recommended by the Department of Education, the Committee Report recommends that $1 million be added to PAT during Omnibus. The Committee report also includes language supporting the program goals of the Pre-K pilots and the Governor's request for an additional $1.2 million for the pilots to be considered at Omnibus.

The House Federal and State Affairs Subcommittee on Child Care held two more days of hearings on child care licensing, HB 2003, HB 2053, and HB 2851. The Subcommittee is scheduled to finalize its recommendations on Monday, Feb. 25.

The House Transportation Committee is expected to work SB 294, the graduated drivers licensing (GDL) bill, in committee on either Monday, Feb. 25, or Tuesday. Feb. 26.

FEDERAL UPDATE

Afterschool Call-In Day

The Afterschool Alliance is hosting a national call in campaign to support afterschool and to speak out against the President’s afterschool budget proposal on February 25^th & 26^th. The president has proposed cutting $300 million from 21^st Century Community Learning Centers, the primary federal funding stream for afterschool, which will cause hundreds of thousands of children to lose access to community afterschool programs. In addition, his proposal would turn the 21^st CCLC initiative into a voucher program. Congress should be increasing, not decreasing, investments in afterschool programs that keep kids safe, inspire them to learn, and help working families. Even with current funding for afterschool programs that are more than 14 million children each day who are unsupervised afterschool.

To take action and learn more about the national call-in day, click here.

To take action and learn more about Marching Forth on March 4^th for Child Care, visit the National Women’s Law Center action center.