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May 11, 2009
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The 2009 Legislative Session is
over for Kansas and coming to a frenzied close in Missouri as
lawmakers have five days left to pass their legislative
priorities and come to agreement in a battle over health care
reform by 6pm Friday, May 15th. Several of
PFC’s priorities for children and families still remain
unfinished but will likely see debate this final week, including
a Quality Rating System for child care, educational rights for
foster children, a P-20 council, and a Drop-Out Prevention grant
program. Look out for a full 2009 legislative summary next week
and mark your calendars for Partnership for
Children’s annual MO Legislative Wrap-Up which is
scheduled for Wed, June 3rd from 11:30-1:30 at the
Kauffman Conference Center in Kansas City. Also,
President Obama has finally released the details for the 2010
budget, with some notable new initiatives for children. Read
more below!
-MISSOURI
UPDATE-
FY ’10 Budget & Stimulus Bills
Sent to Governor
Last Thursday, a day before the
state constitutional deadline, the Missouri House and Senate
passed a $23.1 billion state operating budget for FY ’10
as well as two stimulus bills appropriating over $2.8 billion in
federal funding from the American Recovery & Reinvestment
Act.
MO
House Rejects Health Care for Parents
It was a contentious week in
Jefferson City as lawmakers wrestled with trying to come up with
a way to extend health coverage to 35,000 additional parents
through House Bill 11, the state’s budget bill for the Department
of Social Services
At the beginning of the legislative session, Governor
Nixon submitted a proposal to the General Assembly that would
have taken money offered by Missouri Hospitals to leverage a
federal investment aimed at providing this health coverage. While the plan was
endorsed by the Missouri Hospital Association, the Associated
Industries of Missouri and the state Chamber of Commerce, the
House rejected such a measure citing an unwillingness to expand
what was referred to as “welfare” during a
contentious debate.
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-MISSOURI
UPDATE-
FY ’10 Budget & Stimulus Bills
Sent to Governor
-MO House Rejects Health Care for Parents
-Stimulus Bill Rises from Ashes & Heads to
Governor's Desk
-$42 Million Increase for Child Care
Approved
Update on Children’s Bills of
Interest
-Omnibus Education Bill (SB 291)
-Physical Education (HB
509)
-Child Witness Protection
Act (HB 863)
-Aging Out of Foster Care
Task Force (HCR 43)
-KANSAS
UPDATE-
KS 2009 Legislative Session
Closes
-FEDERAL
UPDATE-
President Obama’s 2010
Budget
Released |
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The budget eventually passed with this funding
included, but not aimed at expanding Medicaid as proposed by
Governor Nixon. The
budget language now funds a yet to be determined health care
plan in Senate Bill 306.
Should this bill fail to pass, there will be no health
care expansion for Missourians this year. SB 306 could come up for
a vote as early as tomorrow (Tuesday) morning, and will prove to
be one of the session’s most hotly debated issues. Partnership for Children
supports an expansion of coverage to parents because of the
likelihood that such an expansion would bring thousands more
kids into the state’s health insurance program for
children.
-back
to top--
Stimulus Bill Rises from Ashes & Heads to
Governor’s Desk
After voting down 82-68 a bill
appropriating $350 million in federal stabilization funding on
April 30th, the House resurrected the same HB 22 last
Monday and convinced enough representatives to change their
votes to pass the bill 117-42. The bill was quickly sent to the
Senate Appropriations Committee, where Senator Barnitz (D-Dent
County) successfully added an amendment to fund a one-year $1.6
million increase for the foster care clothing and diaper
allowance. This budget item was originally recommended by the
Governor but the legislature decided not to fund it in the FY
’10 regular operating budget. Partnership for Children
would like to thank Senator Barnitz for his efforts this year as
a strong advocate for Missouri’s most vulnerable children
in foster care. The House and Senate came to final agreement on
HB 22 on Thursday and the bill now makes its way to the
Governor’s desk, where signage is still uncertain given
the state’s worsening revenue projections.
-back
to top--
$42 Million Increase for Child Care
Approved:
The legislature also approved a
second stimulus bill, HB 21, last Thursday, sending it to the
Governor for approval. The $2.6 billion appropriated in HB 21 is
mostly comprised of “pass-through” federal stimulus
funding designated for specific programs in the federal American
Recovery & Reinvestment Act. This includes $42 million for
child care services over the next two years that could be used
to temporarily expand child care assistance, increase quality
improvement grants, or fund additional early childhood teacher
scholarships. DSS has scheduled public hearings across the state
on May 20th to hear public comment on the use of this
stimulus funding and to receive input on Missouri’s
biennial state plan for implementing the $180 million currently
allocated for child care services in Missouri.
Click here to download a flyer about
the statewide public hearings on May 20th and to find
a location near you.
-back to
top--
Update on Children’s bills of
interest:
Omnibus Education Bill (SB
291)
After the House created three
large omnibus education bills in the past few weeks, it now
appears that SB
291 is the most likely to advance to the House floor
for debate in the last days of legislative session. SB 291 is
now so loaded up that it passed out of the Fiscal Review
Committee last week with a $20 -$100 million estimated fiscal
note. It seems likely that many provisions with price tags in
this large omnibus bill will be trimmed out in order to pass the
bill.
As of right now, the bill still
includes several of PFC’s legislative priorities for P-20
education:
·
A voluntary, statewide Quality Rating System for child
care programs
·
A P-20 Council to coordinate education from pre-k through
college
·
A Persistence to Graduation Fund to address drop-out
prevention
·
A Foster Care Education Bill of
Rights
·
Enhanced physical education requirements for
Missouri’s youth
-back to
top--
Physical
Education (HB
509)
Representative Rick
Stream’s legislation was successfully voted out of the
committee on Government Accountability and Fiscal Oversight last
week. Proponents have testified that the benefits of academic
performance and reduced costs associated with childhood obesity
outweigh (no pun intended) the costs associated with the
additional requirements in HB 509. The bill was stripped of the nutritional
requirements section and has been pared down significantly from
the original legislation, yet is still a step in the right
direction to get more kids active during the school
day.
-back to
top--
Child Witness
Protection Act (HB 863)
On Tuesday
May 5th, HB 863 was truly agreed and finally passed
by the House and Senate and sent to the Governor for signature.
Sponsored by Rep. Dixon from Springfield, HB 863 provides
greater protections for child witnesses from intimidation or
harassment when testifying in
court.
-back to
top--
Omnibus Child Protection Bill
(HB 154)
HB 154, sponsored by
Rep. Ruestman, went to a conference committee last week after
the House refused to accept several amendments added by the
Senate. The original bill related to grandparents being given
first preference for placement of children in emergency
situations. Senator Justus successfully added two provisions
relating to child care assistance and a foster care education
bill of rights during Senate debate. Unfortunately, these two
provisions benefiting Missouri’s children were stripped
out last week during conference negotiations. It’s still
possible that these two measures can pass as amendments on other
bills as the legislative session draws to a close.
--back to top--
Aging Out of Foster Care Task Force (HCR
53)
Sponsored by
Rep. Michael Corcoran, HCR 53 was voted out of the House
Committee on Children and Families last week. The Resolution calls for
an interim committee to help develop legislation addressing the
needs of children aging out of the foster care system. Partnership for Children
testified in favor of the resolution and pledged to work with
lawmakers during the interim session to help develop new
legislation aimed at making children in foster and adoptive care
achieve their true potential.
--back to top--
-KANSAS
UPDATE-
KS 2009 Legislative Session
Closes
The 2009 Kansas Legislative
Session ended at 2:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 9th,
after implementing further budget cuts to fill a $340 million
deficit and leaving an ending FY ’10 budget balance of
only $17,000. Highlights of the legislative session
include:
·
Expanded KS Healthwave to cover an additional 8,000
children through the state’s Children’s Health
Insurance Program (CHIP).
The provision increases eligibility from 200% to 250% of
federal poverty.
·
Passed graduated driver’s license to improve safety
among teen driving by limiting teen passengers, late-night
driving, and cell phone use.
·
Approved the first increase in the state’s minimum
wage in two decades. On Jan. 1, the rate rises from $2.65 an
hour to $7.25.
·
Failed to pass statewide indoor public smoking
ban.
·
$113
million budget cut to KS public schools.
·
Made
permanent the KIDS College Savings Match Program, which
encourages low-income Kansas families to save for their children's
education.
-back to
top--
-FEDERAL
UPDATE-
President Obama’s 2010
Budget Released
On Thursday, May 7,
the Obama Administration released the details of their fiscal
year 2010 budget. Some highlights of budget items important to
children and families include:
·
Health Care:
Creates a $600 billion reserve fund to serve as a
“down payment’ on healthcare
reform.
·
Home-Visiting: Includes a major new proposal to
allocate $124 million in FY’10 and a total of $8.6 billion
over 10 years for a “new mandatory program that provides
funds to States for evidence-based home visitation programs
low-income families.” This would be the first federal
funding available specifically for local home-visiting programs
like Parents as Teachers and Nurses for
Newborns.
·
Child Care and Early Education:
Funds several new early childhood initiatives, including
$500 million for Title I Early Childhood Grants, $300 million
for an Early Learning Challenge Fund, and $10 million for a new
“Promise Neighborhoods” initiative. However, the
budget provides only a modest increase for Head Start, and no
increase in funding for the Child Care and Development Block
Grant to supplement temporary funding for 2009 and 2010 in
the Economic Recovery Act. Further details on the new early childhood
initiatives are available from the National Women’s Law
Center.
·
Child Nutrition: Provides a significant funding
increase for WIC, but only a modest increase for reauthorizing
child nutrition programs including the Child and Adult Care Food
Program.
·
Education: Provides $50 million for a new High School Graduation
Initiative.
·
Housing Assistance: Significantly increases funding
for rental housing assistance for low-income
people.
·
Tax Reform: Significantly expands tax
assistance for low- and middle-income families by making
permanent improvements in tax credits included in the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It also promotes tax
fairness and raises revenues needed to support essential
investments by closing tax loopholes, eliminating tax
preferences for oil and gas companies, retaining the estate tax
at the 2009 level, and allowing the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts for
very high-income households to expire.
The national
advocacy organization First Focus also has a fact
sheet providing a quick overview of funding for kids in the
President’s 2010 budget.
Until next week -
Carrie Shapton & Jeremy
LaFaver
Policy & Outreach
Coordinators
Partnership for
Children
shapton@pfc.org; lafaver@pfc.org
816-531-9200
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