Capitol update for March 13, 2009

This week at the Capitol, the pace really picked up, as March 27, the first legislative deadline (for committees to act favorably on bills in their house of origin) appeared in sight. With hearings on two more of the Ready 4 K-supported bills, all of the Ready 4 K bills have met the first deadline!

The week kicked off with the House Early Childhood Committee hearing the Governor’s budget and policy bills, which could be amended when the Governor’s budget comes out. While the governor recommends increasing the duration and intensity required in School Readiness programs, a laudable goal to be sure, it comes without new funding, meaning many programs would have to shutter their doors. As Tom Holton, Community Education Director at Bloomington/Richfield schools, testified, some time in a pre-kindergarten classroom is better than none. Rep. Nora Slawik, author of the bill, pledged to continue working on the bill.

Wednesday, the Senate State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee heard the bill to create an Office of Early Learning. Ready 4 K Director of Policy and Civic Engagement Karen Kingsley testified in support of the bill, which was amended to stream line and simplify the language. It passed with little questioning, was re-referred to Finance, and will eventually make its way to the Education Committee. The House companion bill was also heard this week in the House Early Childhood Committee. Rob Grunewald from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank gave an overview of what other states are doing, and Zoe Nicholie, Early Childhood Systems Specialist at Ready 4 K, also testified in support of the bill. It was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill.

The Early Childhood Facilities Bonding Bill, which Ready 4 K is actively supporting, was also heard at this hearing. As you may remember, last year the Governor line-item vetoed $2 million that the Legislature had included for this project. Nedra Sims Fears from First Children’s Finance testified to the economic importance of early childhood bonding, and two past recipients of the funding talked about their projects. The bill, with $3 million for early childhood facilities, was laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill. The Senate this week released their omnibus bonding bill, which includes $2 million for this project.

At the same hearing, a bill to increase child care provider rates and eliminate the Basic Sliding Fee child care waiting list was heard, and laid over for possible inclusion

Most legislators, lobbyists and the press corps spend lots of time right about now discussing spending targets in the House and Senate. These decisions will determine the level of funding (or cuts this year) that each budget committee has to make. On Friday the Senate released it’s proposal, recommending across the board cuts of 7%. This means $973 million from E-12 Education, and $719 million from Health and Human Services. Expect the House to release their targets by the end of the week, as well as the possible release of the Governor’s supplemental budget.