On Tuesday, the House Early Childhood Committee took up its omnibus bill, at which point members had an opportunity to offer amendments. The most noteworthy one deleted the requirement that School Readiness programs serve children for a minimum of 12 hours a week, despite the lack of new funding. It passed unanimously. Other adopted amendments included a provision making it easier for Head Start programs to serve homeless children and their families, clarifying that the QRS is voluntary, and adjusting the uses of the federal stimulus dollars. Amendments to eliminate the Office of Early Learning and the QRS from the bill were defeated. The bill passed out of the committee, had quick stops in Finance and Taxes by week’s end, and will be heard in Ways and Means next week before being voted on by the full House.
The other omnibus bills we’re tracking—the Higher Education Omnibus bill, which contains funding for TEACH scholarships and child care assistance grants for college students, and the Public Health and Housing Omnibus bill, which contains funding for Family Home Visiting—also continued moving through the process. Funding for home visiting is currently untouched in the House bill, however, early childhood funding in the House Higher Education bill is being adjusted. The base funding for TEACH scholarships is eliminated, and replaced with one-time funding, but increased in the current biennium from $500,000 to $600,000. Additionally, funding for the higher ed child care assistance grants is increased by $982,000 in the biennium. The Senate leaves the funding at current levels.
The Senate Omnibus Health and Human Services bill has yet to be released.
For a more detailed analysis and comparison of the various omnibus bills, see our new omnibus bill tracker. (Note: this will replace the overall bill tracking going forward.)
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