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.

Ready 4 K at the Capitol

This Week @ the Capitol

This week at the Capitol provided more direction for the legislative session, as the February Forecast was released on Tuesday. It showed that the total state budget deficit has grown by nearly $2 billion—25%—since the last forecast was released in November, totaling $6.4 billion for the next two-year budget cycle. A portion of the federal stimulus funds recently approved by Congress will be available to help solve the deficit, which brings the remaining shortfall to about $4.8 billion. More information on the forecast is available at the Minnesota Management and Budget Department.

The Senate Health and Human Services Budget Division heard testimony on the budget forecast, and how it relates to Health and Human Services. Senator Linda Berglin, chair of the committee, asked specifically about the unallocated Basic Sliding Fee funds—inaccurately referring to it as a “surplus”—and whether it made sense to tie child care to MFIP growth in this economy. Ready 4 K and our allies will be working to help clarify that the “surplus” funds are not that, but represent under-spent funds by counties due to the difficulty of predicting child care use throughout the year, and should be used to serve families and children—not balance the state budget.

Tuesday also saw more bills making their way through the process, as the House Early Childhood Committee moved legislation to fund the Minnesota Reading Corps program and Words Work for early literacy. Both bills were referred to the House K-12 Division. The committee also heard testimony about the wonderful work that the St. Paul Public Schools and Resources for Child Caring are doing with Project Early Kindergarten, and some testimony from child care providers about ParentAware.

In the same committee on Thursday, a bill to fund after school programs was heard and laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill. Also, you may remember that last week the bill to continue the three early childhood pilot programs was tabled. At this hearing it was removed from the table and laid over for possible inclusion in the omnibus bill.

To track this and other legislation, check out the Ready 4 K bill tracker.

This week as well, Dr. Bruce Perry, a nationally recognized expert on childhood trauma, visited Minnesota. He spoke at two legislative committees about the effects of and solutions to early childhood trauma. Visit childtrauma.org to learn more.

Federal Stimulus

Ready 4 K continues to provide analysis about the federal stimulus package. We are working with our allies to offer suggestions about potential uses for the funds, and have created a webpage to help do that.

What you can do

Visit the Capitol to see the action up close. You can always stop by your legislators' office or send them a note on the House or Senate floor. For information on the state legislature, including directions to the State Capitol and State Office Building, visit the Legislature's website.

Early childhood in the Federal Stimulus package

Now signed into law, the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has a lot of expectations riding on it. The good news is that early childhood programs are recognized as part of the package. A quick summary from the National Women's Law Center gives the basics (link to summary):

The Act will help low-income parents obtain the child care they need to get and keep jobs and help children get the early learning they need to succeed by providing:

• $2 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, with the entire amount available upon enactment. Of this total, $255.2 million is reserved for quality improvement activities, of which $93.587 million is targeted to improve infant and toddler care.
• $1 billion for Head Start, allocated according to the current statutory formula, and $1.1 billion for Early Head Start, to be awarded on a competitive basis.
• $2.33 billion for Department of Defense facilities, including quality of life and family-friendly military improvement projects such as family housing, hospitals, and child care centers.
• $13 billion for Title I grants for education programs for disadvantaged children, including early childhood programs and activities.
• $11.7 billion to local education agencies for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) programs for children ages 3 to 21, including $400 million for preschool grants (section 619) programs.
• $500 million for formula grants under IDEA Part C to help states serve children with disabilities and special needs age 2 and younger.

Advocates at Early Ed Watch have put together a more comprehensive summary here.

While we are still waiting to learn how exactly the dollars will flow to Minnesota, it is good news for our elected officials to recognize early care and education as part of keeping America on track and building for a sustainable future. Children don't stop learning just because the economy is bad and many more families will face challenges that can hinder a child's ability to be ready to learn at the start of school.

Stay tuned as we learn more about the stimulus plan and how it will impact Minnesota's state budget.

photo by Tracy O

Four easy things to support young children

There are many challenges facing our state and our nation today, including a significant state budget deficit that must be resolved by June. As our new President told us in his inauguration speech, we must all work together in order to meet these challenges. To help Minnesota move through this time of budget deficits and changing priorities, it is important that we all take part in advocating for our youngest Minnesotans. Legislators need to hear from each of us that we value prioritizing our state dollars and investing in programs that help children be ready to learn when they start kindergarten. We know that this is the best economic and educational investment that we can make. It’s important that legislators know that, too.

So, here are four things you can do to make a difference for our youngest Minnesotans:

1. Know your legislators

If you don’t know who represents you, visit the District Finder and get contact information for your legislators.

2. Download and use Ready 4 K's advocacy toolkit

Ready 4 K has a variety of resources for learning how to communicate with elected officials. We have an advocacy toolkit available for download that includes how to write a letter, make a phone call, or set up a visit with your legislators.

3. Sign up for Ready 4 K Action Alerts

Ready 4 K also sends out Action Alerts during the legislative session giving specific messages and timely actions to take with your policy makers. Sign up to be part of our Action Alert network here.

4. Spread the word

Tell your friends and neighbors that now, more than ever, elected officials need to hear from us. Take a moment and write a quick note to your legislators. Thank them for the work they are doing serving our state and encourage them to continue to make early care and education a top funding priority.

photo by a.drian

Reading, Writing and Hungry

A new report by the Partnership for America's Economic Success highlights the importance of food security and nutrition for early learning; Reading, Writing and Hungry: the consequences of food insecurity on children, and on our nation's economic success.

From the summary:

Food insecurity during a child’s earliest years can cause potentially significant physical, mental and psychological damage to the individual. Furthermore, the impact on the successful healthy development of these children has long-lasting negative implications for the national economy. Food insecurity imposes indirect costs in a variety of ways. For example:

• Food insecurity increases the likelihood that a child will be judged to need special educational services; children who are not only food insecure but are classified as hungry are twice as likely as those who are not hungry to be receiving special education services. By the third grade, children who were food insecure in kindergarten experienced a 13 percent drop in their baseline reading and math test scores, compared to their food-secure peers.
• Children whose families experienced food insecurity while the child was a toddler are 3.4 times more likely to be obese at age 4 ½, which itself carries a number of costly health outcomes.
• Food insecurity impairs proper physical growth and development in young children and creates pathways for poor health. Poor health limits children’s ability to grow and learn, thus reducing adult earnings and increasing adult health costs.

Research shows that prevention is cost-effective and federal nutrition programs that mitigate early childhood food insecurity, such as WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) and the Food Stamp Program, offer far greater returns than many remedial programs. For example, WIC saves between $1.77 and $3.13 in Medicaid costs for each dollar spent, and every five dollars of food stamps benefits creates nearly double that amount in local economic activity. Investment in alleviating early childhood food insecurity helps family budgets today, and it is one important factor in creating the workforce we need for the future.

Check out the brief and learn more at www.PartnershipforSuccess.org.

Have a wonderful holiday and a fantastic new year!

Other media reaction to the Minnesota budget deficit

A variety of media outlets are commenting on the newly announced $5.2 billion deficit between now and the end of 2011 (not counting inflation). A few to note:

Dane Smith, president of Growth and Justice, wrote an editorial for the StarTribune: Three fundamental facts for Minnesota, where he questions the notion that small government is best for our economic woes.

The StarTribune also had an editorial, State shouldn't spurn federal aid, criticizes Governor Pawlenty for recent comments indicating unwillingness to take federal money to help the deficit and quotes an economic adviser to John McCain that “extending unemployment insurance benefits, food stamps and aid to state government would be the most effective spurs to economic growth.”

Minnesota Budget Bites is a great resource for understanding the logic behind the deficit numbers.

Long story short, this deficit cannot be fixed by the shell-games of the past. This is a long-term problem that requires a long-term solution. While it is important to examine all options, why not strategically spend in areas what will actually save money down the road? Early care and education is critical to building the foundation for our future.

Ready 4 K Comments on State Budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Ready 4 K says during poor economy it is the wrong time to dump state’s ‘best earning stock’ – early childhood care and education

St. Paul – With the state facing a major budget shortfall, the governor and legislative leaders have indicated that every spending area is on the table for cuts as they look to solve the state’s budget shortfall. But Ready 4 K President Todd Otis urged state leaders to use a ‘scalpel’ rather than a ‘meat cleaver’ as they move through the budget process.

“A bad economy is exactly the wrong time to dump the best earning stock in your portfolio. If the Governor and legislators want to get Minnesota on the right track, they should continue investing in high quality early childhood education and care.”

Research by economists has shown that the public return on strategic investment in quality early childhood education and care can return up to $12 for every $1 invested. This research also demonstrates that at-risk children who participate in high quality early learning are more likely to graduate from high school, earn higher wages as adults, and are less likely to need remedial education, use public assistance or be involved in crime.

“Minnesotans know the incredible return on investment they receive by investing in quality early care and education, and if there’s one budget area that should be off limits for cuts, it should be early care and education,” Otis continued.

The state faced an over $5 billion deficit in the 2003-04 biennium. Despite accounting for merely one percent of the state budget then, early childhood care and education was cut by sixteen percent. Funding for children in the early childhood area still has not fully recovered from those cuts.

Ready 4 K is a non-partisan non-profit organization, building the foundation for our future through quality early care and education. More information on Ready for K is available at www.ready4k.org.