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Passing it Along / FYI |
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Greetings,
[Message from Linnea Hackett, ESP President, MFT59]
MCEA members:
Friday was the first committee deadline which means that
policy bills must have passed out of all committees in one
body. Any policy bill that hasn’t met this deadline
faces great challenges in moving forward. The next
deadline is April 7th and any policy bills meeting the first
deadline must be passed out of all committees in the other body
by that date.
We now have a larger picture of how each body expects to
resolve the budget. Generally, the Governor proposes more
funding for K-12 education and the use of education funding
shifts, tax breaks for business, deep cuts to Health and Human
Services, no tax increases. The Senate proposes 7% across
the board cuts, including $1 billion from E-12 Education, no
education funding shifts, and $2 billion in tax increases.
The House proposes no cuts to education – early education
through higher education and the use of education funding shifts
as well as $1.5 billion in tax increases.
Although the deadline for budget bills is not for a few
weeks, the Senate E-12 budget division intends to work on their
budget next week. I will forward details as soon as they
are available.
Key Deadlines
April 7th - any policy bills meeting the
first deadline must be passed out of all committees in the other
body.
April 8th - April 13th - Passover/Easter holiday.
April 16th – appropriations bills must be completed
and sent to the House and Senate Committees on Finance.
April 22nd - House and Senate Committees on Finance, the
House Committee on Ways and Means, and the House and Senate
Committees on Taxes must act favorably on omnibus appropriation
and tax bills.
May 7th - Conference committees on omnibus appropriation and
tax bills complete conference committee deliberations.
May 18th - Constitutional adjournment date.
Senate unveils early education proposal
This week the
Senate Education Finance Committee reviewed legislation,
authored by Senator Tarryl Clark that will serve as the
framework for their position on the early education provisions
as they relate to the E-12 Education Budget Division
jurisdiction. Here is a brief summary of what’s
included in that bill:
This bill proposes to set a 16 hour per week minimum for
children served in School Readiness. Mary O’Brien
testified about MCEA’s concerns and there was much
discussion about the number of children that would be eliminated
from the program with this standard. The committee
couldn't agree about whether a minimum standard was fair given
the level of funding for the program but Senator Clark felt it
was time to set a minimum standard and she was willing to move
this to 12 hours. No decision was made but Sen. Clark also
mentioned in the discussion that she was fighting to allow
districts to levy in order to cover these costs.
This bill continues the Pre-K Allowance Program and calls
for a expansion of the program in 2011. Funding in 2011
would increase to $20 million and include expansion to a number
of new areas including Anoka County, Olmsted County, St. Louis
County, Otter Tail County, Itasca, Benton/Stearns and Sherburne
Counties. This is the only area in the bill where new
funds were requested.
This bill includes a provision but no funding for a Pre-K
through Grade 3 Program. This is intended to encourage
school districts to use their stimulus funds to develop
integrated education models. Language will be included to
encouage school districts to collaborate with community
providers in the development of these models. Again, there
is no funding for this provision.
This bill creates the Office of Early Learning and there was
considerable discussion about whether this approach would solve
coordination and communication issues that have surfaced in the
past.
Bright Start
House Representative Nora Slawik also
surprised the early childhood community on Wednesday with a bill
that would consolidate the funding for ECFE and School Readiness
(referred to as Bright Start). It set off a firestorm of
calls from districts across the state and raised lots of
questions about what it would accomplish. As a result,
Representative Slawik indicated she would continue to hold
discussions on her ideas but would not move this bill forward
this session.
ABE merger with MnSCU
SF1569 was introduced 2 weeks ago
and originally proposed to transfer ABE programming out of the
Department of Education and into MnSCU. The bill was heard
in the Senate Committee on Business, Industry and Jobs on Friday
and was amended to encourage DEED, DHS, MDE (K-12 and ABE)
University of MN and MnSCU to work together in local
collaboratives. It also established four collaboratives in
each the following areas: urban, suburban, greater MN regional
and rural. There is no funding in this bill and it
was expected that federal stimulus dollars or grant dollars
might be found in the future to cover future
collaborations. A hearing has not been scheduled in the
House.
As always, feel free to contact us with any questions or
concerns. Remember: rumors run rampant so give us a chance to
check them out before you worry about them!
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