United Ways of Washington
March 5, 2010

Contents
+ Week in Olympia
+ Early Learning Take-Aways for Week
+ Bill Status & Committee Activity
+ Subscription Information

WEEK IN OLYMPIA

• The focus now is intensely on balancing the budget. Debates on fiscal matters were fervent this week as the House released its revenue package and a new revenue option was released in the Senate. The challenge of determining how to balance the budget is colossal as policymakers face a second year of extreme deficits. It is anticipated policymakers and staff will work long hours this weekend.
• On Monday, 3/1, the House released its revenue package. Totaling $758 million, the package resembles the Governor’s revenue proposal in amount (hers totals $759 million) and content. While the Senate’s initial proposal focused primarily on a temporary sales tax, the House and Governor propose a menu of tax loophole closures (including terminating the sales tax exemption on candy and gum) and increased revenues (including an increased tax on cigarettes). These varied approaches signal that the Senate and House have more work ahead to identify a common approach that can receive sufficient votes for passage.
• Senate Majority Leader Senator Lisa Brown helped raise the profile of Sen. Rosa Franklin’s SB 6250 concerning an income tax on high-wage earners which received a public hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Thursday, 3/4. This bill received much hearty debate. The proposal is about the legislature enacting a temporary three-tenths of a cent sales tax increase. Sen. Brown suggested on her blog that the voters be asked in November via referendum whether the three-tenths of a cent temporary sales tax increase should be repealed along with an additional half of a cent of the current sales and replaced with a high-wage earners’ income tax. 
• Both the House and Senate revenue proposals received extensive and varied testimony in public hearings held in the respective fiscal committees. The industries slated to either lose tax-exempt status or face revenue increases argued vehemently against the proposals, highlighting our state’s already shaky economy. Other witnesses discussed the negative effects of the recession on vulnerable citizens and the responsibility of state government to address these growing needs.  
• With the Governor, Senate, and House approaches to balancing the state budget now public, work now turns to reconciling these three budgets.  In past years, a conference committee appointed by Senate and House leadership (typically two members of the majority party and one member of the minority party from each house for a total of six) has met to hammer out a compromise.   As of publication time, a conference committee had not yet been appointed.
• Today is the last day for bills to be considered by the opposite House. While this signals that the legislative process is winding to a close for the 2010 session, there is definitely more action needed to resolve differences among the three budget proposals (from the Governor, House, and Senate) and corresponding revenue packages. Moving forward to the scheduled close of session next Thursday, 3/11, the legislature will be working to both resolve any discrepancies on policy bills and notably to bridge differences on budget items.

EARLY LEARNING TAKE-AWAYS FOR WEEK

• The time is now to contact your legislators and let them know where you stand on early learning budget issues.
• Looking ahead to next week, on Wednesday, 3/10, at 9:00 a.m. the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee will hold a work session focused on Committee efforts during interim, or the time between the close of the 2010 legislative session and the beginning of the 2011 legislative session.
• Conversations are happening in attempt to reach a compromise between the Senate and House on the issue of preschool. Bills 2731 and 6759 are being discussed as addressing different phases of building a more robust preschool program.  However, more work remains to be done to better integrate and strengthen the bills. Inclusion of preschool in the definition of basic education is apparently off the table and a focus is now on establishing an entitlement program for children meeting specific criteria and allowing for private pay families to participate for fee. Rep. Goodman’s 2731 now represents more of a short-term view, with ECEAP as the base for creation of an entitlement program. Senator Kauffman’s 6759 takes a longer view with specific review of how to best build and expand an early learning program that responds to the Attorney General’s Opinion and other constitutional issues. 
• Given the magnitude of the state budget deficit for the second consecutive year, preservation of existing investments can be considered an achievement this legislative session. Proposed budget cuts are predicted upon enactment of revenue packages totaling specific amounts. Thus, if approval of revenue packages does not happen, further cuts are necessary to balance the budget. 

BILL STATUS & COMMITTEE ACTIVITY
Overview of legislative process
With two cutoffs occurring this week, the legislative process is now in the final steps. Monday was the last day for fiscal committees to consider bills from the opposite house (i.e. the last day for the Senate Ways & Means Committee to consider House bills that are still alive and vice versa). Thus attention then moved to floor action in the House and Senate because today, Friday, 3/5, is the last day for bills to be considered on the floor by the opposite house (i.e. the last day for the full Senate to consider a House bill that is still alive and vice versa) with the exception of NTIB bills. From now until the end of session, or Sine Die, scheduled for Thursday, 3/11, the House and Senate is scheduled to be in session where the full chamber considers items or in caucus where the two parties in each chamber meet separately and privately.

While the legislative process has numerous cutoffs that bills must meet to be officially considered “alive,” it is important to note that a bill that is necessary to implement the budget, or NTIB, can be taken up for action at any point up until Sine Die. Also, the issues in bills can show up as line items in the larger budget bill or as an amendment on a different bill that is alive. So a bill is never officially dead until the official close of session. Thus, now is still an important time to reach out to your legislators to tell them the policy and budget items you support.

Helpful links about the legislative process:

• Cutoff calendar
• Overview of legislative process
• “How a Bill Becomes a Law” simple text  and simple cartoon for young students
• Other educational and instructional material from the Legislative Information Center

Preschool for vulnerable students included in basic education
Status on conversation around HB 2731 and SB 6759:

• Both bills are still alive. HB 2731 is scheduled for action on the Senate floor today. SB 6759 is eligible to receive action on the House floor.
• Leaders from the House and Senate are trying to reach a compromise with each bill being framed as etching out a different phase of building a more robust preschool program for 3- and 4-year-olds. HB 2731 is currently being discussed as a short-term solution to address preschool access issues. SB 6759 is now being framed as taking a longer view approach by examining how to best build and expand an early learning program that responds to the Attorney General’s Opinion and other constitutional issues. 
• Initially, HB 2731 and SB 6759 were the two main bills offering alternative preschool proposals. Originally, HB 2731 boldly specified preschool for vulnerable students be included in the definition of basic education which was a strategy to protect funding for the program given the state has a constitutional duty to fund basic education. Conversely, SB 6759 originally indicated the matter of inclusion should be studied further, acknowledging previous reports that recommended inclusion and taking into account new information such as the Attorney General’s opinion.
• Throughout the session, the debate on the two bills has spotlighted the different approaches of the House and Senate. While policymakers generally seem to agree that greater preschool access is an issue, the House bill was about protecting funding for a program of early learning for the most vulnerable of students and allowing private-pay families to buy-in to the program thus creating a mixed model. The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction publicly supported HB 2731. The Senate bill stopped short of stating inclusion and called for a study on the matter. Senate leaders seemed to prefer the Governor’s approach which was about voluntary universal preschool of a mixed model allowing private-pay families and students who were eligible for state-subsidized to participate. Historically, inclusion has been a tougher issue to gain support on from Senate leaders and the Governor.
• Both bills have changed.
• HB 2731 has been changed so that inclusion in the definition of basic education is no longer part of the proposal. The bill now proposes an entitlement to a voluntary preschool program for 3- and 4-year-olds meaning those whose choose to participate are entitled to based on space available which is dependent on funding. The program standards and eligibility would be based on ECEAP (Early Childhood Education and Assistance program, the state’s subsidized preschool program). While the bill specifies the intent is to protect the current levels of funding for comprehensive preschool programs, there is no guarantee of funding which makes the bill more palatable given the tough budget climate. The bill also allows private-pay families to buy-in to the program.
• SB 6759 has held on to the concept of a study and proposed changes to the Early Learning Advisory Council (ELAC) have been tagged onto the bill. These ELAC provisions mimic the language in 2ESB 5617 related to ELAC chances. Since 2ESB 5617 has passed both the House and Senate to become law this year, if SB 6759 receives further action it will likely be amended to remove to the ELAC changes since those issues have already been addressed by the passage of 2ESB 5617.

Elevating birth-three services

2SHB 2867, “Promoting Early Learning,” sponsored by Rep. Ruth Kagi. This bill formalizes the role of the Department of Early Learning (DEL) with services for children ages birth-three and their families and directs DEL to create a birth to three plan. This bill is now law. The Senate approved this bill this morning with a strong majority (43-2, with 2 excused and 2 absent). The House had approved this bill on Monday, 2/15 with a 66-32 vote.

While this bill does not expand the current level of birth-three services, putting into law DEL’s responsibilities and roles related to birth-three services is an important win for building sustainability of birth-three services.

Home visitation

3SHB 2687, “Creating the home visiting services account,” sponsored by Rep. Ruth Kagi is still alive. The bill was approved by the Senate Ways and Means Committee on the 3/1 cutoff. It now awaits action by the full Senate.

The House included budget proviso language which reflects the intent and much of the same language in 3SHB 2687.  The Senate’s budget did not contain this same language, meaning this will be an item before the Conference Committee for decision making.

While conversations and public hearings around home visitation services this session and last indicate there is good awareness on research that shows such programs can help prevent abuse and neglect, this year the conversation is at the level of details. Still in question is where home visitation services are housed in government, who administers them, and at what level of funding.

Working Connections Child Care (WCCC)
E2SHB 3141, “Regarding delivery of temporary assistance to needy families,” sponsored by Rep. Ruth Kagi is now law having been approved by the House and then Senate. After lengthy debate focused on the proposal to allow specific exemptions to the five-year time limit for TANF, it was voted off the Senate Floor on Wednesday, 3/3, by a 27-20 vote.

This bill makes a number of changes to the state's Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program.  A large component within TANF is WCCC which subsidies child care for low-income families. With regard to WCCC the bill seeks to streamline the child care eligibility process for families enrolled in ECEAP, Head Start and Early Head Start. Parents have offered testimony to the Senate policy committee about how interruption of child care impacts their family negatively.

The amendments passed by the Senate Ways and Means Committee on 3/1 put back the 12 month reauthorization period which was originally included in the bill but later stripped. The reauthorization period makes it easier for working families to receive continuity of care for the child(ren), while still requiring families to report changes in circumstance.

See the Early Learning Action Alliance’s policy brief on WCCC here.

Collective bargaining
HB 1329, “Providing collective bargaining for child care center directors and workers,” sponsored by Rep. Eric Pettigrew.  HB 1329 received a public hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee on 2/27.  Although the committee did not vote out the bill by the 3/1 deadline, it could still be considered as “Necessary to Implement the Budget” as the House budget contains funding for this bill. 

Administrative changes
Transfer of ITEIP to DEL
SB 6593, “Transferring the administration of the infant and toddler early intervention program from the department of social and health services to the department of early learning,” sponsored by Sen. Randy Gordon. This bill is now law since the House voted 44-1 in approval on 2/13 and the Senate voted 96-0 in favor on 3/2. Both the Senate and House proposed budgets include this transfer.

Restructuring DSHS
HB 2197, “Restructuring the department of social and health services,” sponsored by Rep. Mike Armstrong.  This bill has been deemed “NTIB,” or Necessary to Implement the Budget which means it is not “dead” and action can be taken up on it any time before Sine Die. There was no new action on this bill in the last week.

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