March 20, 2009

Contents
Quick Overview for Week
Early Learning Take-Aways for Week
Revenue Forecast
Bill Action for Week
Federal Update
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Quick Overview for Week

• On Thursday, March 19th the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released an official revenue forecast showing revenues continue to decline, with revenues dropping another $553 million from the last forecast in February.  This brings our state’s overall budget gap for the upcoming 2009-2011 near $9 billion, assuming that expenditures remain at the current level.
• Leadership in the House and Senate are busy working on their respective biennial budget proposals. The House and Senate will release their 2009-2011 budget proposals in the form of two separate bills, expected next week.
• It is unclear whether the entire $9 billion deficit will be addressed in the form of budget cuts or if there will be a proposed revenue increase, which would likely require a vote of the people due to the limitations I-960 put in place. On February 19th, thirty economic and public policy experts from across Washington state sent a letter to Governor Christine Gregoire, House Speaker Frank Chopp, and Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, expressing agreement that revenue options should be on the table. See the letter at the Washington State Budget and Policy Center’s website at http://www.budgetandpolicy.org/documents/econletter021909.pdf.

•  The action that took place at the Federal level to appropriate more new dollars for states to use to help stimulate the economy via the passage of the Federal FY09 Omnibus Appropriation Act contains increased funding for child care.
• With another cut-off behind us, focus has returned to policy committee work in the House and Senate where bills are being considered by the opposite house. For instance, bills that originated in the House are now being considered by the Senate policy committees and vice versa.

Early Learning Take-Aways for Week

• The merits of creating a strong professional development pathway for the early learning workforce was a prominent topic addressed in both the Senate and House early learning policy committees this week. It is unclear at this point how this elevated recognition of the critical importance of investing in professional development to increase the quality in child care and early learning across the state will play out in the budget decisions. 
• The discussion around basic education continues. Whereas HB 2261, which we reported on in-depth last week, shows promise of creating strong linkages with early learning and K12 due to the education pipeline issue, ESB 6048 which received a public hearing this week is an education reform bill that focuses on examining the complexities of funding K12 before the definition of basic education is expanded. See further discussion on this in the “Bill Action for Week” section.
• Our partners from the Washington State Child Care Resource & Referral Network were in DC last week for the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies (NACCRRA) annual policy conference with early learning policy leaders from across the nation and they spent a day at the Capitol meeting with the Washington Congressional delegation. What they heard across the board was optimism and enthusiasm for the value-add and strong return on the strategic investments in early learning infrastructure and quality measures. There is a sense of acknowledgment and commitment at the federal level that early learning investments are a critical component of healthy, thriving communities. For instance, there has been a doubling of dollars for quality investments in child care and early learning. In contrast, the environment in Olympia is glum given the revenue forecast figures released on Thursday and there is a sense of despair about the inevitable, undesirable cuts to programs and services that lay ahead. In Olympia, there is a tension between balancing smart, long-term early learning investments that have evidence of strong return on investment versus funding the urgent, basic needs. These same philosophical tensions are seen in discussion around how to use the resources funneling down to the state from the federal level. 

Revenue Forecast
On March 19th, Economic and Revenue Forecast Council Executive Director Arun Raha provided an updated revenue forecast.  He discussed how our state’s economic conditions continue to be in flux and are continuing to change rapidly, most often for the worse.
Raha projected Washington state’s economic recovery will be on the same track as the nation’s and he did not anticipate our state lagging behind national recovery as many have predicted.  He expects our state to stay in recession through most of 2009, with the economy flattening during the third quarter of this year. 
Our state’s economy has weakened considerably since November and declines in areas such as car sales and housing have expanded to aerospace, retail and manufacturing.  He did note positive signs, including stabilizing retail sales, but he stated it is too early to see if this upturn will be sustained.
Questions from reporters to legislators focused on how they plan to grapple with the budget deficit, including pointed questions about generating additional revenue.  Legislators responded it is their duty to adopt a balanced budget and avoided answering questions as to whether specific revenue options were under discussion. This vague response was also seen at the revenue forecast briefing to members of the House Ways and Means Committee on Thursday.
The Economic and Revenue Forecast Council’s last forecast update was in February.  Since that time, the state’s revenues have declined by an additional $553 million, bringing the state budget gap to nearly $9 billion, assuming that expenditures remain at the current level.
The Legislature will use these numbers as they work to develop their budgets.  To see commentary on and analysis of the revenue forecast from the Washington State Budget and Policy Center, and independent policy think tank, visit their Schmudget blog posting at: http://schmudget.blogspot.com/2009/03/official-forecast-out-now-what.html.

Bill Action for Week
On Monday, March 16th the Senate Early Learning & K12 Committee held a public hearing on SHB 1943 which concerns professional development requirements for the early learning and school-age program workforce. Substitute House Bill 1943 proposes two actions related to professional development: (1) directs the development of recommendations for a statewide system of preparation and continuing professional development for the early learning and school-age program workforce; and (2) requires two report-backs to the legislature and Governor (status update in September 2009 and final recommendations by December 2010).

Committee Chair Sen. Rosemary McAuliffe and Vice Chair Sen. Claudia Kaufman pointed out the need for the Early Learning Advisory Council (ELAC) to be assigned a clear and active role as the work outline in SHB 1943 falls under ELAC authority. ELAC was created in 2007 by the legislature to advise the DEL on statewide early learning needs and to develop a statewide early learning plan. Sens. Kauffman and McAuliffe are the sponsors of ESB 5617 which aims to clarify ELAC’s charge with an emphasis on aligning resources, establishing key performance measures, and ensuring children are ready for school. Engrossed Senate Bill 5617 is alive and currently awaiting a hearing in the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee.

At the March 16th hearing, a number of providers and early learning stakeholders from a variety of interest areas indicated support for the bill expressing a desire to use professional development as a means to raise child care quality so more children can be ready for success in school and life.  United Way of Pierce County CEO Rick Allen weaved research findings with a story from a recent trip he took to a child care center in Pierce County to punctuate the importance of professional development in child care quality and the correlation with a child’s ability to start school ready to succeed.  Retaining high-quality staff to support children’s school readiness is among the main premises behind SHB 1943 which aims to create a strong professional development pathway.

Professional development is one area where there is strong linkage between the early learning field and higher education as community colleges are one of the key providers for professional training. Michelle Andreas from the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) pointed out two main policy areas that need some attention: (1) low amounts of scholarships for providers; and (2) a lack of articulation agreements between college courses and community-based training.  Andreas noted that SBCTC has partnered with the Washington State Child Care Resource and Referral Network to push for additional funding to be allocated to WA Scholarships for Child Care Professionals and SBCTC is currently developing a proposal around articulation.

Per SHB 1943, the Professional Development Consortium (Consortium) would be the working body to achieve the work outlined in the bill. The Consortium, which was first convened in September 2008, would work in collaboration with the Department of Early Learning (DEL) to achieve three things: (1) map current professional development resources and strategies to identify gaps and recommend improved coordination; (2) define the core competencies or knowledge areas for the workforce; and (3) recommend a plan for implementation of a statewide comprehensive and integrated pathway of preparation and continuing professional development for the early learning and school-age program workforce.

The Consortium’s final report to the legislature and Governor is required to include analysis of gaps in professional development to address the needs of those serving children with special needs, incentives and supports for staff to increase their training, evidence-based compensation policies to encourage and reward completion of training programs, and strategies to provide training in languages other than English.

The Consortium would be comprised of representatives from a wide array of organizations. For further information on SHB 1943, including summary documents and bill status, visit http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1943&year=2009.

On Tuesday, March 17th the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee held a work session on the early learning workforce and professional development. This work session tied in nicely with Monday’s public hearing in the Senate on SHB 1943.  The work session highlighted a joint report released this week by SEIU Local 925 and the Economic Opportunity Institute, Paving the Pathways to Quality.  The report is available on the Economic Opportunity Institute website at http://www.econop.org/. 

The report sought to investigate the ability of early childhood professionals in our state to access professional development and advance in their careers.  The report found five key findings:  1) high rates of turnover among early childhood professionals, due in large part to poor compensation and lack of benefits; 2) numerous informal and formal professional development opportunities already exist in Washington; 3) these opportunities, however, are not maximized due to lack of coordination; 4) lack of financial incentives and supports provide a deterrent for many providers to access available professional development opportunities; and 5) widespread desire to create a coordinated and integrated system that includes incentives exists.

On Thursday, March 19th the House Education Appropriations Committee held a work session on ESB 6048 which concerns the state’s education system. Engrossed Senate Bill 6048 is technically considered a companion bill to HB 2261, but is more practically an alternative to HB 2261 which we reported on in-depth last week. House bill 2261 is an education reform bill that shows promise of creating stronger linkages between early learning and K12 by including intent to eventually include early learning in the state’s definition of basic education and charges a proposed Early Learning Workgroup with developing details. In contrast, ESB 6048 has a strong emphasis on re-examining the complexities of adequately funding K12 before the definition of basic education is expanded. Both bills are still alive so the debate on education reform is very much alive.
The prime sponsor of ESB 6048, Sen. Oemig, is convening a large group of stakeholders to debate and negotiate the details of ESB 6048. Sen. McAuliffe along with several other Senators from both political parties recently sent a letter to the Attorney General’s office asking for clarification on a series of questions regarding the Basic Ed bill, including inquiring whether or not early learning could be considered basic education.  The implications of the answer are significant.
During the House Education Appropriations hearing, Rep. Pat Sullivan, a proponent of including early learning in the definition of basic education, acknowledged that there is a tension between balancing the need to protect wise investments like early learning programs for vulnerable children with the fear of not being able to fund it in difficult economic times. Rep. Sullivan clearly called out that programs included in the definition of basic education are constitutionally protected, meaning they must be funded by the state.
With Thursday’s revenue forecast showing a nearly $9 billion shortfall, K-12 education is expected to see at least $1 billion in cuts. While this is a bleak number, early learning and higher education programs as well as programs across the board are facing cuts, in some case disproportionately higher cuts than K-12. The education reform bills under consideration this year are highlighting a long-standing philosophical debate over whether programs many communities hold dear, such as early learning for vulnerable children, should be constitutionally protected to ensure they will remain off the chopping block during times of economic downturn, or if adequately funding the existing K12 system is the priority before more programs are taken on under the definition of basic education.
A number of stakeholders from a variety of interests testified in support of education reform but expressed concern about ESB 6048 not going far enough to examine the definition of basic education. The Washington Education Association (WEA), the leading K-12 teacher union, testified against 6048 and is signaling strong opposition to addressing education reform this session. The WEA has repeatedly stated that funding for state teachers and all the supports connected to them should be fully funded before the definition of basic education should be expanded. Thus, this highlights the potent tension between what gets funded first and at what funding level.

Federal Update
Little public discussion occurred this week on Washington state’s plans for programming the federal stimulus funds, including those for early learning. 
In addition to the targeted funding included for the Child Care and Development Block Grant and Head Start/Early Head Start, there are other funding sources in the federal stimulus package that could be directed toward early learning, including the State Fiscalization Fund:  Education Block Grant and Title I dollars.  Here is a link to a blog posting by Dovetailing LLC where options for Title I are explored:  http://www.earlylearningcommunity.org/profiles/blogs/put-title-i-to-use-for-early.

As the budget process intensifies, legislators will be weighing how their priorities can be funded given the limited funding available.  The federal stimulus dollars will be an important resource that could be used to stave off cuts.

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