April 25, 2009

Notice
The United Ways of Washington’s 2009 legislative updates are now available on-line at http://www.unitedway-wa.org/leg_updates.html.

Contents

+ Quick Overview for Week
+ Early Learning Take-Aways for Week
+ Budget
+ Bill Action
+ Interim Plans

Quick Overview for Week
+ Changes to the House budget proposal, HB 1244, were released on Friday (see http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1244). Upon quick review, the proposal looks promising for most items the Early Learning Action Alliance are actively supporting. See further detail below.

+ The Senate is expected to release changes to their budget proposal (SB 5600) on Saturday. This year, leadership from the House and Senate are said to have reached tough solutions around the differences in their budget proposals predominantly earlier on than what we have traditionally seen in the past. Thus, the Senate budget proposal is expected to be very similar to what the House released today. Although, it is still unclear which proposal will ultimately become law.  

+ The April 26th scheduled adjournment date for session is rapidly approaching.  Legislators have been working weekends and extended weekday hours to come to agreement on a biennial budget and on outstanding policy issues. 

+ The next step for bills after both the House and Senate approve them and agree on any differences is for the Governor to take final action. After a bill clears the legislature it goes to the Governor. She must either sign the bill into law or veto parts or all of it within a set amount of days. Typically, for bills that faced challenges during the legislative process during session, the Governor’s signing represents victory.

Early Learning Take-Aways for Week
+ This week the legislature approved an education reform bill, ESHB 2261, which included two major points on early learning: (1) the bill contained language of intent to include a program of early learning for high-risk preschoolers in the definition of basic education; and (2) it made voluntary full-day kindergarten a program of basic education. The step towards incorporating preschool for at-risk children in the definition of basic education is very significant.

+ Dr. Bette Hyde is now officially in her role of Director for the Department of Early Learning (DEL).  Director Hyde background includes leadership within the K12 system, local community work as well as a strong understanding of statewide issues given her role with Washington Learns.  Given educational reform along with other K12 pipeline issues, this experience could help transform DEL.

+ April 19th-25th is the national Week of the Young Child. Many early learning programs across the state held special activities to honor children. See more at http://www.naeyc.org/about/woyc/.  In Spokane, for example, David Lawrence Jr., President of the Children’s Trust in Miami, addressed the third annual Our Kids:  Our Business luncheon which focused on the importance of local engagement in early learning.

Budget
The House released their amended budget proposal, HB 1244, early Friday. Upon quick review, the current version of the House budget proposal looks positive for the items the Early Learning Action Alliance (ELAA) has been actively supporting as a collective coalition. Below is a chart itemizing the early learning budget items, as prepared by ELAA staff.

A very quick rundown of the budget released Friday (not all-inclusive):

• Cut to ECEAP admin of 2.2 FTEs = -$818k
• Cut to ECEAP slots = 2.1% = -$2.3 million
• Home visiting = - $1.75 million reduction to Council for Children and Families (includes Home Visiting programs)
• Child Care Resource and Referral: $850k in state funding and $850k in federal stimulus funds (restores overall funding to current level)
• Career and Wage Ladder: $1.5 mil in state funding and $1.5 mil in fed stimulus funds
• QRIS: $1 mil in state funding
• Parent/FFN: $400k in state funding (cut of $1.2 mil)
• Kindergarten assessment: $100k in state funding
• Apprenticeships: eliminated (-$200k)
• Infant/Toddler: Budget notes $1.6 set-aside in federal stimulus funding, but does not specify programs
• Collective bargaining: $200k for implementation of HB 1329, should it be enacted
• Licensing staff at DEL : 5 FTE Cut (Quality Specialists) = -$870k

Bill Action

HB 2261, Basic Education
Representing one of the most visible and controversial policy discussion of the session, ESHB 2261 regarding education reform is on its way to Governor Gregoire for her consideration after the House of Representatives concurred to the Senate amendments on Monday, April 20th.  The Governor has signaled her willingness to sign the measure.

This attempt to re-define basic education for the first time in 30 years faced tremendous hurdles throughout the legislative process, including on-going opposition from the Washington Education Association. 

In the end, the revised definition of basic education was adopted with a phased-in approach to implementing the new programs of basic education.  Significantly, the bill includes: (1) intent to establish early learning for at-risk three- and four-year-olds as a program of basic education; and (2) further builds-out a program of voluntary all-day kindergarten and makes it a program of basic education.

Programs of basic education are constitutionally required to be funded, thus they are protected from severe budget cuts during times of economic downturn.  For early learning for at-risk three- and four-year-olds to eventually become a program of basic education would solidify a commitment to ensuring our most vulnerable children have a stronger chance for success in school and life.

HB 2377, Sales Tax Referendum
After an uncertain weekend, the proposal to place a referendum on the November ballot to temporarily raise the sales tax by 3/10 of one percent gained momentum on Tuesday, April 21st when the House Health and Human Services Appropriations Subcommittee narrowly approved the bill.  Ultimately, however, the measure did not have enough votes on the Floor of the House of Representatives and barring last-minute action appears “dead.”

HB 1943, Professional Development
On April 20th, the House of Representatives unanimously concurred in the Senate amendments to HB 1943, sending the bill to the Governor.

SB 5617, Early Learning Advisory Council Composition
On April 20th, the Senate refused to concur in the House amendments on SB 5617, indicating the bill has been changed too much from its original form and may not reflect the original intent the Senate sponsors had in mind. In response, the House has taken a position of insisting the Senate concur.  The Senate can ask the House to recede from their amendments. If an agreement cannot be reached, the Senate can request the bill go to Conference Committee where appointed legislators will broker a compromise, produce a report outlining how the bill should be modified, and then both chambers must approve the Conference Committee report by the close of session. This is a lot of work that must be achieved by the close of session in order for his bill to become law.

As we have previously reported, SB 5617 sponsored by Sen. Claudia Kauffman originally proposed changing provisions of the Early Learning Advisory Council (ELAC) by amending ELAC’s purpose, reducing the number of members on ELAC, providing opportunity for non-voting members to be present, and requiring ELAC to report to the legislature annually.  In its original form, the bill appeared to include technical changes to enable the ELAC to more effectively focus its work and achieve a quorum. As Sen. Kauffman initially noted, the ELAC was having difficulty with obtaining a quorum with 25 members as often 25 members were not present.

After leaving the Senate with a 47-0 affirmative vote in early-March, this bill was amended by the House Early Learning and Children Services Committee. In summary the changes included:  

• revised focus of the ELAC by indicating the ELAC was established to advise the Department of Early Learning on “issues leading to the building of a comprehensive system of quality early learning programs and services for Washington's children and families by aligning resources, establishing key  performance measures, and ensuring children are ready for school”;         
• adds a representative from the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board to the ELAC;
• provides for replacement of an ELAC member who is unable to attend three consecutive meetings; and
• requires the statewide early learning plan be submitted annually to the Legislature beginning August 1, 2009.

One notable effect of the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee’s striker amendment is that it “removes all the provisions altering the membership of the ELAC” with the exception of adding a representative from the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board. Thus, it appears the current provisions of this bill are very different than the original provisions, which is likely why the Senate has refused to concur.

HB 1329, Collective Bargaining
This bill which concerns collective bargaining for child care center directors and workers has been amended by the House and Senate. The bill passed the House on March 9th with a 65-31 vote. Then it progressed through the Senate where it was amended in both the policy and fiscal committees and was finally passed by the full chamber on April 13th with a 46-2 vote after several amendments were considered by the full Senate.

However, the House then refused to concur in the numerous Senate amendments and a Conference Committee was requested. Reps. Conway, Condotta, and Pettigrew are serving on the Conference Committee. So even though the bill has been voted out of both the House and Senate, there remain significant differences. In order for this bill to become law there are a number of steps that needs to take place: the Senate must appoint representatives to the Conference Committee; the Conference Committee must reach a solution that is acceptable by both chambers; and both chambers must vote in approval of the Conference Committee’s report by the close of session which is scheduled for Sunday, April 26th.

Early Learning Interim Plans
On Thursday, April 24th the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee held a work session on interim plans. Interim plans for legislative committees involve work that will take place during the break between the close of the 2009 legislative session and the start of the 2010 legislative session.

Committee members had an informal discussion. Overall, the need to connect with and see the impacts firsthand how things like family and dependency hearings function in local communities was emphasized.  Rep. Seaquist noted that there will be much work involved with implementing the education reforms outlined in HB 2261 and the committee should stay involved with those efforts.

Members invited suggestions from advocates for interim focus and work topics, thus the close of session is a good time to send suggestions for items you want the House and Senate early learning policy committees to focus on.

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This weekly legislative update is brought to you by the United Ways of Washington in partnership with the Washington State Child Care Resource and Referral Network. Please forward this legislative update to your early learning network. To subscribe, contact Erica Hallock at erica.hallock@unitedway.org.