MICHIGAN
CHILD CARE TASK FORCE
MINUTES
Taken
by Lynn Herman - Milan Area Schools &
Steve Manchesteer, Michigan AEYC
THE
MICHIGAN CHILD CARE TASK FORCE MEETS IN JUNE, THEN AGAIN IN
SEPTEMBER.
MAY 15
ACTION NEEDED:
Recently
an action alert was sent to our email network about
contacting members of Congress on Wednesday, May 15. We
asked them to request three items in the Child Care and
Development Block Grant (CCDBG) reauthorization. Please join
thousands of others across the nation on 5/15 (or soon
thereafter). The three requests are:
1)
Support adding $20 billion (over 5 years) to the CCDBG
reauthorization now moving through Congress.
2) Make this "mandatory" funding.
3) Support a "quality set aside" of 12%
The
easiest way to do this is by email using NAEYC's "capitol
whiz"; go to http://capwiz.com/naeyc/home/ and follow the
instructions.
SAYING
THANKS TO LEGISLATORS:
On
May 1, preceding the meeting of the Child Care Task Force,
we sponsored a legislative breakfast/reception in downtown
Lansing. It was a great success. Thank you to the many task
force members who contacted their state legislators asking
them to come.The legislators listed below attended our
event. If you know any of them (or even if you don't),
please drop them a note/call/email to say thanks. The
legislators are:
SENATORS:
Loren Bennett; Bill Bullard, Jr.; Dianne Byrum; Ken
DeBeaussaert, Dan DeGrow (staff); Christopher Dingell;
Bev Hammerstrom; Walter North.
REPRESENTATIVES:
Patricia Birkholz; Douglas Bovin; Cameron Brown (staff);
Gene DeRossett; Stephen Ehardt; Pan Godchaux; Scott
Hummel; Gilda Jacobs; Alexander Lipsey; David Mead; Mary
Ann Middaugh; John Pappageorge; Michael Switalski; Laura
Toy; Jerry Vander Roest; Gerald Van Woerkom; Larry
Jullian; Steven Vear.
TASK
FORCE MINUTES for MAY 1, 2002
Co-chairs
Kristen McDonald-Stone and Lisa Brewer called the meeting to
order shortly after 9:30. Each person in attendance gave a
self-introduction and the group adopted the
agenda.
EARLY
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
The
Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health has developed
voter registration materials; it also has developed a
"Candidate Questionnaire" for use this election year. For
more information contact Betty Tableman
(tableman@pilot.msu.edu).
The Michigan Head Start Association will host up to 1000
parents at the capitol on May 16. For more information or to
volunteer go to www.mhsa.ws
DEBRIEFING
THE LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST/RECEPTION
Legislators
seemed surprised that so many other legislators showed up.
Some legislators did not want to discuss: more money for
ECEC; using the "rainy day fund," pausing the two tax cuts.
Some legislators feel the tax cuts hurt Michigan's budget
too much. Legislators were surprised and impressed that Mike
Flanagan (Exec. Director of the Michigan Association of
School Administrators) attended. Some legislators are now
aware that the years before kindergarten are crucial to
school success; many want to learn more.
The task force members were very appreciative of Karoub
Associates, which provided its meeting room for the event.
The task force wants to do this again.
UPDATES
ON THE BUSINESS OF THE TASK FORCE
DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION - Judy Levine presented
a written report (copy available at smanchester@miaeyc.org).
Included in her report:
*
The Governor signed the school aid budget supplemental
(SB 1107 became PA 191 of 2002). ASAP-PIE and full day
school readiness were not funded for 2002-03. It looks
like the competitive school readiness programs (half-day)
will be funded for $12.25 million in the Department of
Education budget, SB 1103.
*
Applications for the competitive MSRP grants are due on
May 21; applications for Even Start grants are due May
31. To make application for either go to:
http://www.state.mi.us/mde/off/staa/earlychild/index.htm.
*
House Bills 5764 and 5765 (move the cutoff date for
kindergarten entry from December 1 to earlier in the
year) has been introduced again. Nobody knows whether
these bills will move. The current wisdom is they will
not move because they will cost the state K-12 system
about $200 million per year for 13 years.
HEAD
START - Kristen
McDonald-Stone
reported that a federal effort to push "healthy marriage"
initiatives as part of ECEC funding debates in Congress will
be delayed until 2003.
MAPPING
OF STATE & LOCAL CHILD ADVOCACY NETWORKS
Steve
Manchester asked people to contribute information to a
MiAEYC project that "maps" state and local child advocacy
networks. This two-year-old project can be accessed at the
MiAEYC web site; click on "Michigan Child Advocates
Directory. You can contribute information to the directory
at http://207.179.80.94:591/new_record.htm.
LEGISLATIVE
UPDATES:
*
Manchester discussed the ECEC items in the School Aid
Act. The zero-to-three prevention program was funded in
School Aid for $2 million. The state usually places other
0-to-3 funding in other budgets; it's unclear how much of
that additional funding will continue into 2002-03.
The traditional one-half-day school readiness programs
were funded for 2002-03 at $72 million (the same as this
current year). Other ECEC programs were cut. The new
budget act contains an "intent" to support the unfunded
ECEC programs if added money materializes in the School
Aid Fund as a result of the revenue estimating conference
scheduled later in May.
Steve handed out an updated fact sheet on the intent
language and the revenue estimating conference (fact
sheet available upon request to
smanchester@miaeyc.org).
OTHER
BUSINESS:
*
The email network has 809 members (the first time over 800);
snail mail has 149 members for a total of
958.
*
The Michigan AEYC web address and individual email addresses
now end in ".ORG" instead of ".COM."
Guest
Speaker: STATE REPRESENTATIVE MICHAEL C.
MURPHY.
Mike, the State Representative from Lansing, is our new
legislative, Democratic co-sponsor of the Child Care Task
Force. He is the Minority Vice Chair on the House Family and
Children Services Committee and also sits on the House
Appropriations Sub-committee on the Family Independence
Agency budget.
Rep.
Murphy urged the task force to bring an early childhood
vision to legislators, saying that legislators want a vision
for the future. He discussed children's legislation that he
has sponsored and/or supported. He is particularly
interested in having child support reach custodial parents,
and thus children.
He praised the task force for the legislative reception held
earlier in the morning (and apologized that committee
meetings kept him from attending). More effective lobbying
happens at such receptions than most people realize. He
urged the task force to increase its face-to-face meetings
with legislators.
Mike stressed the importance of the political changes coming
this year through elections and next year as a new Governor
takes office.
During Q&A, task force members thanked Mike for taking
on legislative co-sponsorship of the task force. Some
members expressed their appreciation that an
African-American male was a task force sponsor, saying that
it sent important messages across the state.
FURTHER
BUSINESS OF THE TASK FORCE &
ANNOUNCEMENTS
LEGISLATION:
*
HB 5945 would establish a "Children's Cabinet" and
require a comprehensive children's budget under the
oversight of the Department of Management and Budget.
This bill may be discussed at the committee level in the
near future.
*
A number of other bills have been introduced that involve
gathering information about child care and making it
widely available. Also, efforts to strengthen the
Children's Ombudsman position (and perhaps change the
name of that person to "Child Advocate") are under
consideration.
*
The task force voted to be a co-signer of a letter
prepared by the Children's Defense Fund (in Washington,
DC) in opposition to proposed federal legislation to
establish "super waivers." Super waivers would let
federal agencies and Governors agree that states could
ignore statutory and regulatory requirements pertaining
to human services programs of all kinds - education,
health, welfare, etc.
*
Sharon Peters, Michigan's Children, announced that MC had
printed material explaining the recently completed
"Joining Forces" project.
*
Jane Zehnder-Merrell, League for Human Services,
announced that the new national "Kids Count" report would
be released on May 23. For information, contact Jane at
janez@mlan.net.
The
meeting adjourned at 11:50 a.m.
NEXT
MEETING
- Note Room Change
Wednesday, June 5, 2002 from 9:30 a.m. - noon
State of Michigan Library, The Forum (auditorium, 1st
floor)
717 W. Allegan, Lansing
AFTER THE
JUNE MEETING, WE NEXT MEET SEPTEMBER 4,
2002.
GUEST
SPEAKER: HEATH MERIWETHER -
Publisher, The Detroit Free Press; and newly selected
co-chair of the Ready to Succeed Partnership with Michigan,
which promotes universal, high quality ECEC in Michigan.
Heath will discuss the Free Press's longstanding work in
promoting ECEC and other children's issues, and directions
in which he hopes to help lead Ready to
Succeed.
Thanking
You for Your Support:
Kristen
McDonald-Stone, Michigan Head Start Association
Lisa Brewer, Michigan 4-C Association/T.E.A.C.H.®
Co-chairs, Michigan Child Care Task Force
o Please
FORWARD THIS NOTICE TO OTHERS; we invite people to join this
email network.
o Comments, suggestions, or requests to be removed from this
list should be directed to smanchester@MiAEYC.ORG. (NOTE:
the ".com" is now ".org")
o This message is made possible, in part, by generous
support from the Frey Foundation of Grand
Rapids.
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