Legislative Updates

Legislative Update

Session 2008

Week 2: March 10th – 14th

In the current economic climate, everyone is trying to stretch their dollars. Hard choices are being made and priorities are being set by individuals, families, businesses, and public/private partnerships. Florida state government is no different.

The state is facing a budget crisis that is especially harsh after several years of record surpluses. The horse is out of the barn, so to speak, and it doesn’t change the outcome to say “we told you so” as the state was making permanent revenue cuts under the guise of giving “something back” when times were good. One-time give backs would have been the wiser course of action if going in that direction. It’s the permanency of the reductions that have now tethered Florida into being overly dependent on the least reliable and most volatile revenue source of all – state sales taxes.

We worry about the children. We worry more about how state government will establish its priorities starting at the Executive Branch Department level and the path the proposals take as they wind their way along, resulting in adoption in the legislative budget.

In response to this crisis, the Children’s Campaign is launching the “Campaign to Protect Children and Communities.” Everyone reading this Legislative Update and everyone you can send it to has a role to play. This campaign must ensure that children do not enter into this very intense but short-lived budget fight alone.

We stand for three major principles when it comes to balancing the budget:

1. Florida cannot afford to balance its budget on the backs of its children – Children cannot bear the brunt of cuts simply because they do not have a voice in the political process.
2. Cuts must take the future into account – Long term consequences and benefits need to be examined prior to making decisions about cutting programs, especially those for children. Investment spending must be the rallying call. The exploding prison budget, another $400-million this year, is an example of consumption spending.
3. It is not just about what the state will save, but what it will lose – federal dollars stream into Florida based on what the state provides in matching funds; if the state does not appropriate the money it does not draw down federal support.

The readers of Legislative Update are our eyes and ears. Proposed cuts will come fast and furious, starting with the department recommended cuts on their way to the legislature as this is being written. Send us information. Do it right away!

The Campaign to Protect Children and Communities will serve as “message central”. We will take your information and publish regular updates so that the proposals for cuts in services are widely known, empowering our network of citizen and stakeholder advocates to take action. Send news and updates as you become aware of them to the Children’s Campaign, in care of Amanda Ostrander, aostrander@iamforkids.org.

We are calling on Governor Charlie Crist to instruct all of his departmental appointees to follow the lead of Department of Children and Families Secretary Bob Butterworth, who has pledged to make every cut possible to his administration before cutting services. His leadership is resulting in far fewer service reductions in the last quarter of the current fiscal year than some of his counterparts. We applaud him and his Deputy Secretary George Sheldon.

Governor Crist cannot control what the legislature will do, but he has influence over his appointees and he can direct them to find the money in every possible place other than direct services to Florida’s children.

The Governor needs to hear from you. His address is Charlie.Crist@myflorida.com.

Here are highlights of the latest developments by Promise:

Promise 1:

Governor Crist has publicly supported additional dollars for KidCare, in order to cover more of Florida’s uninsured children. Any additional dollars spent by Florida on KidCare will draw down huge federal dollars allowing the state to stretch the dollars spent by Florida taxpayers to serve even more children in need of health insurance. The plan is meeting with resistance from the Legislature, specifically the funding. It is interesting that funding continues to be a problem for KidCare. Although everyone agrees that uninsured children are an important issue, Florida policy makers have always had trouble finding dollars for KidCare regardless of the economic climate of the state.

The Department of Health has offered up $3-million in cuts that Healthy Start received last year to expand services to low income pregnant women and infants and fix some funding inequities across the state. The additional funds came last year on the heels of significant media attention to the important work of Healthy Start and that Florida was going in the wrong direction regarding infant mortality and low-weight births. The loss of this funding would scale back the percentage of women that Healthy Start can reach. The investment cost is small and the consumption cost is staggering.

Promise 2:

Secretary Bob Butterworth and DCF presented on budget cuts this week. The Department has managed to take a $25-million cut, and follow their commitment not to take the money from children’s services. The General, as he is known, also made it clear that he cannot guarantee that he will be able to make that pledge for the next round of budget cuts but will do all he can.

Florida On The Line , a Florida Public Radio program on March 12th , addressed children’s programs, budget cuts, and legislation. Featuring Secretary Bob Butterworth; Chief Child Advocate, Jim Kallinger; and Angela Orkin, executive director of Guardian ad Litem, the show discussed repercussions of budget cuts to children. Independent Living services to children aging out of foster care was featured. In an illustration of the negative affects budget cuts can have on children, the panel agreed that cuts to Independent Living could result in children under state care becoming homeless or turning to illegal activities to find money. This is yet another example of investment spending that should trump consumption spending.

Promise 3:

New endorsements this week for the VPK degreed teacher legislation sponsored by Senator Nan Rich and Representative Janet Long include the prestigious groups of United Way of Florida, A.I. Children, and Nova Southeastern University Mailman Segal Institute. Thank you for joining the effort!

A four-year-old in Florida’s pre-k program is 18 times more likely to be expelled than an older student (kindergarten through 12) according to a study by the Yale University's Edward Zigler Center in Child Development and Social Policy

The high expulsion rate is blamed on lack of teacher training, lack of teacher support, class size and length of day.

Promise 4: 

In order to protect communities, it is necessary for the state to invest in safe and enriching before and after school activities. According to statistics, the majority of juvenile crime occurs between 3 – 6 p.m. An investment in after school programming is a step towards reducing juvenile crime.

Currently, the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) is conducting a study to define the true needs for after school programming in Florida.

Failure to include this need in the state budget will result in an increase in future dollars for juvenile justice as well as an increase in juvenile crime.

Promise 5:

The Department of Juvenile Justice has yet to release its recommended budget cuts, having been granted a small extension of time. Children’s Campaign staff were advised of the preliminary decisions and objections were raised immediately about the priorities, strategies and alignment with Blueprint Recommendations. More in-depth analysis will be forthcoming in a Promise 5: Front Burner to be released by the Children’s Campaign at the beginning of the week and after the final DJJ budget document becomes public. Children’s Campaign, Inc. is reviewing the budget, and believes it will be possible to identify several administrative overlaps or efficiencies that if addressed, would result in savings to be applied to reduce cuts to direct services.

HB 273 was tabled in the House Policy and Budget Council. It is expected to be picked up soon. Groups who spoke against the bill last week included the Public Defenders Association and Florida Association of Counties. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice has remained silent on the bill thus far in spite of the conflict it poses to their Blueprint Commission Report.

To read bills for each of the Promise areas simply click on the Promise of interest:

1. Promise 1 - Pre-natal, Infant, and Child Health Care

2. Promise 2 - Safety, Permanence, and Services to Children in Out-of-Home Settings

3. Promise 3 - High Quality Pre-K, Child Care, and Early Learning Opportunities

4. Promise 4 - Safe and Enriching Before and After-School Experience

5. Promise 5 - Delinquency Prevention Programs and Services to Treat Children with Problem

Legislative Update was brought to you by:

Amanda Ostrander, Editor, Legislative Update

Christen Smiley, Communications Coordinator

Roy Miller, President

We acknowledge the entire Legislative Team of Children’s Campaign, Inc. who work tirelessly during legislative session on behalf of Florida’s children.