- 2010 Midterm elections
- Get to know your New Congress
- Congressional Update – Lame Duck Session
- Take Action (on November 15)
- NPRM Updates
- Perfect Programs
- January 2010 Leadership Institute
2010 MIDTERM ELECTIONS Just over one week ago, the 2010 Elections took place and brought with them sweeping changes to Congress and State Capitols across the country. Typically in midterm elections, the party of the President loses a few seats in Congress, but this year the President’s party (the Democrats) lost a massive number of seats. IN THE HOUSE, the Republican Party has picked up 60 seats so far to regain the control of the US House of Representatives, according to CNN. There are still 7 seats that are too close to be called, with the Republican leading in 5 of the 7 races. This leaves the House divided with 239 Republicans and 189 Democrats. For the latest updates and more information check the CNN website. IN THE SENATE, the Democrats maintained their control, but the Democrat’s majority shrunk significantly as the Republicans picked up 6 seats. The Alaska Senate race is the only one that has not been decided yet, although incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowksi (R) is currently leading her unconventional write-in campaign. This leaves 53 Democrats (2 Independents caucus with the Democrats) and 46 Republicans. Again, for the latest updates and more information check the CNN website. IN THE GOVERNOR’S RACES, thirty-seven states held elections with eleven states (IA, KS, ME, MI, NM, OH, OK, PA, TN, WI, WY) switching from Democrat Governors to Republican Governors, three states (CA, HI, VT) switching from Republican Governors to Democrat Governors, one state (RI) switching to an Independent Governor, and one state (MN) where the race is still too close to call. This means that nationally there are 29 Republican Governors, 19 Democrat Governors, 1 Independent Governor, and one state still undecided. Please check the National Governors Association Website for more information. IN STATE LEGISLATURES, there was an overwhelming switch from Democrats to Republicans, with Republicans gaining over 675 state seats across the nation. This has lead to Republican control of state legislatures in 25 states, Democrats controlling state legislatures in 16 states, 5 states with a split between Democratic and Republican control, one state (NE) with a unicameral/non-partisan legislature, and 3 states (NY, WA, OR) with one house still undecided. Please check the National Conference of State Legislatures website for more information. SO WHAT IS NEXT? Aside from identifying the victors in the remaining races, the next big step in both the state and federal levels is to determine leadership, committee chairs, and committee assignments. Congressional leadership determines rules of order, policy direction, committee chairs and committee assignments among many other important tasks. On the federal level, the votes for leadership have not taken place, but it appears that the House and Senate Leadership will look somewhat like this (please note that this is subject to final votes and changes): Speaker of the House: Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) House Majority Leader: Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) House Majority Whip: Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) House Minority Leader: Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) House Minority Whip: Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) or Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) Senate Majority Leader: Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) Senate Majority Whip: Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) Senate Minority Leader: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) Senate Minority Whip: Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) *For leadership in state legislatures, please contact your State Head Start Association ED/President or contact Tommy Sheridan at NHSA or 703-739-7560 AND WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR HEAD START AND EARLY LEARNING? Unfortunately, it is still too early to tell the exact implications on Head Start and Early Learning. A few possible implications are below: - Committee Chairs and Ranking Members will change in the House and the make-up of committees will change in both the House and Senate. For Head Start’s key committees, the chairmen/ranking members will most likely look like this (although again this is not yet set in stone):
House Education and Labor Chairman: Rep. John Kline (R-MN)
House Education and Labor Ranking Member: Rep. George Miller (D-CA)
House Appropriations Chairman: Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA)
House Appropriations Ranking Member: Several Members are vying for this role
Senate HELP Chairman: Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Senate HELP Ranking Member: Sen. Michael Enzi (R-WY)
Senate Appropriations Chairman: Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI)
Senate Appropriations Vice-Chairman: Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
- Both Committees will have many new members in both the House and the Senate. The number of Democrats on the committees will likely shrink and with the number of Republican committee members growing proportionately to the overall make up of the House and the Senate respectively.
- Due to the change in control of the House and composition of the Senate, it appears that the FY 2011 appropriations process will be further delayed. There is a small possibility that the two sides could come to an agreement before the end of the year, however that possibility is diminishing daily. There is some consensus that the current House and Senate will pass another continuing resolution on FY 2011 appropriations, which punts the final decision into the next Congress.
Again, many things are still up in the air in Congress, but they will be hashed out and decided over the coming weeks. Please join NHSA in thanking the retiring and leaving Members of Congress for their dedicated service to our country and congratulating the new/freshman Members of Congress. We look forward to working closely with all of them!
GET TO KNOW YOUR (NEW) MEMBERS OF CONGRESS! Whether or not the candidate(s) you voted for won or lost the election, whomever won will play a vital role in ensuring Head Start continues to be a quality and innovative promise to America’s children and families. It is your job to educate them on the incredible work you do day in and day out to keep this promise and investment successful. NHSA is developing a campaign to provide you with tools to cultivate a relationship with your Member of Congress. Stay tuned for upcoming alerts on this campaign . We are counting on your support and work on the campaign. Local efforts will determine the success or failure of continued support for Head Start!
LAME DUCK SESSION/CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE After a long break away from DC, Congress will be back in session next week for what is termed a “Lame Duck Session.” A “Lame Duck” is an elected official who is coming up to the end of their tenure, either by term limit, retirement or loss of election. This also means that they are not held accountable by an upcoming election. In this circumstance, the “Lame Duck Session” is the period of time between the election and inauguration of the new Congress. There has not yet been any specific plan for the “Lame Duck session,” but rather there is much speculation as to what the Lame Duck Congress will attempt to do, if anything. A few potential bills the Congress may consider over the next two months include: - Child Nutrition Reauthorization
- Some sort of FY 2011 Appropriations bill (either Continuing Resolution or full bill)
- Don’t Ask Don’t Tell military policy
- Extension of the Bush-era Tax cuts
- Small Business Tax Incentives
- The START treaty
- A new stimulus package (not-to-be confused with or similar to ARRA)
- Energy bill
Congress probably will not address all of these, but we will keep you updated regarding any legislation that comes up concerning Head Start or Early Childhood Education. TAKE ACTION! SAVE THE DATE!
National Call-In for maintaining investments in Head Start/Early Head Start and Child Care When Congress returns on November 15 for its lame duck session, one outstanding issue that must be resolved is the outcome of the FY 2011 appropriations bills. Currently, the federal government is operating under a continuing resolution until December 3. Congress is expected to either pass an all-inclusive “omnibus” appropriations bill or another continuing resolution funding federal programs at FY 2010 levels into the 112th Congress. We must continue to let Congress know that it is critical to invest in Head Start and early childhood education. On November 15, we will be asking you to participate in a national call-in day with many of our national partners urging Congress to continue to invest in funding for Head Start/Early Head Start, child care, and the Early Learning Challenge Fund in any FY 2011 funding bills. The toll-free call-in number is 1-888-460-0813. Please look for a Red Alert with all of the details next week. NPRM UPDATE Last week, NHSA released a summary of our initial draft comments on the NPRM. We encourage you to read this summary for informational purposes only. After you finish reading the summary, please submit your thoughts, objections, compliments, etc. to yourvoiceonrecompetition@nhsa.org. This is your opportunity to influence NHSA’s comments on the NPRM and we are relying on your input and advice. Please note that all suggestions to NHSA should be sent by December 1, 2010 and that all draft comments in our summary are subject to change. We’d also like to thank the various associations, grantees, and individuals for forwarding us their comments to ACF on the NPRM. Please continue to do so! Finally, we will be releasing some information on how to draft and submit your own comments over the next two weeks. Please keep an eye out for this tool and make sure to begin thinking about your own comments. You can use the information in our summary as well as the documents that will be released soon to draft your comments. PERFECT PROGRAMS
You may recall that in the last Government Affairs Update, we requested some information from grantees who had received perfect reviews in their last review. We’d like to thank and congratulate those who we have heard from so far! We also want to encourage those of you with perfect reviews who have not submitted information about their program to make sure to do so by this Monday November 15, 2010. The information we are looking for is: 1. Name of Program and Contact 2. Something unique or interesting you are working on. 3. Any specific child outcomes you can point to and/or a success story. 4. A short 2 to 3 sentence quote you can use Be sure that you really do have a perfect review. We mean no findings - NOTHING. Submit your responses to Tommy Sheridan via email at tsheridan@nhsa.org. 2011 JANUARY LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE With a new Congress being inaugurated in early January and a funding battle waging at full force, this January’s Leadership Institute will provide an incredible opportunity to hear about the new federal and political climate, meet with your newly elected (and re-elected) Senators and Representatives, and focus on the development and advancement of Head Start over the next two years and into the next reauthorization. Registrations are now open for the 2011 January Leadership Institute titled, “Resetting Our Agenda: New Directions and Promising Opportunities.” NHSA will provide more detailed information regarding the specific agenda over the coming weeks, but make sure to book your hotel and get registered before things fill up! Stay engaged, keep up the great work, and don’t hesitate to contact us. Remember that NHSA is working for and with you! * * * © National Head Start Association, 2010. All rights reserved. Please feel free to redistribute this NHSA Update in its entirety to your networks. When you do so, please ensure that NHSA is credited with its contents. Forwarding this email in this original form is sufficient observation of the copyright. | 
