Legislative Update Week of June 12
Date Posted: 06/12/2009
NHSA LEGISLATIVE UPDATE AND CALL TO ACTION
Week of June 12, 2009
Dear Friends:
Please read this email and share it with others in your network. It contains an NHSA Update, a Legislative and Administrative Update, and a Call to Action.
NHSA UPDATE
NHSA continues to be very pleased that expansion opportunities exist with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ("ARRA") funding and we hope that you are working hard on your applications!
We too, have been busy on your behalf. In the last few weeks alone, our new Executive Director, Yasmina Vinci, has met with Pat Brown at the Office of Head Start and has had follow up phone calls with her regarding issues of importance to the field. Yasmina was on a listening tour in Massachusetts and recently gave a keynote at the Ohio Head Start Association's conference. She has also met with the Executive Directors of the National Migrant and Seasonal Health Start Association and the National Association of Child Care Resources and Referral Agencies. Yasmina attended a White House briefing on ARRA funding through the Department of Education. In addition, NHSA has participated in the Children's Leadership Council with a focus on health care reform.
Get Ready for the Fall Leadership Institute!
We've also been hard at work getting the fall Leadership Institute into shape. So, mark your calendars and save the date: Leadership Institute on September 21-24; NHSA Board Meeting on September 24-25. We look forward to having Head Start leaders from the field--including program directors, parents, senior management, board members, state Head Start association leaders, Policy Council members, and others join us for what should prove to be a full program. We'll discuss the latest legislative and regulatory action, make educational visits to Members of Congress, hear from key individuals on Capitol Hill and in the Obama administration, and more. A registration link will soon be posted on the NHSA website--stay tuned and get ready!
Send Us Your Links
If you or your program receives a write-up or interview in local media outlets about your proposed or actual uses of ARRA funding, please let us know. Or, if you've had a great news story about something special your program is doing, let us know that too. Send your links to Gregg Porter at NHSA at gporter@nhsa.org. We'd like to post them to our website and help spread the word!
A Reminder About SupportHeadStart.org
As we noted in the last Legislative Update, we received feedback from many of you that the www.saveheadstart.org website, by its very name, sent an outdated message about our program. We listened, agreed with you, and responded. We are very pleased to announce the new www.SupportHeadStart.org website! Please visit the site, send a letter to your Members of Congress, and check back often for updates and information. Together, we can make a difference.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
FY 2010 Appropriations
President Obama's proposed budget includes $7.235 billion for Head Start, which is a $122 million increase from FY 2009. This is in addition to the $2.1 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start programs through the Recovery Act ("ARRA") and according to his budget document, is intended to "ensure that the portion of grantees' FY 2009 cost-of-living adjustment paid for with Recovery Act monies remains available to grantees within their base funding in FY 2010." The document goes on to say that "The FY 2010 increase combined with Recovery Act resources, enables Head Start to sustain the FY 2009 increase in children served in FY 2010."
As you know, NHSA and numerous partners have requested an increase of 1 billion dollars for FY 2010, on top of our current annual appropriation. As we explained in a recent Legislative Update, on April 29th both the House and Senate passed a $3.56 trillion budget resolution for FY 2010. That resolution paves the way for the coming Appropriations process that will develop the specifics of programmatic line items, such as Head Start, within the confines of the approved budget.
Congressman Obey, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, wants to complete action on all FY 2010 Appropriations Bills (including the "Labor-H" Bill that will include Head Start funding) before August recess. In a tentative schedule published by the Appropriations Committee, the Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies plans to mark up the Labor-H Bill on July 8th, with a full Committee mark-up scheduled for July 14th. A press release schedule from the Committee notes that the Labor-H bill would be slated for the House floor on July 22-24. The Senate, on the other hand, is intending to finish work on all of the Appropriations bills by October 1, 2009, the beginning of FY 2010.
Child Care Facilities
NHSA has decided to support S. 1002, Senator Casey's bill that would provide $50,000,000 in grants for the acquisition, construction, renovation, and improvement of child care facilities. The money would be provided via competitive grants to eligible entities and placed into a child care capital fund by that entity. The entity would then provide technical or financial assistance to "eligible recipients" to pay for acquisition, construction, renovation or improvement of child care facilities, equipment for child care facilities, or the provision of technical assistance to help undertake facilities improvement and expansion projects.
NHSA has worked to ensure that Head Start programs are included in the list of "eligible recipients" in the Casey bill. While a few additional technical fixes are still needed to ensure that the language of the bill comports with Head Start's requirements, we are optimistic that together we can ensure these fixes are included. Representative McCarthy has introduced a companion bill, HR 1685, that attempts to achieve a similar result. However, that bill does not yet explicitly include Head Start agencies as "eligible child care providers." For more information on either bill, please go to: http://thomas.loc.gov and search by bill number by inserting "S 1002" or "HR 1685."
Thanks to the National Children's Facilities Network, and especially the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and the Low Income Investment Fund, for their leadership and support on these issues.
E-Rate
NHSA has analyzed Rep. Cuellar's e-rate bill (HR 2166) and after discussing the e-rate issue with our state colleagues, we believe the Head Start community will want to support this bill because it would allow Head Start programs to obtain more affordable telecommunications and internet service on par with public schools and libraries. As currently written, however, the bill does not expressly include Early Head Start programs. NHSA is working on EHS inclusion. For more information on the bill, please go to: http://thomas.loc.gov and search by bill number by inserting "HR 2166".
Additional Bills
In the coming weeks, we will provide you with further details on these bills and many others that could have an effect on Head Start and early childhood programs. Stay tuned!
In Case You Haven't Heard: Health Care Reform
Washington is abuzz with talk of the pending health care reform, which would affect a significant portion of the economy. Bills are being discussed and introduced, including those to ensure access to care for the almost 50 million uninsured Americans in this country. The Senate HELP Committee plans to mark up its recently released bill mid-June.
If you are interested in learning more about the Health Reform debate, the Washington Post has a primer on health care reform, available at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/package/health-care-reform09/index.html. In addition, consider visiting the Kaiser Family Foundation website which includes another primer on health reform and analysis of the various options at http://healthreform.kff.org/. Also, for articles written by Senators and Members of Congress, please see http://thehill.com/op-eds/special-report-healthcare-2009-06-10.html. There, you'll find a range of opinions, including an article written by Secretary Sebelius.
Also, a quick FYI: NHSA will soon be attending White House briefings on health care reform and we'll keep you posted on what we learn.
ADMINISTRATION NEWS
Secretary Sebelius recently testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies on June 2nd. Representatives DeLauro, Ryan, and Kennedy all asked questions of her that included favorable responses about Head Start and early childhood programs in general. In addition, she testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies on June 9th at which the focus on the hearing was mainly health care.
Still no word on when President Obama will announce the new Director of the Office of Head Start. We hope to hear more on this subject soon...
We also hope your applications for expansion under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds are coming along well as the deadlines are rapidly approaching. As mentioned in the last Legislative Update, the Office of Head Start has posted some clarifications in the form of questions and answers on the expansion Requests for Applications ("RFAs"). These can be found at: http://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/hslc/Program%20Design%20and%20Management/Expansion. Please review these for help on your applications and good luck! NHSA is looking forward to hearing about winners of the competitive process so that more children and families in need will be served!
CALL TO ACTION
With all the action on Appropriations, we need your help. Please contact Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and remind them that the Head Start community and the broader early childhood community have asked for an additional $1 billion for FY 2010, beyond our regular annual appropriation and the ARRA funding.
You can find members of the House Appropriations Committee listed here: http://appropriations.house.gov/members111th.shtml and more specifically, members of the Subcommittee with jurisdiction over Head Start here: http://appropriations.house.gov/Subcommittees/sub_lhhse.shtml.
You can find members of the Senate Appropriations Committee listed here: http://appropriations.senate.gov/members.cfm and more specifically, members of the Subcommittee with jurisdiction over Head Start here: http://appropriations.senate.gov/labor.cfm.
Tell them:
- Thank you for your strong and continued support of Head Start and Early Head Start (collectively "Head Start"), the nation's premier early childhood education and care programs providing comprehensive school readiness, education, health, nutrition, and parent involvement services to low-income children ages birth to five and their families.
- To make a down payment on the President's "Zero to Five" Plan and build on the recent investments in early childhood education and care in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, we hope that you will provide $8,112,786,000 for activities under the Head Start Act for FY 2010 Appropriations.
- This amount will foster sustainable growth in Head Start, Early Head Start, Migrant and Seasonal Head Start, and American Indian/Alaska Native Head Start programs across the country and allow Head Start programs' base funding to keep up with the pace of inflation since 2002.
To contact your Senators and Representatives, call the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or if you'd like to email them, go to: www.senate.gov and click on your Senator's website or www.house.gov and click on your Representative's website. On each website, there is a contact or feedback form which will allow you to email him/her directly. Alternatively, you can go to www.supportheadstart.org and tailor your email message to your Members of Congress.
DOLLAR PER CHILD
Thanks to all of you who donated to the Dollar per Child Campaign this year. All the work that NHSA did on the ARRA and is doing on other current legislative efforts is paid for by Dollar Per Child funds. That's why we need you to continue to support the Dollar Per Child Campaign. Without a robust source of funds, NHSA can't lead the way in our advocacy efforts that benefit all Head Start programs. It is through these dollars that we can advocate for you and with you on your behalf. Don't wait. Please send your contributions, whatever amount you can afford, whether it is $1 per child, $5 per child, or $10 per child. You can even easily donate online on our new, improved website at: https://www.nhsa.org/get_involved/donate.
Dollar Per Child funds will ensure that NHSA can continue to lead the way in all of the future advocacy efforts coming up-from regulatory issues with the Office of Head Start, to additional fiscal year appropriations, to the next Head Start Act reauthorization, which is not far off.
Please know that NHSA continues to work for you and with you on your behalf on matters of importance to the Head Start community.
This Legislative E-Update has been sent to Head Start Directors, the NHSA Board, Head Start State and Regional Association Presidents, Executive Directors, and Parents. Please share it with others in your network.