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Following last week's grim budget projections, legislators
are grappling with just how they will address a budget deficit next
year that is estimated to be $6.2billion. Already, state agencies have
been asked to conduct FY 2009-10 budget-cutting exercises ranging from
15 percent in the House to 20 percent in the Senate. Some legislators
are holding the line on making cuts without adding new revenue sources.
Other legislators are focused on generating new revenue from targeted
sources. Still others are counting on federal stimulus dollars to help
ease the pain of Florida's 4th consecutive year of revenue
decline.
While no comprehensive solution has yet surfaced, Sen.
J.D. Alexander (R-Polk), Chair of the Ways and Means Committee, was a
voice of reason this week when he indicated that lawmakers will likely
have to consider a "mix of cuts and revenues." He said
federal stimulus funds would also need to be part of the mix. Debate is
ongoing about how much of the federal stimulus will be used in this
year's budget and in FY 2009-10.
If the Legislature was to use the Governor's
budget, which includes $3.4 in stimulus funds, the Seminole gaming
compact and nearly $500 million in new fees, the deficit would still
hover around $2 billion. The Governor's budget also requires a 3/5 vote
of both houses to pass because it surpasses the threshold for use of
non-recurring revenue. The Constitution forbids the state from paying
for more than 3 percent of its recurring expenses with one-time money,
such as the funds from the federal stimulus plan.
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FCSC Leadership in Tallahassee for Capitol Hill Days
 Children's Services Council (CSC) board chairs and CEOs
from around the state were in Tallahassee this week for the annual FCSC
Capitol Hill Days. CSC leadership and staff spent two days in the
capital city with a jam-packed agenda, including meetings with the FCSC
policy team, agency leadership, legislators, representatives from Early
Learning, Healthy Start and Whole Child, as well Florida's Federal
Stimulus Czar Don Winstead. They also attended the Children and Youth
Cabinet meeting (see story in this issue) and a Rally in Tally (see
story in this issue) organized to urge legislators to preserve funding
for Florida's schools.
On Tuesday, the FCSC policy team provided board chairs and
CEOs with the latest news on Florida's financial crisis. Policy team members
reviewed options being considered by lawmakers and advocacy
organizations to address the state's growing financial difficulties. On
Wednesday, FCSC leadership participated in a roundtable discussion with
representatives from the Early Learning Coalition, Healthy Start
Coalition and Whole Child. The group met to identify ways in which they
can collaborate to advance a primary prevention and early intervention
framework for children. Later, the group met with AWI Interim Deputy
Director Brittany Birken to learn about the agency's progress in
accessing federal stimulus dollars. Birken also shared highlights from
AWI's proposed budget reductions
for 2009-10 (starts on pg.16).
 Florida
Federal Stimulus Czar Don Winstead spent some time with CSC leaders to
share information about Florida's federal stimulus process to date.
Before being appointed to his new post, Winstead served as Deputy
Secretary with the Department of Children and Families, He assured the
group that Florida's children will continue to be a priority for him.
He said that he is working with a core team of four people and has a
point of contact in each agency. He is also coordinating with the
Florida Association of Counties and the Florida League of Cities.
Winstead described his team as "opportunity watchdogs."
FCSC leadership
and staff would like to thank the individuals and their organizations
for joining the Board of Directors this week to talk about ways to work
together to improve the lives of Florida's children and their families.
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FCSC Chair Proposes "Roadmap to Success" to
Children's Cabinet
 In Tallahassee for the FCSC Board of Directors meeting
this week, CSC board members and CEOs attended the Governor's Children
and Youth Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. FCSC Chair Tana Ebbole and policy
team member Sam Bell made a presentation on behalf of the association
that highlighted the worsening conditions of Florida's children. Ebbole
and Bell then presented FCSC recommendations for a primary prevention
and early intervention agenda -- the most promising roadmap to success
- as well as steps to take in the short term to implement substantive
solutions.
The Cabinet also heard from Rep. James Bush (D-Miami-Dade)
who spoke on behalf of a large group of child care providers in
attendance. His focused on the field's poor wages, lack of benefits,
and the lack of career paths for the many dedicated people working in
the child care industry. The Cabinet also released two reports
completed by the Children's Summit Workgroup, a public-private
partnership with the Cabinet. "The State of Florida's Child"
report, presented by Dr. Kate Stowell, provides data on
the status of Florida's children and identifies well-being indicators,
and compares them to national data. Importantly, the report provides a
basis for future development of an outcome-oriented framework, and
creates a baseline against which efforts can be measured, gaps
identified, and resources aligned.
The second report,
"Child Screening for Developmental,
Health and Environmental Information,"
presented by Dr. Alisa Ghazvini, evaluates methods to
coordinate across agencies to share child screening information,
starting with young children. Ghazvini explained that early
identification of a missed or delayed developmental stage can be a
strong indicator of the need for treatment of, or intervention for, a
disability or delay. Less than half of children with developmental or
behavior delays are identified as having a problem before starting
school. Often, screening information is not shared between programs,
services and providers, resulting in duplication of screenings, unknown
or lost information as a child/family accesses more than one service,
and/or a delay in receiving further assessment and needed
interventions. Both reports and minutes of the meeting are available on
the Cabinet website at www.flgov.com/youth_cabinet.
The next meeting of the Children's Cabinet will be during
Children's Week in Tallahassee. It will be a "Kids Only Town Hall
Meeting" on March 31 at 10 a.m. in Tallahassee City Hall. Local
youth from Hillsborough and Miami-Dade have been selected to serve on
the student panel, which will present questions to Children's Cabinet
members.
Rally in Tally
Seeks to Preserve Education Funding
Confronted with
one of the most challenging legislative sessions in state history,
parents and educators from around the state rallied on Wednesday to
save education from further budget cuts. Attendees, including
representatives from FCSC, were joined by elected officials CFO Alex
Sink, Sens. Villalobos, Gelber and Wilson, as well as Reps. Flores,
chair of House Pre-K-12 Appropriations Committee and others such as
Kiar and Thurston. Andy Ford, president of the Florida Education
System, asked for flexibility and no more unfunded mandates. One
student spoke about cuts to eliminate the student year book, arts
programs, band and Bright Futures.
Introduced by Sen. Dan Gelber as "one of my heroes in leadership
who has taken a leadership position on children", Rules Chair Alex
Villalobos said, "The cuts are biblical in proportion. I am the
proud graduate of the public education system. I loved it so much that
I married one (a teacher). Let us not make education a priority, but
make it the priority! "
Drawing parallels
with the annual Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, Colleen Wood
told lawmakers they were facing an exam of their own."You tell our
kids no excuses on the FCAT. We tell you no excuses today."
Wood is a mother of students in St. Johns County and founder of 50th No
More, a group that pushes for additional school funding. For further
information on this web site go to www.50thnomore.org.
News clips on the
rally:
Governor and CFO Unveil Sunshine Spending Web Site
When the $13.4 billion in federal stimulus money starts
flowing, Floridians will be able to track it on the Internet, Gov.
Charlie Crist promised Thursday. When the money comes in and lawmakers
appropriate it, web site visitors will be able to see which agencies
receive funds and how they spend it. The site,
FlaRecovery.com, also
includes a comprehensive timeline of deadlines for spending the money,
as well as access to public records and documents related to the
implementation of the federal stimulus dollars. The unveiling of
the web site came during Sunshine Week, the annual celebration of
Florida's dedication to making state and local government more
accessible to the public. Launched in the early stages of the federal
recovery effort, the FlaRecovery.com web
site will evolve as information becomes available from the federal
level.
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CSC
Public Records Exemption Passes Final Committee
HB 7021 by the
Governmental Affairs Policy Committee passed out of the House Economic
Development & Community Affairs Policy Council on Tuesday. It now
goes to the House floor for action. The bill would make permanent a public
records exemption (Section 125.901, F.S.) for children's services
councils. The exemption protects a child's or family's personal
identifying information held by a CSC or by a service provider or
researcher under contract with a CSC. Under current law, the exemption
is subject to review under the Open Government Sunset Review Act, and
is scheduled to sunset on Oct. 9, 2009, unless it is reauthorized.
TABOR Bill Runs Out of Time in Committee
The Taxpayer Bill
of Rights proposal imposing revenue caps, SJR 1906 by Sen.
Mike Haridopolos (R-Brevard), was heard in Senate Governmental
Oversight & Accountability Committee this week. Despite the
bill's sponsor being both chair of the committee and in line to be the
next Senate President, SJR 1906 faced a series of tough questions from
Democrats and Republicans alike, including Sens. Dennis Jones, Jim King
and Victor Crist. Ultimately, time ran out in the committee before
a vote could be taken so the joint resolution will remain in
Governmental Oversight until next week. The House companion, HJR 1263 by Rep.
Anitere Flores (R-Miami-Dade), has not yet been heard in committee.
Bill Advances to Revise Property Tax Notices
HB 701 by Rep.
Matt Hudson (R-Collier) would revise requirements for TRIM (Truth in
Millage) notices to include three additional columns -- last year
millage, current year millage if a proposed budget change is made, and
current year millage if no budget change is made. The bill passed out
of the House Economic Development & Community Affairs Policy
Council and moves to the Finance & Tax Council. Some local
governments may incur costs to redesign the form.
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KidCare
Bills Not Moving
Neither bill has been heard in their committees yet. SB 918 by Sen.
Nan Rich (D-Broward) and HB 1329 by Rep.
Jimmy Patronis (R-Bay) both appear to be stalled due to a perceived
fiscal impact. The FCSC legislative team is continuing to work with
committee staff and legislators to get the bills moving. These bills
simply seek to streamline the process and improve access for children.
TAKE ACTION: Please contact Sen. Don Gaetz,
chair of the Health Regulation Committee and Rep. Gary Aubuchon,
chair of the Health Care Services Policy Committee, and ask them to
schedule hearings on the bills quickly. There are approximately
800,00 uninsured children still in Florida, many of whom cannot access
the program without improved efficiencies (i.e., administrative
fixes and barriers to the program being removed).
Booster Seat Bill Slow Going
SB 1404 by Sen.
Thad Altman (R-Brevard) passed unanimously out of the Transportation
Committee on Tuesday. Supporters including law enforcement,
Florida Junior League, Florida Medical Association, and FCSC spoke in
support of the bill, which requires booster seats for children aged 4
through 7. The next committee stop is Senate Criminal
Justice. The bill included an amendment to restrict application of
the law to streets with designated speeds of 45 mph or higher. Concerns
have been expressed regarding the fact that most accidents happen at
low speeds. FCSC will continue to work with members on this issue.
TAKE
ACTION: Please contact Criminal Justice Chair Sen. Paula Dockery
and request that SB 1404 be placed on the agenda as soon as possible.
Also, please ask Rep. Greg Evers,
chair of the Roads, Bridges and Ports Committee, to agenda the House
bill (HB 357) in his committee right away. Time is running out, and the
House bill has yet to be heard in its first committee.
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Bill Expanding Detention Continues
Movement
HB 173 by Rep.
Sandy Adams (R-Seminole), which would extend detention by 15 days and
assess additional court fees among other changes, passed unanimously
out of the Criminal and Civil Justice Appropriations Committee on
Thursday. There was extensive debate among members, and testimony by
Leon County Public Defender Nancy Daniels who promised to draft
amendments to the bill before its last committee stop at the Full Appropriations
Council on General Government & Health Care. Daniels indicated
that her amendments would address advocates' concerns by clarifying the
conditions under which juveniles can be held in detention for a
longer period (from 21 to 36 days), and the possibility of waiving the
$50 court fee for indigent families. The Senate version, SB 654 by Sen.
Charles Dean (R-Citrus), has not yet been heard in committee.
DJJ
Blueprint Bill Gets Nod in First Committee Hearing
HB 1211 by Rep.
Luis Garcia (D-Miami-Dade) received unanimous approval in the Public
Safety & Domestic Security Policy Committee on Thursday. The bill
contains some of the recommendations of the Blueprint Commission on
behalf of the Governor's Office. It provides eligibility for certain
services for children 9 years of age or younger at time of referral for
delinquency. The Department of Juvenile Justice is directed to focus on
principles of restorative justice and to direct services toward at-risk
minority children to divert them from juvenile justice system. The bill
also encourages establishment of pre-arrest or post-arrest diversion
programs for first-time misdemeanor offenders who are 9 years of age or
younger. The bill also would modify the risk assessment committee and
require that the risk assessment instrument be independently validated.
The bill goes next to the Criminal & Civil Justice Policy Council.
Rep. Sandy Adams
(R-Seminole) presented an amendment that ensures the court is the best
entity to determine the placements for the juvenile. A related bill, HB 1475 by Rep.
Darryl Rouson (D-Pinellas) provides flexibility to expand diversionary
programs through use of funds from locals and corporations. Cathy Craig
Myers, executive director of FJJA, and Dr. Lawanda Ravoira, provided
presentations on the issue, as did a number of girls who spoke to the
importance of having girls' programs in the juvenile justice system.
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INDEPENDENT LIVING / FOSTER CARE
Concurrent Custody Making Headway
HB 1519 by Rep.
Rich Glorioso (R-Hillsborough), which would provide extended family
members with an additional custody option when caring for their kinship
children, passed unanimously out of the House Committee on Civil
Justice and the Courts. After a lively discussion of the benefits
and need for the no-fault "concurrent custody" option,
members pledged to work with bill sponsor, Rep. Glorioso to address
their concerns before the bill's next stop in the House Health Care
Services Policy Committee.
TAKE ACTION: Please contact Rep. Gary Aubuchon,
chair of the Health Care Services Policy Committee, and ask him to
place HB 1519 on the committee calendar on March 25.
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Congresswoman Castor Releases a Roadmap to the Recovery
Act
Congresswoman Kathy Castor recently released the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Roadmap, which is now available
online. The "Roadmap" provides information on job
creation opportunities funded by the recovery package, and it also
provides helpful summaries and web sites. The 50-page document is not
exhaustive, but it is a general guide intended to help with understanding
how the money flows to local communities. Information will be
updated as it becomes available. Learn More and download Rep.
Castor's Road Map.
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TAKE NOTE
Fair Districts Florida Initiative Gaining Momentum
Every 10 years after the
census, the boundaries of the nation's congressional, state House and
state Senate districts are redrawn. FairDistrictsFlorida.org is a
nonpartisan state committee that is working to reform the way Florida
draws legislative and congressional district lines by establishing
constitutionally mandated fairness standards. Organizers reported that
the campaign is beginning to pick up speed and interest is growing, but
more help is needed. Learn more and read the petition at: FairDistrictsFlorida.org.
On a related matter, a bill
that would require paid petition signature gatherers to register with the
state and undergo training was approved Wednesday in the House
Governmental Affairs Policy Committee. The bill would also require that
people paid to collect signatures to get measures on the ballot not have
been convicted of certain criminal offenses like fraud, forgery, perjury
or identity theft in the five years before their registration. The bill (HB 497), sponsored
by Rep. Chris Dorworth, passed 9-3. The bill now goes to House Civil
Justice and Courts.
Roundtables to Address Government-Philanthropy Partnerships
As government agencies see
their budgets slashed and foundations see their asset portfolios drop,
community needs continue to rise for all types of services. This
challenging situation is motivating government and philanthropy leaders
to explore new and innovative opportunities to work together in a more
collaborative and cooperative way. The Florida Philanthropic Network is
holding a series of four regional roundtables that will enable
representatives from government and philanthropic organizations to
discuss specific proposals for formalizing a government-philanthropy
partnership in Florida, and to share other ideas and opportunities to
continue strengthening the relationship between Florida philanthropy and
government. Roundtables are scheduled in Palm Beach (May 12), Tampa Bay
(May 13), Orlando (May 14), and Jacksonville (May 15). Register Online
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Capitol
Connection is also available online at the FCSC web site.
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