Legislation Updates

Governor's Proposed Budget

I'm just off the phone with Matt Gillard, our Legislative contact with ECIC. He gave us the highlights of the Governors proposed budget. I am attaching documents which nicely outline how these funding proposals would impact Early Childhood Programming, including Great Start Readiness Program, Great Start Collaboratives, and Great Parents, Great Start..

Basically, the Governor is proposing some controversial changes in tax structure. She would like to implement the "Physicians Tax" which would impact Medicaid reimbursement rates, further cutting the reimbursement rate by 11%. This would mean physicians would continue or increase the rate at which they refuse these families. This would greatly impact the children and families we serve. ECIC is watching this situation carefully.

The second controversial revenue increasing idea is to decrease the sales tax from 6% to 5.5% but to include the taxing of services. This would generate $550 million.

The third proposal is to phase out the Michigan Business Tax surcharge.

There are also incentives being proposed to entice teachers with over 30 years of service to take retirement. Benefits to these teachers would be cut however.

GSRP would maintain funding at the current rate. She did include language that would protect it from discretionary cuts by districts. Some changes were made in risk factor eligibility, as well as tuition rates.

GPGS was continuted at 5mill.

GSC's are continuing at 6mill.

Overall, the Governors proposal maintains funding to Early Childhood at the current rate at which it is now. Matt was encouraged that further cuts were not introduced by the Governors plan, but states that "...legislators are already having a very negative reaction to the plan...".

Fiscal Year 2011 Recommended Budget

Fiscal Year 2010 Executive Budget Recommendation

Great Start Readiness Program Budget Plan

Thank you.

Susan Sunden, M.Ed.,CTRS, Director, Great Start Montcalm

Bring Troops Home for Christmas

Representative Calley Organizes Effort to Bring the Michigan National Guard 1073^rd Home for Christmas

Greenville, Michigan (December 12, 2009) - The Michigan National Guard 1073 Maintenance Co. is at Fort Shelby Mississippi preparing for deployment to Iraq. The soldiers will receive leave over Christmas, but many lack the resources to get back home.

State Representative Brian Calley (R-Portland) is organizing an effort to provide transportation to any soldier that needs it. "These brave men and women are about to spend a year in harm's way" said Calley. "I don't want a single one to miss this Christmas with their family."

Dean Transportation will provide the buses and drivers to the soldiers. "Dean Transportation has offered the use of their buses at less than half their actual costs in order to make this happen," said Calley. "And this is not the first time this company has stepped up to provide such service to military personnel."

There are 145 soldiers in this unit. It appears at least 91 will use this option. The goal is to raise sufficient funds to bring every one of them back. To accomplish this, there is a need to raise $12,100. Representative Calley has already pledged $3,000 and is asking citizens to help if they can.

Any excess funds collected will go to the family support center for the 1073^rd.

Those wishing to contribute can make the check out to VFW Post 4406 and mail it to 148 Bridge St., Belding, MI, 48809. The memo section of your check should say "Greenville Soldiers." The Belding VFW has agreed to be the central collection point for contributions on very short notice.

Letter from Lansing by Brian Calley

"Race to the Top" Legislation

Washington has given Michigan until January 19th to pass 'Race to the Top" reforms and to submit an application for a grant that could total as much as $400 million dollars. To have a real chance at receiving the money, the state must pass the following legislation:

1.) Create an alternative teacher certification process. The basic concept here is to allow people who are not formally trained as teachers (or at least not to the extent currently required), but are experienced in a particular field, to teach in public schools.

2.) Create a teacher performance tracking database. This part could lead to some sort of merit pay system, which President Obama favors.

3.) Lift the cap on new Charter Schools. Lifting the cap would essentially allow for more Charter Schools to be created.

4.) Provide legislation to turn around failing schools. This is perhaps the least defined requirement, but could very well end up being very controversial.

The Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader and the Governor have all made public statements supporting this application and the requirements that go along with it. But things get harder when the ideas are reduced to legislation.

OFIR Holds Blues at 3.8%
Recently, the Office of Financial and Insurance Regulation (OFIR) rejected Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan's request to increase Medigap premiums by 31.2%. OFIR only allowed BCBS to increase 3.8%. I applaud OFIR's leadership and for siding with Michigan's seniors.

Lake Odessa to receive major improvement grant

The village of Lake Odessa will receive a $338,400 grant to rehabilitate several homes within a five-block area at Jordan Lake Avenue, the entrance into the village.

Lake Odessa will use the Neighborhood Preservation Program (NPP) grant to repair 11 owner-occupied homes, rehabilitate three rental units and assist one eligible household to purchase a home within the village's NPP area.

This is a real achievement for the village of Lake Odessa and a good reason for local residents to be proud of their local officials for pursuing this grant.

Economic Impact Award
The Michigan Bankers Association awarded me the 2009 Economic Impact Award for (in their words) "his contribution to the policies and decisions supporting a vibrant Michigan economy and a strong banking industry." I spent a decade as a community banker before serving in the state legislature, mostly as a small business lender.

Good News?

This afternoon, the Governor met with MSBO and other education leaders to announce that she is postponing the $127 per pupil proration that was scheduled to be deducted from your December state aid payment. This in effect pushes off the decision of whether or not to prorate districts until the January 11, 2010 Consensus Revenue Estimating Conference (CREC). She cited lapsed 2008-09 categorical funds of $50 million, non-homestead property tax revenues coming in stronger than anticipated by $100 million and other minor changes as reasons for her decision to postpone and possibly eliminate the reduction. As a result, MDE has been given the order to calculate the December 20, 2009 state aid payment without the $127 per pupil proration.

The Governor praised school districts for working diligently to deal with the unexpected reductions in schools aid. Although this announcement comes as welcome news for districts across the state, there is still the possibility that the CREC will result in a proration for 2009-10. If a proration is necessary, it is believed that it will be much smaller than the original $127 per pupil.

This change does not affect the $165 per pupil cut that was passed as part of the 2009-10 State School Aid Act or the other categorical reduction including 20j.

We continue to be concerned about the 2010-11 school aid revenues. The items mentioned above that helped postpone/eliminate the proration will not help for 2010-11 or later fiscal years.

We recommend that districts continue to talk to legislators to encourage them to find the courage to provide adequate funding to schools. We also encourage parents and community members to do the same.

Budget Update

Dear Great Start Collaborative and Parent Coalition partners:

The state budget is finally signed. Here’s what happened as far as early childhood:

The Good

· Great Start Readiness (school based pre-K) was retained in full, although local districts now have the option of using those funds for other purposes if they move toward consolidation of services locally.

· Great Parents, Great Start was retained.

· Funding for the Great Start Collaboratives was cut by just $750,000. (Much greater cuts were anticipated/feared.)

· ECIC funding was maintained.

The Not So Good

· Funding for child care was reduced by $138 million.

· Half of the funding ($7.5 million) for Great Start Readiness Competitive was cut.

· Nurse-Family Partnership was eliminated, although restoration of federal funds is promised if local entities can find required matching dollars.

· 0-3 Secondary Prevention was cut by about 40 percent and redirected from the Children’s Trust Fund to DHS Child Welfare for implementation and administration.

· Reimbursements to Medicaid providers were cut by 8 percent.

Given the drastic damage first proposed by the Senate (between $200-$300 million), the final damage could have been much, much worse.

That said, challenges remain, both short-term and long-term. Our immediate concern is School Aid funding. Lawmakers may move toward restoring some School Aid funding. If so, early childhood needs to be first on the list. Legislators need to hear loud and strong from people at the local level that they are concerned about losing pre-K programs, along with 0-3 Secondary Prevention. The message needs to be clear: Early Childhood investment is not an option. Pre-K funding must be restored. 0-3 funding must be restored.

We are also planning to provide a more detailed summary of the above with Friday’s Capitol Corner. If you have any specific questions about the budget, please call Matt Gillard at 517-488-9129 or e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

More Articles...

<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 Next > End >>

Page 1 of 4

Great Start Action Agenda

Upcoming Events