SB 10 -Still Alive and Kicking

Today's House Education Committee meeting was once again full of debate and questions on SB 10. There were several Senate bills up for discussion but Chairman Brooks Coleman made it clear they would not be taking a vote on any bills today in full committee. New amendments to the SB 10 were made before the meeting, and it is likely more amendments will be made before the bill goes to a vote. The vote on SB 10 in committee will be either April 11 or 12. From there it goes to the House floor for a final vote.

To introduce the discussion on SB 10,Patricia Levess, Executive Director of the The Foundation for Florida's Future , gave a short presentation on the McKay scholarship and answered questions from legislators for about 45 minutes. Senator Eric Johnson and Representative David Casas took questions for another 30 minutes. Questions from legislators were thoughtful and addressed issues like tracking academic progress in private schools, the need for re-evaluation, keeping the choice to private schools within the state only, how this effects homeschoolers and children already in private schools, and teacher certification.

Representative Casas said that the GA DOE and the Georgia Association of Superintendents gave input for the new changes to the bill. Those changes include increasing the time that is required for residency to participate and a pre and post assessment for each child . If passed,SB 10 would go into effect for the 07-08 school year, and if your child is already in private school you would have to re-enroll in public school for one semester and have a valid IEP done to be able to take advantage of the program. I will keep you updated as we get news of newer ammendments.

When asked about if this could possibly lead to a larger voucher program in the future, Senator Johnson said, " I do not believe there is support in the Georgia legislature any time soon for a statewide voucher system."

An alert I recieved from a friend on PeachCare

On to the Senate to protect children’s PeachCare coverage and services!

Yesterday’s House vote on HB 340 was disappointing, although it was not entirely unexpected. The House voted 101-63 for HB 340, with 16 people not voting. We needed 11 more no votes or non-votes to defeat the bill. (A bill requires 91 affirmative votes to pass). Because Speaker Richardson was the sponsor of HB 340, many legislators said they feared the consequences for them if they did not vote for it. Some told advocates and other legislators that they felt sick about their votes.

The Lt. Governor and the Senate can still save PeachCare, and indications are they may show more concern for children and working families. See HB 340 talking points below:

What you need to do now:
Ask your own Senator to stand up for children and hard-working, tax-paying families by voting against HB 340 if it comes up. Click here for Senate contact information.

Ask Lt. Governor Casey Cagle to stop HB 340. Let him know Georgia’s children and hard-working, tax-paying families are counting on him to stand up for them.
TEL: (404) 656-5030, FAX: (404) 656-6739, Email:

Then,

Let your House member know how you feel about his or her vote on HB 340 yesterday (March 27th). If your representative voted no, please express appreciation. If your representative voted yes, though, please express your disappointment. It is very important that House members hear from their constituents about this vote- it lets them know that you are paying attention and care about their actions on behalf of Georgia’s children. If they do not hear from us, they think their constituents don’t know or don’t care about the issue! Also, there could be another opportunity for your representative to vote if the Senate changes the bill and sends it back. We will let you know if that happens. We need to make sure they vote right the next time. To see the vote on HB 340, click here.

For House contact information, go to the following link and click on “Fact Sheet”

Thank you for all you are doing! We still have a chance to protect health coverage for children in one of Georgia’s most effective and popular programs.

Talking Points on HB 340

• HB 340 jeopardizes Georgia’s strides in ensuring our children have health care coverage. Georgians believe all children should have health coverage. PeachCare provides essential support to children from low-income working families who otherwise would be without access to private insurance. HB 340 proposes far-ranging and radical changes to Georgia’s very successful, cost-effective and efficient PeachCare program. HB 340 would have bad consequences for children, for Georgia’s healthcare system and for all of us.


• Children throughout Georgia rely on PeachCare. Every tenth Georgia child has PeachCare coverage. Look at the map at this link to see how your area compares to the rest of the state in percentage of children covered. In some areas, PeachCare covers one in six or even one in four children.


• HB 340 would leave more children uninsured. It would lower the income eligibility ceiling to 200% of the federal poverty level. Children in a family of three with income over $34,320 would not be able to get PeachCare, down from the current $40,350. With that ceiling, 3,000 to 5,000 children each year will be denied coverage. Georgia children are already more likely than children in most other state to be uninsured. We need coverage for more children, not fewer.


• Cutting PeachCare eligibility would save very little in state dollars and would shift higher costs to all of us. The “savings” in state funds for cutting eligibility would be minimal- between $1.2 and 2.4 million per year, but cutting PeachCare would shift higher costs elsewhere. Children will go to emergency rooms for care, and some local governments will pick up the tab. Every Georgia family with private insurance already pays about $750 per year extra to cover uninsured people. When parents have to stay out of work with sick children (more likely with children are uninsured) employers pay costs.


• HB 340 would cut PeachCare service coverage for currently enrolled children. It would make dental and vision services optional at an additional premium. Vision and dental benefits are standard in SCHIP plans in 49 of 50 states. Tooth decay is the single most chronic health disease of childhood. It is five times more common than asthma. A child who cannot see well cannot learn and will quickly fall behind in schools.


• Congress in not forcing Georgia to cut PeachCare eligibility. In fact, Congress is expected to expand the State Child Health Insurance Program that funds PeachCare. On March 22nd, the Senate soundly defeated an amendment to limit SCHIP to children at or below 200% of poverty. Leaders in both houses of Congress are seeking funds to cover many more children as part of SCHIP reauthorization, not fewer. Also, six members of Georgia Congressional delegation have introduced legislation to reimburse the state for filling the current federal funding shortfall, without requiring PeachCare to lower eligibility requirements.

Dr. David Satcher comes to Atlanta to discuss effective educational and policy initiatives

REMINDER: EARLY BIRD REGISTRATION HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO MARCH 30th! “Priming for Prevention: An Ecological Approach to Research, Education and Policy”

The Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s Learning and Developmental Disabilities Initiative
May 10-11, 2007
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA.

Dr. David Satcher, former US Surgeon General, among many other distinguished speakers will provide the latest research on multiple factors influencing child development and how that research is being translated into effective educational and policy initiatives. We will also be honoring Dr. Herbert Needleman with our “Children’s Health Pioneer Award.”

Click here for more details on the agenda, speakers, sponsors, registration and hotel information

Georgia News Roundup

Final dash for legislative bills
Atlanta Journal Constitution - Johnny Grant (R-Milledgeville), the legislation's sponsor, predicted Georgia's population will zoom to. 11 million by 2015, leaving many municipalities ...

People are running like rabbits,
Atlanta Journal Constitution - Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) rose to complain about Democrats who fled the floor.

PeachCare, HOPE Chest pass
Savannah Morning News - The 162-0 vote came after sharp words from House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ben Harbin, R-Evans.

Bickering about budget persists
Macon Telegraph - The Georgia House of Representatives again passed the state's 2007 amended budget Tuesday, sending it to the Senate with some pointed words.

Georgia News Roundup

Jerry Keen: Budget confrontation is bad for the public...
Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription) - Atlanta,GA,USA
Keen was accompanied by both House Speaker pro tem Mark Burkhalter of Alpharetta, and House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin of Evans.

Do-or-die time for many bills
Macon Telegraph - Macon,GA,USA
The Crossover Day rule doesn't apply to the budgetary process, Keen and House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ben Harbin said.

Monday Resources

Autism Information CenterThis Center provides information on autism from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The site includes an overview of Autism, Frequently Asked Questions, and resources for a wide array of audiences including practitioners, families, educators, and researchers.

LD.org now features new material on Transitioning to College
The transition from high school to college and the workplace can pose special challenges for students with learning disabilities. Careful planning and cooperation among parents, educators and students with LD is essential to overcome the many barriers that arise when these students leave high school for post-secondary education, vocational training, and other options as young adults in society. NCLD can help navigate the sometimes rough waters surrounding the transition to college or the workplace for teens and young adults with learning disabilities. On this section of the website, you can find recommendations and strategies for students and parents; the NCLD Parent Advocacy Brief on strategic planning; the Planning for Transition checklist, and other resources.

Employment: Employer Resources: Employing People with Disabilities
Disability Resources
Discrimination-Disability
Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP)

Foundation Issues New Primer On Medicaid Programs
An overview of the basic components of the nation's largest health coverage program which covers 55 million low-income individuals (including families, people with disabilities and the elderly) and is the dominant source of the country's long-term care financing. The primer examines the structure of the program, who it covers, what services it provides, and spending. Because Medicaid is jointly financed by the federal and state governments and the states administer the program within broad federal guidelines, programs vary across states. Tables examining the state-to-state variation in eligibility, enrollment, and spending for Medicaid enrollees are included in the primer.

Reducing Nursing Home Utilization and Expenditures and Expanding Community-Based Options
Summary: This paper explores and analyzes selected state approaches to engage nursing facility operators to be part of systems change activities that offer individuals additional, less restrictive choices to live more independently with appropriate supports. The strategies described offer other states lessons learned that may be replicated as part of a broader approach to meet changing and growing demand for home and community-based services. Efforts in IN, IA, MI, MN, NE, ND, NY, and WI are described.

Georgia News Roundup

Status of key legislation heading into crossover day
Status of key legislation before the Georgia Legislature heading into Tuesday's "Crossover Day" - the final day when a bill must be passed in one chamber to be considered by the other by the end of the session:
PEACHCARE CHANGES: Fewer children would be eligible for the state's health insurance program for the working poor by lowering the program's income eligibility threshold from 235 percent of poverty to 200 percent of poverty.

POLITICAL INSIDER: Cagle isn't budging on budget
There are signs that this budget standoff between Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson could be more serious than it looks. Meltdowns over how to divvy up the millions and billions in budget bills are common, nearly annual events in the Legislature. Yet because they involve mere dollars, most of these disputes can be resolved with Solomon-like precision. Put the baby on the table and split the difference.

Supplemental budget pulled for reconsideration
The state’s supplemental budget for the remainder of fiscal year 2007 was adopted by the House of Representatives on March 20, but there was a motion later in the evening to reconsider, so the bill remains in the House due to a conflict with the Senate leadership.

Proposed Federal FY 2008 Budget Will Have Major Effects on Georgia

For Immediate Release
March 22, 2007
Contact: Alan Essig, Exec. Director
(404)-420-1324
http://www.gbpi.org

Proposed Federal FY 2008 Budget Will Have Major Effects on Georgia

Atlanta - The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) today released an analysis of the President’s Federal Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Budget Proposal. According to the GBPI analysis, cuts proposed in the federal budget would cost Georgia over $846 million in funding over the next five years for many vital services that rely on federal support.

Georgia receives approximately $11.1 billion in federal funds, which accounts for about 32% of the state budget. The list of programs supported with federal monies include Head Start, Medicaid and PeachCare, K-12 education support (Title I), and clean drinking water projects, in addition to several grants to address needs for public housing, child nutrition, childcare, low income energy assistance, criminal justice, homelessness, and the disabled.

“The impact of these cuts will force some very tough decisions on Georgia in the coming years,” said GBPI Executive Director Alan Essig. “If Congress approves the President’s budget as proposed, the state will either have to increase its own spending for many vital services or make its own cuts. The result would be drastic reductions in certain services and in some cases, complete elimination of them.”

The President’s projection for federal spending over the next five years begins with a budget for FY 2008 that totals $2.9 trillion. Funds for defense and homeland security will be increased, but spending for domestic discretionary spending is projected to drop by as much as $13 billion. Proposed cuts will affect federal funding for states to provide health care, food assistance, education, child care assistance, public housing, and environmental protection.

By 2012, Georgia will have lost over $846 million of the federal funds it would need to maintain the operation of more than a dozen services and block grant programs at 2007 funding levels.

The federal cuts involve a broad roster of programs in Georgia that serve millions of people. Proposed cuts in the federal budgets that follow FY 2008 will become progressively deeper, causing progressively more serious funding shortfalls for the programs in Georgia. The list below cites just a few of the programs affected, and it indicates how much deeper those cuts are projected to become over the next five years:

Vocational and Adult Education: $23.3 million in 2008; $127.1 million in 2012
Elementary and Secondary Education: $169.5 million in 2012
Head Start: $5.7 million in 2008; $62.0 million in 2012
Childcare and Development Block Grant: $1.5 million in 2008; $17.5 million in 2012
Low Income Energy Assistance Program: $4.6 million in 2008; $26.2 million in 2012 Criminal Justice Grant Programs: $15.9 million in 2008; $82.6 million in 2012
Community Services Block Grant: $17.2 million in 2008; $89.1 million in 2012
Women, Infant, and Children Nutrition (WIC) program: $20.6 million in 2012

The President’s proposed budget also includes changes to Medicaid that could result in additional losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. The federal government proposes to obtain these savings by pushing for greater efficiencies in the purchasing of services for recipients and by limiting the state medical expenditures it is willing to match, thereby shifting the costs to states.

Although the President’s budget proposal claims to balance the budget by 2012, the reality is that the budget will be balanced on paper only. The President’s budget omits well over $100 billion in costs for 2012 and projects optimistic revenue collections.

“Federal spending reductions alone cannot resolve the federal deficit,” Essig said. “Rather than shifting costs onto Georgia state and local governments and potentially damaging essential service provision, the federal government should offer a budget package that includes both revenue increases and targeted spending reductions resulting in true deficit reduction, an honest federal budget, and a minimal impact on Georgia state government.”

Mr. Essig is available to answer questions regarding the GBPI analysis and can be reached at 404-420-1324.

All of GBPI’s research reports are available on its web site at www.gbpi.org.

ABOUT GBPI
The Georgia Budget and Policy Institute (GBPI) is the state’s leading independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization engaged in research and education on the fiscal and economic health of the state of Georgia. The Institute provides reliable and timely analysis of Georgia’s budget and tax policies and promotes greater state government fiscal accountability, improved services and enhanced quality of life for all Georgians.

Budget includes $81 million extra for PeachCare

A good summary of the latest for PeachCare from Tom Crawford.

The House of Representatives is moving ahead with a state budget that would add $81 million to keep the PeachCare health insurance program for low-income and working-class children from shutting down later this month.

The House Appropriations Committee unanimously approved Monday morning a revised budget for the current fiscal year that includes the extra funds for PeachCare. The spending plan is expected to be adopted on the House floor Tuesday, when it will move to the state Senate for consideration.

The House version of the budget moves around state money so that $73 million will be added to pay PeachCare expenses. The state expects to be reimbursed for this amount when Congress adopts a federal funding bill later this year.

“Hopefully that will be settled before we get out of here,” said Rep. Ben Harbin (R-Evans), chairman of the Appropriations Committee. “If not, we’ll have to address it in the ’08 budget.”

The revised budget also provides another $8 million to the Department of Community Health to pay for a spike in PeachCare enrollment that occurred in February and March, boosting the number of children covered by the program from 278,000 to more than 306,000.

After DCH officials announced last month that they would freeze PeachCare enrollment as of March 11 because of a shortfall in federal funding, thousands of families rushed to sign up their children for the program.

Lawmakers have been wrestling with the PeachCare problem for more than two months as they try to keep the program going despite a $131 million shortfall in federal funds.

After Congressional leaders said two weeks ago they would add money to an Iraq War funding bill to help the children’s health insurance programs in Georgia and several other states, Gov. Sonny Perdue finally agreed to borrow money from the Medicaid program and other areas for PeachCare, with the understanding that the funds would eventually be reimbursed by Congress.

In adding the extra money for PeachCare, state legislators have chopped millions of dollars out of proposals Perdue made when he first submitted his budget to the General Assembly in January.

The supplemental budget whacks $8 million from the $13 million the governor wanted to spend on his “Go Fish” initiative that would build boat docks and other facilities for bass fishing tournaments.

“We’re scaling it back, so to speak,” Harbin quipped.

The spending plan also reduces the $50 million that Perdue originally put in the budget to pay for the acquisition and conservation of wildlife habitats to $34 million. Harbin said the General Assembly expects local governments to provide matching grants for at least one-third of the cost of preserving these natural areas. (Steve and I knew the budget the legislature was $50 million short of what the Governor proposed, but we couldn't find where it came from. Here's the answer to that.)

Creating a brighter future with MAPS (Making Action Plans) and PATH (Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope)

The Division of MHDDAD Office of Developmental Disabilities is excited to provide a special training opportunity for those interested in learning skills as a facilitator of two Person Centered Planning Approaches: MAPS (Making Action Plans) and PATH (Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope). Jack Pearpoint and Lynda Kahn of Inclusion Press, Toronto, will train forty-five people in the art of using MAPS and PATH to facilitate person-centered plans.

This training is open to a variety of individuals, including:
Support coordinators
Parent mentors
Partners in Policy-making
Parent to Parent
Self-Advocates
Regional Coordinators
I&E Managers
Family Members
State Office staff

One of the books to be given at the training:
Person-Centered Planning with MAPS and PATH - A Workbook for Facilitators. by John O'Brien & Jack Pearpoint
Available at Inclusion Press or call 416-658-5363


The attached announcement explains this unique three-day training opportunity that will be taking place April 30 - May 2, 2007. Please note that there is a two-part registration process involving online registration plus answering several questions about why you would like to participate in this training. Please see the announcement for details.

The announcement will be posted on the Division's website where it can be printed or downloaded. All Division of MHDDAD training events are posted at this website.

Note to Regional Offices regarding distribution: Please share with the groups noted above. If you have any questions about this announcement, please contact Stacey Ramirez in the Office of DD at saramirez@dhr.state.ga.us.