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Political News from America's Heartland - Friday, May 17, 2024 - KS Gov Laura Kelly signs $75 MM boost to special ed funding
Missouri Senate Democrats 50 Hour Filibuster | New “youth core” program focuses on mental health | Minnesota Gov. announces boost for child care funding
KS Gov Laura Kelly signs $75 MM boost to special ed funding
https://kansasreflector.com/2024/05/16/kansas-governor-signs-school-funding-bill-with-75-million-boost-for-special-education/
BY: SHERMAN SMITH - MAY 16, 2024 11:38 AM
TOPEKA — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly signed legislation this week that allocates $6.6 billion to K-12 public schools, including $75 million in new money for special education, and vetoed language designed to funnel safety grant cash to a specific software company.
The Democratic governor and Republican legislators separately claimed credit for continuing to fully fund schools, as required by the state’s constitution and mandated by the Kansas Supreme Court. House Bill 387 passed the House 115-2 and the Senate 35-2 on April 26, shortly before the Legislature adjourned for the year.
The legislation includes $4.9 billion in state spending for the public school system.
Gov Kelly’s message to lawmakers in signing the bill referenced the state’s historical failures to provide adequate and equitable resources to public schools.
In 2018, when Kelly was still a state senator, the Legislature adopted a five-year plan to fully fund schools by the 2022-23 school year. As governor, she worked with lawmakers in 2019 to correct a math problem and add an ongoing inflation adjustment to win approval from the Kansas Supreme Court. The court retained oversight of the case to ensure the Legislature didn’t pull the rug out from under schools as it had repeatedly in the past, then let go of the case earlier this year.
Gov. Kelly said, “When I became governor, my first order of business was to end the cycle of school finance litigation caused by years of underfunding. Reckless leadership and mismanagement of the state’s finances made it impossible for the state to adequately fund our schools. Since then, we’ve seen how investment in our education system pays significant dividends for our entire state. Students now have more opportunities than ever to explore their educational and professional interests. Our commitment to fully funding public education better supports teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators.”
Lawmakers agreed to address a longstanding shortfall in special education funding by adding $75 million to the budget. But they stopped short of meeting recommendations from a special task force, which said lawmakers should add $82.7 million annually for four years to comply with a law requiring the state to cover 92% of extra costs for serving students in special education.
“This funding will provide critical support to districts that have been shouldering the burden of the state’s decade-long failure to meet its statutory obligation and ultimately its promise to the next generation of Kansans,” Kelly said.
At one point this year, the Legislature considered rewriting state law to permanently underfund special education.
Kelly said the new money would allow districts to “properly invest in special education educators” rather than redirect funding that otherwise would be used on teacher salaries and other instruction programs.
“While this funding is a critical first step, it is just a first step. We must continue to increase special education funding in future years.”
Sen. Molly Baumgardner, a Louisburg Republican who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said lawmakers this year focused on crafting a bill that better addresses the needs of students, teachers, and staff members.
She said, “Our commitment to distributing increased special education funding in a more equitable way to Kansas school districts was accomplished by collaborating directly with the Department of Education leadership team. This is an important change for children that receive these special services.”
The governor vetoed language that would have required schools to use the $5 million available through the School Safety and Security Grant program on firearm detection software made by ZeroEyes. The company hired lobbyists in multiple states to try to corner the market on security contracts by inserting restrictions in legislation to undermine the ability of rival vendors to bid.
Kelly said the restrictions amounted to a no-bid contract and would restrict schools from using the money on other types of safety needs. She has the authority to use a line-item veto on the policy because it was embedded in a budget bill.
Schools should be able to invest in other school safety efforts, Kelly said, such as updating communications systems, hiring more security staff, investing in physical infrastructure, and buying automated external defibrillators.
“We must continue to work together to ensure our students have a safe, conducive environment for their learning. To do that, we should not hamstring districts by limiting this funding opportunity to services provided by one company.
Missouri Senate Democrats 50-Hour Filibuster
https://missouriindependent.com/2024/05/15/50-hour-filibuster-forces-more-negotiations-on-gop-backed-initiative-petition-changes/
50-hour filibuster forces more negotiations on GOP-backed initiative petition changes
BY: ANNA SPOERRE, RUDI KELLER AND JASON HANCOCK - MAY 15, 2024 6:48 PM
A 50-hour Democratic filibuster forced the Senate’s divided GOP majority to finally yield Wednesday evening, stalling a vote on a bill seeking to make it more difficult to amend Missouri’s constitution.
Democrats have blocked all action in the Senate since Monday afternoon, demanding that the legislation be stripped of “ballot candy” that would bar non-citizens from voting and ban foreign entities from contributing to or sponsoring constitutional amendments, both of which are already illegal.
The Senate passed the bill without ballot candy in February. The House added it back last month.
Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, on Tuesday said the situation presented an existential crisis for the Senate, as Republicans openly considered a rarely-used maneuver to kill the filibuster and force a vote on the bill.
“Are the bullies going to win?” Rizzo asked. “Or is the rest of the Senate finally going to stand up for itself and say ‘no more.’”
He got an answer just before 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, when state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, an Arnold Republican and the bill’s sponsor, surprised many of her colleagues by asking that the Senate send the bill back to the House for more negotiations on whether to include “ballot candy.”
Republicans simply didn’t have the votes to kill the filibuster, she said, and Democrats showed no signs of relenting before session ends at 6 p.m. Friday.
The sudden change in tactics was not well taken by members of the Freedom Caucus, who argued sending the bill back to the House with only two days left before adjournment puts its chances at risk.
Tim Jones, a former Missouri House speaker and current director of the state’s Freedom Caucus, wrote on social media Thursday evening that Coleman “effectively killed her bill today.”
If the bill passes, Missourians would have the opportunity to vote later this year on whether or not to require constitutional amendments be approved by both a majority of votes statewide and a majority of votes in five of the state’s eight congressional districts.
Right now, amendments pass with a simple majority.
A possible vote on abortion in November is a catalyst behind the battle over the bill, as a campaign to legalize abortion up to the point of fetal viability is on the path to the statewide ballot.
Republicans have said that without raising the threshold for changing the state’s constitution, a constitutional right to abortion will likely become the law of the land in Missouri.
State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican and a member of the Freedom Caucus, tipped his hat to the Democrats’ “wherewithal” before scorning some of his Republican colleagues.
“Unfortunately, this Republican Party has no backbone to fight for what is right for life,” he shouted from the Senate floor. “ … They will have the blood of the innocent on their heads. Shame on this party.”
Coleman’s move also came as a surprise to state Rep. Alex Riley, a Republican from Springfield who sponsored the initiative petition bill in the House.
“We’re going to have to have some conversations tonight to figure out what exactly it is they have in mind,” he said.
New “youth core” program focuses on mental health
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/15/youth-mental-health-corps
New program creates "youth corps" for mental health
Hundreds of young adults will be trained to help their peers access mental health care and other supports in a first-of-its-kind service program aimed at addressing the youth mental health crisis.
Backers of the new Youth Mental Health Corps, which is funded by a mix of private and public dollars, also hope to create a new talent pipeline to address shortages of mental health workers.
How it works: Young adults ages 18 and up will spend about a year working at a school or nonprofit to help connect other young people to mental health support.
Corps members will conduct check-ins with students, run trainings for caregivers, conduct community outreach and more.
They'll receive training, a stipend, earn state-specific mental health worker credentials, and credit toward higher education degrees in behavioral health. Participants will receive training in therapeutic communication, crisis intervention, behavioral health systems and other skills. They'll receive a minimum of $20 per hour.
Administrators expect hundreds of young people to join the program in its first year, and thousands to benefit from it.
Colorado Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera, whose state will be one of the first to implement the program this fall said, "Kids can relate more to experiences and challenges faced by other teenagers. It fosters trust and comfort in seeking mental health support."
In addition to Colorado, programs will start this fall in Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Texas. Programs in California, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Utah and Virginia are slated to start next year.
The Schultz Family Foundation, created by Starbucks founder Howard Schultz and Sheri Kersch Schultz, and Pinterest, expect to invest $10 million in the program over three years.
Other funding will come from public sources, including state and national AmeriCorps grants.
Schultz said it expects additional philanthropic and private sector donations in the future
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announces $6MM boost in child care funding
https://minnesotareformer.com/2024/05/15/governor-announces-6-million-in-grants-to-create-more-than-2200-new-child-care-slots/
MN Governor Tim Walz announces $6 million in grants to create more than 2,200 new childcare slots
BY: MADISON MCVAN - MAY 15, 2024 6:02 PM
Twenty-one Minnesota organizations will receive funding to open or expand childcare centers this year, Gov. Tim Walz announced Wednesday, with more than half of the grants going to providers outside the Twin Cities.
Lawmakers boosted funding for the Department of Employment and Economic Development’s child care grant program last year.
Gov Walz said Wednesday that child care is an example of a “market failure” during a visit to the St. David’s Center for Child & Family Development in Minnetonka, which received a $270,000 grant to create more classrooms and educational spaces.
Nationwide, the childcare industry is in crisis. Minnesota is no exception, facing a shortage of childcare providers and high costs for families. Minnesota has some of the highest childcare costs in the country, which could be one explanation for a lower birth rate in recent years.
The Legislature last year voted to continue a COVID-era program that raised the pay for childcare workers, averting a funding cliff.
A coalition of childcare advocates this session pushed for a subsidy program that would reduce the cost of child care for families making less than 150% of the median income. If fully funded at around $500 million per year, families with low income would have their childcare bills covered by the state, while qualifying families making more than the median income would pay around 7% of their household income on child care, a target set by the federal government. Advocates are hoping to move that bill successfully, next year.
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