You probably heard that Child Welfare (Child Protection) funds were included in the $1 billion spending cuts proposed by the legislature last week*. Maybe you also heard that HF 128 passed out of committee, and was referred to Ways and Means. This means that bill moved forward, but the action isn’t done. Currently, three bills are bouncing around with the proposal to permanently reduce the state’s contribution to Child Welfare by 30%. $19 million less every year to the Children and Community Services grant (CCSA). This is a cut that former Gov. Pawlenty proposed as a one-time reduction; now the bills call for a permanent cut.
Mary Regan, Executive Director of the Minnesota Council of Child Caring Agencies (MCCCA), testified at the hearing. She has posted an analysis of the proposed changes on the MCCCA website: www.mccca.org
The three bills are HF 128, SF 60 and HF 130.
HF 130 has a hearing coming up in House Ways and Means on 1/24/11 at 10:15 AM.
SF 60 has a hearing coming up in Senate Finance on 1/26/11 at 8:30 AM.
If you want to voice an opinion on this proposal, use the links on the sidebar to get in touch with your legislators or the relevant committee’s Chair. You can attend the hearings if you’re interested. Audio is usually available if you’d like to listen to the discussion. And the My Bills tracker is a great tool to follow the policy proposals that impact your work in the Child Welfare field.
*See our previous post if you missed the details. You can listen to the audio on HF 128, heard and passed by the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee on 1/19 here.