Welcome back for another Child Welfare Week in Review! This week the US Supreme Court heard a case involving child abuse investigations at schools, regarding whether parent's consent is required before a child can be questioned at school by a child care worker or a police officer. Read
As expected in a budget year, debates about spending continue to dominate this legislative session. So you think you can fix the Minnesota deficit? Give the budget your best shot with this online trial from MinnPost. Can you balance it? If you're reading this blog, chances are good that you have some opinions about the [...]
Among many advocates who provided public testimony in the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee, two individuals spoke specifically about Child Welfare elements of the budget. This testimony took place on Wednesday, February 23, 2011. You can listen to the audio or view the video recordings at this link. The advocates who spoke about [...]
Let's dig a little deeper into the Governor's budget recommendations, specifically the CCSA allocation and adoption assistance. The Children and Community Services Act is the bulk of the state's contribution to Child Protection. Since last year's reduction was passed as a one-time cut, and since the proposal to make last year's cuts to CCSA permanent [...]
This week, Governor Dayton released his budget proposal. Keep in mind that the legislature and the Governor are taking opposing approaches to resolving this budget deficit. So don't get too attached to the details within this budget, as it's very likely to change through the legislative process. That said, this link will take you to [...]
The Senate passed HF 130, the budget proposal cutting $900 million in state spending. This was a fast turnaround following the House passage of the bill late on 2/9. The bill was sent to the Governor, and he vetoed the bill within a couple hours of receiving it. You can read coverage here, here and [...]
Yesterday afternoon was a busy one for Minnesota politics. The Senate passed HF 130, the budget proposal cutting $900 million in state spending. Read Senator Claire Robling's statement - she's the Senate Finance Chair, author of the Senate's companion bill to HF130 and a member of CASCW's Advisory Board. This was a pretty quick turnaround [...]
Yesterday the House passed the first round of budget cuts on a 68-61 floor vote. Today, the Senate will vote on the same conference committee report. Though the timing isn't certain, it appears the floor vote will happen at 11:00 am. You can attend in person, or you can stream the vote online. While the [...]