News Archive - June 2011

Contents:

June 15, 2011

Budget Deadline Today - June 15, 2011

With no bipartisan deal in sight, legislative Democrats are poised to approve a majority-vote budget today. According to the Assembly, the proposal closes a remaining $9.6 billion deficit through accounting maneuvers, cuts, additional fees, delayed payments and a revamped plan to sell state properties. Midnight tonight marks the state's constitutional deadline for the Legislature to send a budget to the Governor.

On Monday, Governor Jerry Brown said he would consider signing a Democratic budget that relies on such solutions despite his previous opposition to proposals he considered "budget gimmicks."

Apparently, the Democrats have decided to pursue this plan because the Republicans have refused to extend taxes.

Here are some key parts of the majority-vote budget Democrats hope to approve in the Legislature today:

• Raises the sales tax by one-quarter cent.
• Raises vehicle registration fees by $12 a vehicle.
• Adopts "Amazon" tax requiring online retailers to collect sales taxes.
• Resurrects abandoned plan to sell and lease back 11 state properties, including the East End complex in Sacramento.
• Adopts firefighting fee for rural homeowners.
• Cuts the University of California and California State University systems by another $150 million each.
• Defers $3.4 billion in payments to schools, community colleges and the University of California, forcing them to borrow to maintain programs.
• Takes $1 billion from First 5 commissions, a move already under legal challenge.
• Takes $1.7 billion from redevelopment agencies.
• Borrows $740 million more from state special funds.
• Cuts $150 million more from state courts.
• Shrinks reserve to $570 million, compared with governor's proposed $1.2 billion.

CCDAA will continue to update members as we hear more on the budget deal.

To read more on the Democrats' proposal, go to:
http://www.sacbee.com/budget/.

June 16, 2011

Governor Brown Vetoes Budget

As reported yesterday, June 15, 2011, the California Legislature passed a budget that is better for child development than the Governor's proposal in January or the Legislature's package of budget cuts in March.

This morning, Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the budget package, Senate Bill 69 and Assembly Bill 98. There was enormous pressure on Governor Brown, as this budget deal included “gimmicks” that he campaigned against in his run for Governor.

Brown stated, "Unfortunately, the budget I have received is not a balanced solution. It continues big deficits for years to come and adds billions of dollars of new debt. It also contains legally questionable maneuvers, costly borrowing and unrealistic savings. Finally, it is not financeable and therefore will not allow us to meet our obligations as they occur."

In his veto message he stated, “We can - and must - do better. A balanced budget is critical to our economic recovery. I am, once again, calling on Republicans to allow the people of California to vote on tax extensions for a balanced budget and significant reforms. They should also join Democrats in supporting job creation and ending tax breaks for out-of-state companies. If they continue to obstruct a vote, we will be forced to pursue deeper and more destructive cuts to schools and public safety - a tragedy for which Republicans will bear full responsibility.”

Click here to view the Governor's veto memo: http://gov.ca.gov/docs/SB_69_and_AB_98_Veto_Message_6-16-11.pdf

Click here for more budget news: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/06/jerry-brown-veto-budget.html

CCDAA will keep membership posted on the budget developments as we hear more information.

June 22, 2011

Call with CDE for Title 5 Centers and CSPP Regarding Reductions to Contract MRAs

The California Department of Education (CDE) in collaboration with CCDAA is hosting a conference call on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 to address the concerns of Title 5 centers and California State Preschool Program contractors regarding the reductions to their contract MRAs.

CDE will be releasing a Management Bulletin shortly that will direct contractors on the correct process by which to dis-enroll families in order to stay with this new contract MRA.

CDE realizes that there are still many unresolved issues and policy decisions regarding child development programs tied up with the budget negotiations. CDE feels strongly that a discussion with the field is essential to talk through the different alternatives and the good business decisions that contractors must make until the budget situation is resolved.

Details for the call:
Date: Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Time: 10:30am to 11:30am
Call In Number: 1-218-862-6789
Code: 582084

Similar to other calls, CDE will present first, then we will have time set aside for questions and answers. If you have specific questions, REVIEW THE MANGEMENT BULLETINS FIRST, then email them to nina@ccdaa.org. If time allows, then phone lines will be opened up in Q&A mode. If you have a question, please push *5.

Call with CDE for Stage 2, 3 and CAPP Contractors Regarding Reductions Contract MRAs

CDE will be hosting a call on Monday, June 27, 2011 to go over reductions to contract MRAs for Stage 2, 3 and CAPP contractors.

Date: Monday, June 27, 2011
Time: 2:00 pm to 3:00pm
Call In Number: 1-213-289-0500
Code: 8278067#

Please note that when you log into the call, all listeners will be in "listen only" mode." Once CDE has presented the information and if time allows, the phone lines will be opened up in Q&A mode. That means that if there is a question push *6, ask your question, and then push *6 to put you phone line back on mute.

CCDAA will keep membership posted on the budget developments as we hear more information.

June 2011

CCDAA Enewsletter - June 2011

California Child Development Administrator's Association (CCDAA) is a statewide organization that supports publicly funded child development programs and their leaders.

CDE Releases MB 11-21 on Disenrollment Priorities
CDE just released Management Bulletin (MB) 11-21. Its purpose is to provide guidance to all child care and development contractors, except CalWORKs Stage 2 and 3 contractors, on the process for disenrolling families as a result of the reduction in contracted service levels from the implementation of Senate Bill (SB) 70 (Chapter 7, Statutes of 2011). Information regarding reduction in service levels for CalWORKs Stage 3 contractors will be forthcoming under a separate MB. Click here to view the MB: www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/mb1121.asp

CDE Releases MB 11-19 on Sample Notification Letters to CEL Families
CDE just released MB 11-19. Its purpose is to transmit two sample parent notification letters which may be used by CEL Administrators when notifying families in accordance with MB 11-15 Click here to view the MB: www.cde.ca.gov/sp/cd/ci/mb1119.asp

Settlement reached in “Parent Voices Oakland v. O'Connell”
On June 22, Judge Wynne Carvill signed a final stipulation about how families in Stage 3 provides direction to CDE about what contractors and centers to reenroll any for Stage 3 or Stage 2 timed out families, be given a final opportunity to go back to Stage 3, settling the Parent Voices Oakland v. O'Connell case. Ending a six-month court case sparked by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's elimination of child care funding last October, the State of California agreed to a settlement that preserves child care services for parents who have successfully transitioned off welfare but whose wages are still too low to cover child care. The settlement affects the families of more than 56,000 California children who had been told they would lose their child care in October 2010. Click here to view the settlement: http://www.childcarelaw.org/files/SignedStipulatedOrderofFinalSettlement6.22.11.pdf

California Has Made Deep Cuts to Child Care and Development Programs Since 2009-10
A new California Budget Project analysis shows that the cumulative impact of cuts made to California's childcare and development programs, which serve more than 400,000 children each year, amounts to more than $1.6 billion between 2009-10 and 2011-12. More than $750 million of this total is attributable to cuts passed by the Legislature in March that take effect in July 2011, and which are expected to cause more than 60,000 children to lose access to child care and preschool in 2011-12. These reductions will hinder the ability of low-income parents to hold onto their jobs or get back into the workforce as California recovers from the recession.

Click here to view the full report: http://cbp.org/pdfs/2011/110603_Child_Care_Cuts.pdf

Transitional Kindergarten Online Library Website Launch
A new online resource library is available for use on Transitional Kindergarten. The website www.tkcalifornia.org, provides local school districts, administrators and other stakeholders a shared learning space to find documents, information and other resources regarding transitional kindergarten implementation.

Child Care Providers: Your Guide to New Crib Standards
Beginning December 28, 2012, any crib provided by childcare facilities and family childcare homes must meet new federal safety standards. The new standards take effect for manufacturers, retailers, importers and distributors on June 28, 2011, addressing deadly hazards previously seen with traditional drop-side rails, requiring more durable hardware and parts and mandating more rigorous testing. Click here to read more: www.cpsc.gov/info/cribs/index.html

CCDAA Training, “Implementing the Budget Cuts: An Interactive Workshop on Rapid Downsizing”
This interactive workshop will assist directors and financial officers in planning for both program and budget downsizing, individualized to fit the needs of your program whether it is AP, Center-Based, FCCHEN, etc. There will be hands-on activities to help directors and financial officers start or double check their planning and time will be set aside for peer discussion and questions and answers. Workshops will be held on July 6, 2011 in Sacramento County and on July 11, 2011 in Los Angeles County. Click here for details and to register: https://ccdaa.memberclicks.net/assets/documents/Fliers/ccdaa_budget_workshop_2011.pdf.

CCDAA Great Administrators Seminar - August 2-3, 2011
Join us for the CCDAA Great Administrators Seminar at the Intercontinental Hotel in Monterey on August 2-3, 2011. Whether you have developed an innovative solution to a problem you faced at your program or have a problem that you are currently grappling with, we invite you to come join us and other great administrators from all over the state. This is your forum to share your cutting-edge ideas and bounce them off of other people in the field. Please click here to register online, or click here to download a registration form.

June 27, 2011

This afternoon In a joint press conference, Governor Brown along with Speaker John Perez and Senate Pro-tem Darrell Steinberg announced that they have come to agreement on a budget that can be passed with a majority vote that relies on $4 billion in revenues above the level anticipated and a "trigger" mechanism that would impact education and other programs mid-year if the revenues do not materialize.

According to Speaker Perez, this agreement eliminates 75% of the structural deficit and will not cause massive job losses. The trigger, if implemented would cut $2.6 billion mid-year and include cuts to K-12, higher education, public safety and in-home supportive services among others.

It is likely that a budget vote could come as early as tomorrow, Tuesday, June 28, 2011, and that there will be a tax increase initiative on the ballot in November 2012.

Click here to view the press conference: http://gov.ca.gov/video.php?id=25

Here are some related budget articles:

Sacramento Bee:
http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2011/06/brown-democratic-leaders-annou.html

San Francisco Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/06/27/BAOV1K3BIJ.DTL&tsp=1

Los Angeles Times:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2011/06/brown-and-democrats-team-up-on-budget-plan-without-gop-input.html

Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304447804576412323805565618.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

CCDAA will alert membership as we receive new details.