Budget sails, Senate reshapes quality child care bill
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Mar 8, 2006 Posted by Bill Luckett
First things first: the compromise version of the budget bill easily passed both chambers of the Legislature today and has headed to Gov. Freudenthal's desk. My understanding is that he has told lawmakers he will try to take action on the bill by Friday, so the Legislature doesn't have to remain in session on Saturday to find out whether the governor vetoes any part of the budget. I haven't received any indication that he plans to use his line-item veto on anything in the bill, but we should know for sure sometime on Friday.
House Bill 92, the quality child care bill, barely cleared third reading in the Senate, 17-13, but only after senators adopted several amendments that leaves the legislation in rather odd shape. Last week, the House had scaled back the program to spend a year and $1.4 million setting it up and postpone its implementation for a year, which restricted the other $12.9 million in the bill. But today, the Senate moved the program from the Department of Family Services to the Department of Workforce Services; changed one of the eight definitions of "high-risk" child; created a grievance procedure; eliminated the "legislative findings" part of the bill (which had been inserted at the request of legislative staff attorneys); and removed the extra $12.9 million in funding, which could not have been spent without specific authorization from next year's Legislature.
After the vote, first lady Nancy Freudenthal, a strong supporter of the quality child care plan, appeared pretty discouraged about the shape of the bill. Mainly, she questioned how so many legislators can be so negative when the plan is to improve the quality of child care in Wyoming. Every expert who has studied the issue agrees that quality child care is vital to the health and future of young children, families, and the state's economy. Not only that, but the plan was designed by input from dozens if not hundreds of stakeholders across the state working endless hours to find the best way to improve child care for our families. We'll see if it survives a conference committee vote and subsequent votes on a compromise version in both chambers.
Yesterday, I promised an update on issues I've mentioned in previous posts but have not followed up on. Looking back, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there aren't too many of those, but here are updates on various issues and specific bills:
Money to local governments: During the House Democrats' caucus over lunch today, we reviewed a sheet from a lobbyist that showed breakdowns of the dollars that will flow to our cities, towns and counties. Grand total: $236 million, which is quite a respectable haul for our local governments. Of that amount, $53.3 million will go to cities, towns and counties generally. Another $6.5 million will go to local governments defined as "special hardship," or more informally, "revenue-challenged." Areas identified as suffering significant impacts due to increased mineral development will receive $105 million, and those that are considered "non-impacted" by mineral development will get $71.2 million. I can't tell you if all of that is in the budget bill or just where it's all at. But every community in the state will get a cut. Even Lost Springs (2000 census population: one resident, although I think six people actually live in town) is going to receive $20,000 over the next two years.
Tax relief: We all know we got the sales tax removed from groceries, at least from July 1, 2006, to June 30, 2008, and I think it's safe to say we can expect Gov. Freudenthal NOT to use his line-item veto power to reduce the overall state sales tax by half a percent, but a couple other plans to provide tax relief for some people still exist. Those are House Bill 123, which expands the scope of the state's tax refund available to the elderly and those with disabilities, and House Bill 124, which provides for low-income energy assistance and weatherization assistance. Both those bills cleared third reading in the Senate today and are headed to Gov. Freudenthal's desk.
I addressed the Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust Fund and overall savings in the budget yesterday, but to recap: The Wildlife Trust fund will get $28 million, while the bottom line on savings won't be fully known until the Legislature addresses the remaining bills that are still alive over the next two days. But as of the latest information at my disposal, lawmakers put exactly $10 million in the General Fund, exactly $86.5 million in the Budget Reserve Account, exactly $200 million during the 2007-08 biennium into the permanent minerals trust fund, and whatever else they have left over into the Legislative Stabilization Reserve Account (on today's fiscal profile, or "goldenrod" sheet, it says $269 million; that number is likely to change).
Senate File 36 would have prohibited all passengers in a vehicle on Wyoming roads from possessing open containers of alcohol. Right now, only a driver is banned from having an open container. That bill failed third reading in the House on Wednesday after passing the Senate.
House Bill 78 would have allowed basically anyone to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. That bill died when it didn't make it out of the Senate Judiciary Committee after passing the House.
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Re: Budget sails, Senate reshapes quality child care bill
Mar 9, 2006 | Nancy Drummond | ndrummond@yahoo.comMaybe if our representatives dealt with all the problems we have in the School Districts they would realize how important the Quality Child Care Bill is.