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Policy Alerts
January, 2006
Last
Updated:
02/21/2007
MEMORANDUM
To: SPOC Network
From: Art Ellison, Policy Co-Chair ,
NCSDAE
Date: January 4, 2006
RE:
Update for the Year
A. Final Action on FY 06 Appropriation:
THE PRESIDENT HAS SIGNED INTO LAW THE FY 06 LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN
SERVICES APPROPRIATIONS BILL. This ends the long process that started on
Feb. 7, 2006 when President Bush proposed a 66% cut in our funding. As a
result of your fine work with the US Congress all but 1% of that funding was
restored. The 1% cut from the FY 05 appropriation came as the result of an
across the board decreased for all government agencies except for veterans
affairs. If you have not yet notified your field of this outcome you might
want to get that word out. Here in New Hampshire we have tried to
communicate those "good news" messages in many ways, the best one seems to
be a one page brightly colored flyer to each student enrolled in September
in any of our programs which said:
"NEW HAMPSHIRE'S ADULT EDUCATION STUDENTS
WIN HUGE VICTORIES IN SUPPORT OF
ADULT EDUCATION FUNDING. In a massive outpouring of support for adult
education programs over the past seven months the adult education
community
in New Hampshire convinced the Governor and State Legislature to
increase
state funding and the US Congress to restore funding cuts proposed by
President Bush. Congratulations to everyone who participated in this
work,
but particularly to the students in adult education programs who were
the
most responsible for these victories at the State and Federal levels."
The figure for Even Start in the final budget
is $99 million, a
significant reduction from the current $225 million.
B. Initial Action on FY 07 Appropriations
On February 6, 2006 President Bush will present his FY 07 Budget Proposal
to Congress. At this point in time we have no hard information on the figure
that will be included for adult education. We are hoping the President will
include at least level funding for our programs. Since we will not know the
figure until Feb. 6 we are planning for two possible scenarios: One would be
another proposed cut of the magnitude reflected in last year's proposal and
the second would be level funding. If we find ourselves in a similar
position to last year we will again mount a massive effort to restore the
funding. If we are level funded we focus the campaign, Campaign 750, on
increasing the appropriation from the current level to $700 million. This
would represent a 24% increase in the funding level and would be consistent
with our stated goal of eventually bringing federal funding to $1 Billion.
C. Reviewing our Work and Preparing for the Next Campaign
It would be helpful to review your state network in light of our launching
a new campaign next month. You may want to ask your key people if they are
willing to sign on for another year, review the coverage of the statewide
network to identify areas of that need some assistance, and clarify the
positions of both US Senators and all members of the House on funding for
adult education. Most importantly, I also hope that each of you will be able
to continue this work. Along with the members of your networks in the field
the 104 people on this list are the backbone of the entire national effort,
however even you should have the opportunity to take a break. Please let me
know if it becomes necessary for you to find another person in your state to
take over the Single Point of Contact responsibilities.
D. Professional Development for Advocates
Many of you have begun the formal process of sharing your expertise on
advocacy with others in your state. One of the main ways that seems to work
is to insure that every state and regional adult education conference has
some type of session (s) on Public Policy and Advocacy. Some of the sessions
are panel discussions, other are sharing sessions and some more formal
presentations. It is important that we provide the opportunities for the
people in our states who are involved in this work to reflect with and learn
from others committed to the effort.
While we currently do not have the capacity to provide technical
assistance across the country, several people in the network have indicated
their availability to help other states further develop the advocacy skills
of their members. In April there will be presentations on advocacy at the
Mountain Plains Adult Education Conference in Denver and COABE in Houston.
If you would like some help in this area please let me know. We will see
what we can work out.
E. Congressional Recess
Members of the House will not be returning to Washington until Jan. 31,
2006. Since they will be home in their Congressional districts this would be
a good time to invite them to visit an adult education center and to thank
them for their support over the past year. The Senate is scheduled to return
on Jan. 18 so there may also be some opportunities for visits by Senators to
local programs.
F. Planning for Mid-Term Elections
All of the US House and 1/3 of the US Senate seats will be contested in
Nov of this year. States should develop plans that will put the need for
adult education funding in front of the major candidates for these
positions, as early in the campaigns as possible. Several factors to keep in
mind: in the last election 98% of the incumbents for House seats were
reelected, primary elections are already being held so that you will know
very soon who the two major candidates will be for those seats. We want to
get the need for adult education funding into the discussions of issues
associated with each campaign.
Two possible ways to make this happen are contacting the campaign staff
for each candidate to get the candidate's position on our issue and raising
the question of adult education funding at campaign forums and small "meet
the candidate" sessions.
G. Update on TANF and WIA Reauthorization
There is rumor that another attempt may be made to get WIA
Reauthorization through the Senate shortly after they return this month. We
will continue to monitor any activity in this area but there is a good
chance that there will be no activity on the bill until the 2007 session.
TANF Reauthorization is included in the Budget Reconciliation Bill that
needs one more vote by the House to become law. Details are hard to come by
at this point but we do know that the Superwaiver provision included in the
House version of the bill was deleted in conference. We do not know the
final answer on provisions that would allow TANF clients to participate full
time in GED programs for a period of 3 or 6 months. We should have the
answers on this issue within the next week.
I hope that I will have the opportunity to work with each of you in the
coming year.
Art Ellison
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