Day 17 - 2/13/2008

>> Back to Daily Highlights

Legislators convened in a joint session of the House and Senate to hear the annual “State of the Judiciary” address by state Supreme Court Justice Sears today.  The Justice used the opportunity to advocate for a pay increase for judges.
 
The halls were awash in red today as PTA members gathered for their annual day at the Capital.  The PTA members spent the day lobbying in favor of HB 901, the Parent Protection Act, and for the restoration of the austerity cuts.  They also spoke against HR 900, the Speaker’s tax plan.
 
The House Appropriations Human Resources Subcommittee heard from DHR staff today regarding their FY 09 budget.  Many items of interest to child advocates were addressed.  Legislators asked questions about services provided at teen centers.  DHR spoke about plans to change the definition of “special needs” adoptive children to reflect a philosophy that that we will no longer give out monthly checks with adoptive children.  Instead, the Department wants to set up a trust fund to address needs of adoptive children at the time that those needs arise.  Chairman Butler expressed concerns that this policy change may discourage adoptions.  The FY 09 DHR budget also includes the elimination of a $29,700,000 TANF transfer to child care services due to the fact that DHR states that these TANF funds are simply not available in FY 09.  DHR intends to phase out available child care slots through attrition.  When a child ages out of child care, DHR will not fill that slot with a child off of the waiting list (which now, according to DHR, equals between 12,000 and 14,000 children).