First 5 Funding Not Part Of Mid-Year Budget Solutions

State Budget Update: Early childhood advocates gained a small reprieve last week when legislators approved a series of budget solutions that did not include Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed redirection of First 5 funding.

Both the State Senate and Assembly took action by passing a package of bills that provided a $5 billion fix to the current year budget crisis. However, roughly only $2 billion in fiscal solutions were actually sent to Governor Schwarzenegger's desk for signature due to various factors, as of the time of this publication.  

The risk to First 5 funding during this time remains real, as the governor has not announced his intent to sign the budget bills, or if he will push for additional concessions from legislators. If it is not included in the mid-year solutions, the First 5 funding issue will likely be considered again in spring for the 2010-11 fiscal year.

We urge First 5 grantees and families to continue educating state leaders on the importance of First 5 funding for young children in their communities. For more information on how you can get involved, please visit the First 5 Association site.

Cox Bill Dies In Committee: In related news, a special session bill that would have diverted all of First 5 funding to the state General Fund for Healthy Families and Medi-Cal was defeated in a committee hearing last week.  SBX8 41 (Cox- Fair Oaks) was rejected by members of the Senate Health Committee on a 5 to 2 vote.

"It was just last May that voters-- 2 to 1-- soundly voted not to take this approach," said Health Committee Chair Elaine Alquist (D- Santa Clara), in reference to last year's Proposition 1D. "And I am interested in what my voters have to say."

Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) agreed, noting the importance of early childhood programs as a means of preventing problems and costs to California in later years. Said Leno: "I think if we are really serious about addressing these problems-- the achievement gap of schools, keeping kids in school, lowering crime rates, and lowering alcohol and drug abuse-then all of these dots connect."

Senator Cox introduced an identical bill, SB 1109, in the regular legislative session. The bill will be potentially eligible for a hearing in late March.