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| Welcome Welcome to the first edition of KEA Advocate, the weekly legislative e-newsletter of the Kentucky Education Association. KEA Advocate will be sent every Thursday evening through the 2010 session of the Kentucky General Assembly. KEA sends it to all KEA Board of Directors members, local association presidents, district education association presidents, key committee members and KEA staff. KEA Advocate takes the place of KEA’s former legislative, hard copy newsletter – Capitol Report. Subscriptions to KEA Advocate are free. If you know other KEA members who would like weekly legislative updates, encourage them to subscribe. If you do not want to receive this e-newsletter, feel free to unsubscribe. |
| Stay in Touch via Facebook KEA’s lobbying team is on Facebook and updates our status several times a day. Joining Facebook and “friending” our page is the best way to keep up with what’s going on in Frankfort. Our page is named “Ky Education’s Advocates” and we have more than 250 friends already. |
| General Assembly’s First Two Weeks Busier than Usual The 2010 session of the Kentucky General Assembly convened on Tuesday, Jan. 5. The legislature usually gets off to a slow start, with committees getting established and bills being reviewed. Generally, few bills are enacted prior to the Jan. 26, after governor proposes his budget and when legislators know if they will have opposition in this year’s elections. The legislature is scheduled to adjourn in mid-April. However, this year has been an unusually busy two weeks for KEA’s lobbyists. On the first day of the session, we met with the governor and his staff, the commissioner and the chair of the House Education Committee. We also met with many legislators, getting re-acquainted and hearing their predictions for the session. Most of our conversations dealt with budget issues and Race to the Top issues. |
| Charter Schools Proposed This week was even busier. HB 176 took an inordinate amount of time as it worked its way through the House and Senate. This bill will enhance Kentucky’s chances of getting federal Race to the Top funding. It defines the state’s persistently low-performing schools and the kinds of assistance that those schools will receive from the state. The excitement of the week came when the Senate Education Committee tried unsuccessfully to include charter schools among the options available to low-performing schools. Charter schools were included in a 28-page amendment that no one had seen until Senator Jack Westwood (R-Erlanger) introduced it and Chair Ken Winters (R-Murray) spoke in favor of it. KEA immediately sprang into action, asking members to flood all senators in opposition to charter schools. Our action worked as the committee failed to adopt charter schools in a tie vote with Senator Alice Forgy Kerr (R-Lexington) breaking with other Republicans to vote “no.” |
| KTRS Retiree Health Care Funding Solution Sought KEA representatives have met with representatives of the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System several times over the last month to discuss funding for retiree health care. Since 2002, KTRS has been forced to borrow from its pension fund to pay for health care for retirees. This borrowing cannot continue. If it does, both teachers’ retirement and retirees’ health care are jeopardized. Without action in the next year or so, disaster looms. KEA, along with representatives of school districts, school administrators, and school superintendents, is searching for a solution. The solution will probably entail everyone – the state, school districts, retirees younger than 65, and active teachers – may end up being part of the solution. The next meeting of the groups is next Tuesday at KEA. |
| Budget is THE Issue Every even-numbered year, the General Assembly must adopt the state budget for the next two years. First, in mid-January the Governor will propose his budget. The legislature’s consideration will begin in the House, when the Appropriations and Revenue (A&R) Committee begins its hearings. Final action on the budget is usually among the very last things the General Assembly does, so expect lots of debate through April. This year’s outlook is not good. Estimates of the budget shortfall range as high as 1.5 billion dollars. Since most school funding in Kentucky comes from the state, KEA is deeply concerned about prospects for schools and school employees. Consequently, KEA encourages the state to enact comprehensive tax reform that will enable us to continue making progress toward Kentucky’s educational goals. KEA encourages all its members to help legislators realize the importance of school funding – how it affects class size, materials, salaries, retirement, and health care – for their own constituents. |
| Race to the Top Application Finalized Kentucky’s application for the federal Race to the Top grant has been completed. At the state level, KEA worked tirelessly over the holiday break and afterward with the Kentucky Department of Education to provide feedback and suggestions for that grant. Commissioner Terry Holliday has been exceptional to work with, soliciting and considering all KEA’s input. While the grant guidelines themselves contain some troubling provisions, KEA believes that Kentucky’s grant is strong and hopes that Kentucky receives some of the more than $4 billion available on a competitive basis. On the local level, almost all local association presidents have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with their school board chair and superintendent. This MoU signifies that the local school district wants to participate in Race to the Top if Kentucky is funded. Much more work remains to be done in making local plans on how to implement Race to the Top, once we are funded. That work will be done – in the same collaborative manner – in late-spring or early-summer. KEA will provide additional information and assistance to local association presidents. |
| Follow Important Committee Meetings KEA reviews the agendas of all legislative committee meetings and monitors all meetings where any bills are being considered that impact public schools, students, and school employees. KEA attends every meeting of the education and A&R committees, in both houses: Education Committees: House meets Tuesdays at 8 a.m.; Senate meets Thursdays at 11:30 a.m.; A&R Committees: House meets Tuesday at 10 a.m.; Senate meets Tuesday at 9 a.m. |
| Bookmark These Important Web Sites KEA encourages all its members to make the web site of the Legislative Research Commission one of their “favorites” or “bookmarks”: http://www.lrc.state.ky.us/home.htm . On the right side of the page you will find links to the week’s legislative calendar, a list of senators and representatives, make-up of committees, and important phone numbers. On the left side you will find a link to “Meetings Schedules and Visitor Information” which includes the status of all bills and the calendar for the entire legislative session. Also bookmark KEA’s Keep Kentucky Learning web site, www.keepkentuckylearning.org, where KEA will put all its legislative information. There and on the KEA home page, www.kea.org, you can find a link to email your legislator. You can also find important information via toll-free phone calls: Bill Status Line (starting Feb. 3) at 866.840.2835 and Calendar Line at 800.633.9650. |
| Keep in Touch with Your Legislators KEA encourages each of its leaders to get to know their own state senator and state representative. If you do not know who your senator or representative is, you can find out by using the “contact your legislator” link on www.keepkentuckylearning.org. Also check the LRC web site to see if which committees your legislators serve on. If they are members of either the education committee or A&R committee, it is especially important for you to be in close contact so legislators will know the views from the front lines of public schools. You can leave a message for all legislators through the LRC’s toll-free message line: 800.372.7181. Most important, KEA encourages you to contact legislators when they are home on the weekends. |
| KEA’s Lobbying Team is Hard at Work Each legislative session, KEA has a team of KEA leaders and staff who are at the Capitol every day, usually beginning their day at 7:00 a.m. to contact legislators before the committee meetings of the day begin. At the end of each legislative day, the team gathers back at the KEA building on Capital Avenue to review the day and plan for the next day’s advocacy. The most important members of KEA’s lobbying team are KEA members back home. Your key role in our lobbying effort is to get to know legislators and bring legislative issues home to those lawmakers. Members of KEA’s lobbying team in Frankfort are: President Sharron Oxendine, Executive Director Mary Ann Blankenship, Government Relations Director John Warren, UniServ Director Kayne Ishmael, UniServ Director Daphne Goodin, and Assistant Executive Director Mary Ruble. KEA-Retired’s Vice President lobbies on behalf of retired members. JCTA’s lobbyists also work closely with KEA throughout the session: President Brent McKim, Executive Director DeeAnn Flaherty, and UniServ Director Liesa Daly. Other KEA staff (based in Frankfort and throughout the state) also provide invaluable assistance in lobbying efforts. |
| KEA Provides New Ways to Stay Informed For decades, KEA has published a weekly legislative newsletter, first in print and later via email. For several years, KEA has provided email “Action Alerts” when we need members to contact their legislators quickly. In 2009, KEA launched its Keep Kentucky Learning web site to give members one central location to keep up with legislative issues. This year the lobbying team will provide daily updates via Facebook. If you are a Facebook member, please make “Ky Education’s Advocates” one of your friends and check in daily to see what’s happening at the Capitol. Action Alerts will be sent less frequently than in the past. The best way to stay informed regularly is to read KEA Advocate regularly. |
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