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May 16, 2006
Trouble brewing in
St. Paul A backroom deal would betray the
voters & children
HF4162 in the House and SF3781 in
the Senate
Rep. Meslow: "Don't count early
childhood out yet." The
conference committee on the "State Government Finance
Bill" began meeting at 8:00 p.m. last night, May 15th. The
Senate version
bill includes a $23 million package of all the bad Nanny State
provisions EdAction has warned about. None of this is in the House bill,
but expect efforts to slip it into the conference committee
"agreement" anyway.
Last week,
Rep. Doug Meslow (R-White Bear Lake), House author of the Nanny State
provisions, predicted, "Don't count early childhood out
yet." In other words, Meslow expects to have a good shot at
getting it passed, in spite of the fact that this $23 million package was
not approved by a single House committee this session. How can this
happen? Here's how, and we fear a betrayal is brewing.
The
greatest concern is that the Governor, the Speaker of the House, and the
Majority Leader of the Senate could make a closed door, backroom deal
among themselves, and the conferees would be forced to deliver. You
are now forewarned that a deal like this could be in the making. Such
a deal would directly betray the citizens, and especially the parents of
young children, in this state who have elected men and women to represent
them. These leaders must be reminded that they represent the families
of Minnesota, not powerful insiders who like to call the shots behind
closed doors.
Wealthy
corporate business groups and special interest social planners (like
Ready4K, the Federal Reserve, and those behind the unaccountable public
private partnership created in
Minnesota
Early Learning Foundation) want this, and some legislators within
both political parties envision campaign money coming into their coffers
if they deliver the goods. They fear the editorial page fury of leftist
newspapers which long ago abandoned pro-family policies in favor of
centralized government planning. These legislators fear attacks from the
left more than they fear a potential backlash from their constituents who
understand our families are under attack.
The
Profile of Learning was created by the same corporate interest groups and
leftist social planners, working with legislative leaders who allowed
themselves to be cajoled and manipulated. Many of those very same people
are now involved in putting in place the
"Profile of
Learning for preschoolers," called the Kindergarten Readiness
Assessment. This program is based on the Early Childhood Indicators of
Progress, and it includes mental health screening; interventions
based on vague, inaccurate, and subjective state outcomes; and taxpayer
funded grants to child care providers and "family, friends, and
neighbors" to participate in state training in the state's idea of
proper parenting based on these bogus state Indicators.
Please call and
e-mail the Governor, Speaker and Majority Leader
today!
Tell them that a backroom deal to pass the $23 million
Senate early childhood proposals in the state government finance
bill
will betray the voters of Minnesota.
No time for inside deals Last
night while the omnibus finance bill conference committee took testimony
on the early childhood provisions including from Dr. Effrem, Senator
Hottinger (DFL - St Peter) used his usual smearing and bullying tactics
to try to deny the radical and academically bankrupt content in the early
childhood Indicators and assessment. He ignored testimony in his own
committee of the child care providers who would be hurt or driven out of
business if they did not make this government curriculum an integral part
of what they teach. His contempt for parental concerns and for
independent and religious childcare providers was palpable.
A backroom
deal to impose the Nanny State take-over of early childcare would
demonstrate a similar contempt for voters. It is up to each of us and all
of the family, friends, and neighbors we can muster to let the leaders of
this great state know right now, before it's too late, that imposing a
government take-over of early child care and universal mental health
screening on our kids will be met with a voter backlash. This is not a
time for inside deals.
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