State News
Colorado Consolidates Seven Programs to Create New Office of Early Childhood
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announced the creation of the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) within the Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS) to consolidate programs and better administer early childhood services. The OEC is designed to streamline early childhood service offerings, assist with program administration, ensure consistently high standards, and improve the flow of information and access to support. The seven existing programs comprising OEC are Child Care Licensing; Child Care Quality Initiatives; Colorado Child Care Assistance Program; Early Childhood Councils; Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation; Early Intervention Colorado Program; and Promoting Safe and Stable Families. Additionally, the Head Start State Collaboration Office and Early Childhood Leadership Commission will support the reorganization by relocating to CDHS. CDHS is currently searching for a director with the aim of opening the new office in August.
(Contact: Kate Nielson)

Iowa Launches Skills Initiative to Certify Career Readiness
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad announced the new Skilled Iowa Initiative, which will promote National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) testing to job seekers, encourage businesses to hire certified workers when applicable, and provide a tool for determining baseline skills of those looking to improve either their own skills or the skills of their employees. The program uses a universal testing system that rates workers on reading and math skills. The tests are designed to reflect how reading and math are applied in a typical workplace. People are awarded an NCRC after passing a set of these tests, providing Iowa’s workers with a standard way to display their skills to current and potential employers. More details are available at the initiative’s website.
(Contact: Lauren Stewart)

Vermont to Reduce Landfill Waste
Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed a bill into law that phases in mandatory recycling and composting requirements to help reduce the amount of waste going to landfills. The law prohibits the disposal of recyclable or compostable materials in a landfill and sets the state down a path towards ensuring that the requirement will be met. Under the new law, solid waste collectors will be required to collect separate recyclables starting in 2014, leaves and other yard waste in 2015, and separate food waste starting in 2017. The law also creates a phased-in approach for commercial food processing facilities that starts in 2014 for the largest producers of food waste and will apply statewide in 2020. The law also requires that all public buildings contain equal numbers of recycling bins and trash cans. The aim of the bill is to reduce the burden on landfills in the state, which are nearing their capacity. The state estimates that it recycles a little over a third of its waste but that half of the remaining waste that ends up in landfills is recyclable or reusable. The state also estimates that each year the compostable or recyclable waste it sends to landfills has a potential economic value of $7.6 million.
(Contact: Andrew Kambour)

Public Safety Working Group Recommendations Become Law in Tennessee
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has signed three bills into law as part of his comprehensive public safety action plan intended to reduce violent crime, lower offender recidivism rates, and minimize drug abuse and trafficking. The governor convened the Public Safety Subcabinet Working Group, which received technical assistance from the National Governors Association and includes commissioners and representatives from 11 state agencies, to develop the multi-year action plan last year. To address the problem of gang violence, the new law increases the penalty for aggravated assault, robbery, and aggravated burglary when committed by three or more people acting in concert. To address domestic violence, which accounted for more than half of all reported crimes in the state in 2011, the new law increases mandatory jail time for repeat domestic assault offenders. In addition, to combat prescription drug abuse, the new law requires prescribers and dispensers of prescription drugs to register with the Controlled Substance Monitoring Database and requires prescribers to check the database for a patient’s controlled substance history before they prescribe an opioid or benzodiazepine.
(Contact: Vijay Das)

Veterans Employment Program to Include Social Services in California
The California Employment Development Department (EDD) announced the winners of $5 million in new grants to help veterans transition from military life into high-wage jobs and civilian careers. The programs receiving the grants are expected to help over 1,200 veterans. Besides education and job placement, veterans in need will receive mental health assistance and wrap-around services such as referrals for housing, transportation, medical care and substance abuse, job coaching, and case management. They will be prepared for careers in a variety of industries, including professional, scientific and technical services, health care, transportation, security, and the utility and energy sectors. Funding for the grants is drawn from the Governor's discretionary fund and the 25 Percent Dislocated Worker portions of the federal Workforce Investment Act monies under the administrative authority of the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency’s EDD.
(Contact: Garrett Groves)

Oregon Releases Energy Action Plan
Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber released the state’s 10-Year Energy Action Plan, which aims to link the state’s economic goals to its energy and transportation objectives. The plan is focused on initiatives in three areas to be implemented over the short and long term. First, the plan sets a goal of meeting 100 percent of growth in the demand for electricity through increased efficiency and conservation. The plan recommends retrofitting or taking other efficiency measures in as buildings owned or operated by the state (which cover as much as four million square feet) to improve energy performance and establish a market for private sector investment. Second, the plan proposes removing financial and regulatory barriers to the development of renewable energy infrastructure, including streamlining permitting and creating workforce development initiatives in the renewable energy sector. Finally, the plan aims to accelerate the transition to a more efficient transportation system through increased support for more fuel-efficient vehicles and infrastructure for electric and other alternative-fuel vehicles. The 10-Year Energy Action Plan was developed over the past six months by the governor’s office in conjunction with a citizen task force, with input from the public and a variety of organizations. A 60-day comment period is now open to receive additional public input into the plan.
(Contact: Andrew Kambour)

Promising Home Visiting Program Helps Families in Kentucky
The Pew Center for the States recently published a profile of Kentucky’s home visiting program, calling it a promising model for integrating home visiting within existing early childhood service systems. Home visiting programs pair families with trained professionals during pregnancy and the child’s infancy in order to improve health, educational, and employment outcomes for the entire family. A growing body of evidence suggests that home visiting works best when delivered in close coordination with other services. As a result, in 2000 Kentucky launched the Health Access Nurturing Development Services (HANDS) program to integrate home visiting within a broader continuum of early childhood services. HANDS is administered by local health departments, which helps maintain the program’s special emphasis on medical services. The home visitors use the “Growing Great Kids” curriculum with the families. Kentucky plans to spend about $22.4 million on HANDS in FY2012, roughly two-thirds of which comes from the federal Medicaid match. The other funding comes from the state’s tobacco settlement fund. Evaluations have shown the HANDS program to be effective in reducing rates of preterm birth, infant mortality, developmental delay, emergency room usage, and substantiated instances of child abuse and neglect. Those outcomes have also resulted in significant cost savings—the Kentucky Department of Health estimates approximately $23 million in avoided medical costs for the state’s health care system.
(Contact: Kelly Murphy)

Independent Agency Completes Examination of Tennessee’s Teacher Evaluation System
Tennessee’s State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) has finished collecting feedback on the state’s new teacher evaluation system from teachers, principals, parents, and other stakeholders, and issued a report detailing early successes, remaining challenges, and policy recommendations. SCORE created the report at the request of Gov. Bill Haslam. SCORE found that under the new system, educators have clearer and more rigorous performance expectations, and individual teachers are using student data more intentionally. Those elements are leading to more self-reflection and collaboration among teachers. However, the report also noted that teachers do not have access to high-quality professional development that ties into the evaluation system’s performance feedback. SCORE also offers seven policy recommendations for improving the evaluation system. The governor’s office and the Tennessee Department of Education may update the evaluation system design after reviewing the process and recommendations.
(Contact: Kate Nielson)

Gov. Hickenlooper: Prevention Key to Reducing Costs of Health Care
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper recently spoke at an international conference on wellness, arguing that the states must address health care costs if they wish to create jobs and that prevention efforts focused on changing behavior are the best way to do so. The governor pointed to information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which suggests that more than 75 percent of health care spending in the U.S. is for chronic conditions that are in some cases preventable through diet, exercise, eliminating tobacco, or limiting alcohol use. Gov. Hickenlooper pointed out that even in Colorado, which has the lowest levels of obesity in the country, the issue costs the state $1.6 billion a year. He suggested that one way state governments can make a difference is marketing healthy behaviors and looking at the possibility of hiring a chief marketing officer. Other state policy examples he cited that are meant to improve health through prevention are incentives to help state employees quit smoking, bike-share programs, and incentives to ease primary care shortages in rural areas.
(Contact: Kelly Murphy)

Gov. Cuomo Proposes Reform for Minor Drug Offenses
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed changing a law that criminalizes public possession of small amounts of marijuana and disproportionately effects minority youth. Under the current law, an individual in possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana in public view can be charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which can carry a sentence of up to three months in prison, while the penalty for private possession is a fine. Of those arrested last year for this offense, 82 percent were African-American or Hispanic and fewer than 10 percent were ultimately convicted. The proposed changes would make the penalty for either a fine. The proposed law would not prevent an officer from requiring a public violator to produce identification, which can help locate offenders wanted for serious crimes. Changing the law could allow significant resources to be redirected to prosecuting serious and violent crimes.
(Contact: Anne-Elizabeth Johnson)

Other News
Court Says State Authorization Requirements Do Not Extend to Online Education Providers
The U.S. Court of Appeals struck down the Department of Education’s extension of state authorization requirements to online programs. The rule would have mandated that schools offering distance education options meet state requirements in any state in which they enroll at least one student. The lawsuit was brought by the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, and primarily affects its for-profit members. However, the holding also will affect non-profit institutions that have a heavy online presence. The decision was made on procedural grounds so that Department of Education is likely to reissue new regulations in line with the holding.
(Contact: Kate Nielson)

Public Health Departments Key to Improving Health Outcomes
The Institute of Medicine released a report calling on the federal government to double public health funding from about $11.6 billion per year to $24 billion, arguing that public health departments are crucial in efforts to improve life expectancy and in reducing overall health care costs. The U.S. already spends more on health care than other nations —altogether roughly $2.9 trillion in 2009— but lags behind other similar countries in life expectancy and infant mortality. The report, For the Public’s Health: Investing in a Healthier Future, discusses the failure of the health care system to use effective preventive strategies and outlines a strong need to move towards the population-based prevention efforts that public health departments can provide and away from what the authors call a “fixation” on clinical care, which is usually provided after problems have developed. To raise the additional funds, the report suggests charging a “transactional tax” on medical care services. The report also endorses building more flexibility into the funding of public health systems and cites the current rigidity as a source of dysfunction.
(Contact: Kelly Murphy)

Report Recommends Reforming Remediation Policies
A report from Complete College America finds that although 1.7 million students enroll in remedial courses, the majority never move on to higher level classes. The report, Remediation: Higher Education’s Bridge to Nowhere, finds that too many students start in remedial classes then become frustrated and drop out or do not continue on to typical college introductory courses. The report instead suggests that students start with college-level courses while receiving extra academic support, so that the extra help is provided as a co-requisite rather than a pre-requisite. The authors also advise that states strengthen high school preparation, embed academic help in introductory courses, and encourage students to enter college-level programs when they first enroll. The report includes state-by-state data and analysis.
(Contact: Kate Nielson)

Tax Collections Growing, But Slowly
The Rockefeller Institute reports that state tax collections continued to grow in the first quarter of 2012, but the rate at which collections are growing is slowing down. Compared to the same period in 2011, the states collected about 4 percent more in revenue. Personal income taxes grew by about 3 percent, while sales taxes grew by 5 percent and corporate income taxes grew by about 2 percent. The institute’s report provides specific information for 47 states.
(Contact: Amanda Dunker)

Integrated Public Health and Emergency Management Plans Could Improve Disaster Response
Coordinating the efforts of public health preparedness and emergency management officials at the state and local level will lead to a more effective response to disasters, according to a report released by the Preparedness, Response and Resilience Task Force at the George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute. Grant funding is provided for public health and homeland security from the Centers for Disease Control and the United States Department of Homeland Security respectively. The report recommends coordination of these grants and their objectives may serve to eliminate duplicative planning. Moreover, the report finds that public health and emergency management systems should improve their information sharing in order to consolidate response efforts.
(Contact: David Henry)

Summit Produces Recommendations for Serving Older Workers
A new report, Tapping Mature Talent: Policies for a 21st Century Workforce, summarizes the findings of a national summit held last month on helping older workers navigate the workforce. The summit was cosponsored by the National Governors Association and the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL). CAEL, using a grant from the Department of Labor, has been providing technical assistance to 10 state subgrantees on an initiative focusing on the importance of mature workers to the economy and the need to assist them in preparing for new jobs and careers. Summit participants discussed the work going on in the 10 states and the conclusions of four papers commissioned as part of the initiative.

Those discussions helped identify priority areas for policy change and other action at the national, state, and local levels. A few of the key recommendations were providing incentives for employers to hire and train mature workers, ensuring that government agencies are model employers, and providing incentives for postsecondary institutions to support mature workers and their learning needs. Participants also discussed the need to restructure the public workforce system (currently funded primarily through the Workforce Investment Act) so that it serves all workers and job seekers, and so it provides consistent, adequate, and flexible funding.
(Contact: Lauren Stewart)

Reports Examine Redesigning Workforce Systems; Plight of Recent Graduates
The Heldrich Center has released two reports that look at the economy and the state of the workforce. The first report, The State of the U.S. Workforce System: A Time for Incremental Realignment or Serious Reform? aims to start a dialogue about the U.S. workforce system, and what it would look like if it were built for today's economy and by using today's tools and processes. The report seeks to spark conversations that can lead to a re-imagination and redesign of a system that can adapt to fundamentally changed circumstances.

The second report, Left Out. Forgotten? Recent High School Graduates and the Great Recession, is a national survey of people who graduated from high school between 2006 to 2011 and are not attending college full time. The survey found that only 27 percent have full-time jobs and that another 15 percent are employed part time but looking for full-time jobs. Nearly 33 percent of respondents were unemployed, and about 16 percent had left the labor market. Of the respondents with jobs, 70 percent reported that their job is temporary. The survey also found that 90 percent of the employed respondents are paid hourly. The current median wage for respondents with full-time work is only $9.25.
(Contact: Lauren Stewart)