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Meet NAFGPD's Washington Representative
Click here for a February 2009 - Legislative Committee Report. Click here for a flow chart of The Appropriations and Budget Process.
DATE: August 18, 2008 Congress is in recess during the month of August. Most Members return home during recess to catch up on local issues and those Members facing Election Day in November will use the time to campaign as well. It is the perfect time to invite your Members of Congress or their key staff to visit your local project and let them see first hand how your program and Foster Grandparents are improving your community. You're probably thinking, what's happened to the FY 2009 appropriations process? Work on the appropriations bills is far from being completed. The House passed the Military Construction, Veterans Administration and Related Agencies appropriations bill before the August recess. That is the only appropriations bill that has been passed by either body of Congress. Many subcommittee and Full Committee markups are pending. As reported earlier, the Senate Labor-HHS-Education appropriations subcommittee (which has jurisdiction over the Corporation for National and Community Service) has marked-up, and the Senate Appropriations Full Committee markup of the FY 2009 Labor-HHS-Education bill has also occurred. The House Labor-HHS-Education appropriations subcommittee has also marked up; however, the House Full Committee markup was not completed and has not been rescheduled. While work will proceed on the remaining appropriations bills when Congress reconvenes in September, they will not have much time at their disposal. Since Members will be anxious to get back home and campaign, Congress should adjourn at the end of September/early October. Given this scenario, it is likely that Congress will pass a Continuing Resolution through next year and thus complete the FY 2009 appropriations process under the new President. We will keep you apprised of any new developments regarding the appropriations process as they occur. September will be a busy month for NAFGPD. President Bush will host a "Call to Service Event" on the South Lawn of the Whitehouse on September 8 that will highlight national and volunteer service over the last seven years. As NAFGPD President, I am honored and humbled to be invited to attend this event along with CNCS staff, other valued partners and volunteers. NAFGPD will be represented at the ServiceNation Summit in New York City on September 11 and 12. This Summit has the potential to be a very important one for the future of FGP and national service in our country. Since I will be your representative at the Summit, I welcome any messages, thoughts or ideas you want to share with me before I head to New York City. The NAFGPD Board will meet in Washington, DC on September 13-17. Please contact your Cluster Representatives to voice your opinion on any FGP issues. As always, thanks to all of you for responding to our e-mails and calls and for everything you do on behalf of FGP. I hope you have a safe, productive and relaxing rest of the summer. TO: Foster Grandparent Program Directors FROM: Sherry Black, National Association of Foster Grandparent Program Directors President and Jessica Malow, Washington Representative DATE: June 27, 2008 $40,825,000 RESTORED FOR FGP! The Senate Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies appropriation's subcommittee marked up their FY09 funding bill on Tuesday morning. The subcommittee rejected the $40, 825,000 cut recommended for FGP in the President's Budget Request. The full $40,825,000 was restored for FGP which brings the program back to the FY08 appropriated level of funding for the program. Full Committee markup took place today at 2:00 p.m. Obviously, after several anxious months following the release of the FY09 CNCS Budget Request, the news from both the Senate Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies appropriation's subcommittee markup and from the Senate Appropriations Committee markup is very good news for FGP. Please take a moment to thank your Senators and their staff who made sure to protect funding for the Foster Grandparent Program. Your calls and letters were heard. NAFGPD members have been working together for the past several months to educate Members of Congress about the $40.825 million cut and how it would affect FGP, to reach out to the program's supporters on the Hill and ask for their help once again, and to encourage new champions to fight to protect funding for the program. The House Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies appropriation's subcommittee marked up their F09 funding bill on June 19, 2008. Full Committee markup was scheduled today for 10:00 a.m. While the markup began at 10:00 a.m., the House Appropriations Committee abruptly adjourned later on. It is not clear at this time when Full Committee Markup for the Labor-HHS-Education and Related Agencies FY09 funding bill will be rescheduled. We will continue to keep you posted. We appreciate your time and effort to help restore funding for FGP. As we often say, together we cannot fail! NAFGPD Alert - DATE: June 18, 2008 TO: Foster Grandparent Program Directors FROM: Sherry Black, National Association of Foster Grandparent Program Directors President and Jessica Malow, Washington Representative Subject: APPROPRIATIONS ALERT! Please call ... Time is of the essence! Thank you very much for sending in your letters of support on behalf of Foster Grandparent Programs. More than 3,000 letters have been delivered to Congress. Now we need to make a few calls before the dates listed below. If your U. S. Representative (House Member) or Senator is one of the subcommittee members listed at the end of this message, your calls and emails are vital. I recommend that in addition to a phone call, you also send an e-mail. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact any NAFGPD Board Member. If needed, please share these outcomes of proposed cut, especially the affect the cut will have on your program:
Conclude again by respectfully requesting that your Congressman/woman contact the House Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Chairman Dave Obey (D-WI) and Ranking Member James Walsh (R-NY) (if they are a U. S. Representative). For your Senators, please ask them to contact the Senate Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Ranking Member Arlen Specter (R-PA) in support of critical funding needed for the FGP program. MAJORITY: Chairman: Dave Obey (WI) MINORITY: Ranking Member: James T. Walsh (NY) I would like to say to all FGP project directors, thank you very much for all that you do on behalf of your Foster Grandparent Program and for programs across the nation. It was wonderful to meet many of you at the National Conference in Atlanta. Let's make some calls. Click here to see a flow chart of The Appropriations & Budget Process NAFGPD Alert - FROM: Jane Watkins, President and Jessica Malow,NAFGPD Washington Representative DATE: 2/4/08 RE: FY 2009 Budget Information Alert Last year FGP faced an unprecedented 12.1% cut in the President's Budget Request, yet faced this formidable challenge head-on. Because of your overwhelming response to the cut and NAFGPD's effective advocacy for FGP before Congress, Congress rejected the President's proposal. Now in FY09 we are faced with an even greater challenge. The President's FY09 Budget Request recommends a $40 million cut for FGP. We cannot hope to understand why the Administration would significantly cut a program that impacts so positively the lives of 284,000 children, teenagers, and their families, however, we CAN fight back. We will be contacting you in the upcoming weeks and months as we launch a major, long-term effort on several fronts to restore funding for FGP. Background The President's (also known as "the Administration's") FY 2008 Budget Request was released yesterday. This FY 2009 Budget Request represents the President's proposed spending plan to Congress for the period 10/1/2008 through 9/30/2009. The FY 2009 Budget Request for the Foster Grandparent Program was developed in conjunction with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). To support the figures in the President's Budget, CNCS also released today its very detailed, 166-page Budget Justification for the FY 2009 proposed spending plan. Important clarification, worth repeating: The President's Budget is a spending plan that is being proposed to Congress. Both the House and the Senate must now consider this plan and develop an FY 2009 spending plan of their own. Discretionary spending, which includes funding for FGP, is dealt with each year through the annual appropriations process. Appropriation Bills may contain some of the President's proposals for spending for various programs but will likely be very, very different in respect to funding for programs that are important to Congress. The appropriations process will take months, -- there is plenty of time for concerned citizens and voters to provide input to Congress on how they think dollars should be spent in FY 2009. Why is this clarification so important? Because the news for FGP in the President's and CNCS' FY 2009 spending plan is devastating. Although the details of "how" CNCS plans to implement their spending plan if it is passed by the Congress are not clear, this is what we know for sure: If Congress passes the President's Budget as-is, by the end of FY 2009 (9/30/2009): * Funding for FGP will be slashed by $40 million dollars; In the last 15 years, the President has proposed cutting FGP's funding at least 4 times. Each time, NAFGPD-with your invaluable help - has been able to work with Congress to reverse the proposed cuts for FGP. Please help FGP, your volunteers, and your programs by responding to NAFGPD's calls for letters and faxes and emails to Congress from you, your sponsor, your community, your sites, and your volunteers. We just learned about this devastating cut today. Let me assure you that NAFGPD will be working with our Washington Representative to develop a plan to reverse this proposed cut that will definitely cripple our programs if implemented. Please let your sponsor, advisory council, and community leaders know the consequences this cut will have on your community. We will be calling on you and your supporters for help. Please contact a member of the NAFGPD executive committee if you have further questions. Together, we will not fail! NAFGPD Alert - January 30, 2008 Dear Foster Grandparent Program Director, Each year the Corporation for National and Community Service honors outstanding volunteers at the National Conference on Volunteering and Service. Please visit: http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/spiritofservice/seniorcorps.asp to nominate one of your foster grandparent volunteers for the outstanding FGP Service Award. The deadline for nominations is February 10, 2008. Since we will all be at the National Conference, let's honor the excellent service that our foster grandparents provide by sending in our nominations. We know that all of our foster grandparents deserve the Outstanding Service Award but only one foster grandparent can receive the award. This is a competitive process; make sure that your nomination distinctly sets your nominee apart from others by illustrating the exceptional service that your foster grandparent provides outside the realm of regular foster grandparent activities. The President's FY 2009 budget will be released on Monday, February 4, 2008. We will be in contact with you after we see the numbers for FGP. Remember last year the President's budget provided a $13M cut for Foster Grandparent Programs and we were able to get the cut restored in the House and the Senate. The President's proposed budget will be the starting point for our work. Reminder: Please renew your membership if you have not done so. We are looking forward to seeing you in Atlanta. Jane Watkins, President Letter from Jessica to NAFGPD Members, June 2007.
On March 29, 2007 - NAFGPD President, Jane Watkins, and Foster Grandparent, Lucille Stout, testify in support of funding for Foster Grandparent Programs.
TESTIMONY OF JANE WATKINS AND LUCILLE STOUT SUBMITTED TO THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, EDUCATION AND RELATED AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SUBJECT: FISCAL YEAR 2008 APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE FOSTER GRANDPARENT PROGRAM A Program of the Corporation for National and Community Service March 29, 2007
Click here to a read a transcript of Jane's testimony. Click here to read a transcript of Lucille's testimony.
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Jessica Malow is an Associate Vice President at Van Scoyoc Associates, Inc. (VSA). At VSA, Malow works for a variety of higher education coalitions and institutions with a focus on research, research infrastructure capacity, technology and economic development. In addition, she also represents private companies and health care organizations.