July 12, 2007 — A proposed National Guard alternative school for at-risk youth has become a rallying point for the Senate minority after being held back by the majority to be rewritten amid talk of reassigning its $1.9 appropriation.
The school itself has broad support in both the majority and minority, but came into difficulty during a hearing of the Rules and Judiciary Committee recently. (See “Senate Committee Calls for School Snack Crackdown.”)
Several senators expressed concern that the bill, as written, would not be sufficient to enact the program. Sen. Celestino White raised a related concern, saying the bill’s summary calls for the National Guard to identify at-risk youth. “That doesn’t make any sense,” White said at the time. “The Guard doesn’t have the ability to do that. Only the Department of Education, with its counselors and records, can do that.”
White suggested reassigning $1.9 million in funding for the bill.
“What kind of sense is it to appropriate money and then try to legislate the program to fit the appropriation,” White said during a meeting of the Committee of the Whole July 6. “Does the chicken or the egg come first? … Before us right now are programs that are up and running, and could desperately use the money right away.”
This prompted an impassioned defense from Minority Leader Ronald Russell.
“They are ready to go as soon as the bill is passed,” he said. “They could have the school ready this fall. But if you reprogram the money and start the whole process again, who knows how long it will be?”
A few days later, the minority sent out a press release attacking the majority for sending the bill back to committee.
“The recent action by the Rules Committee demonstrates a disregard for those who this program specifically targets,” Russell said in the release. “Youth at risk of failing in society, in need of intervention and in need of positive lifestyle changes. … This was a non-partisan effort, begun in the 25th Legislature, and it is reprehensible for the Senate majority to play partisan politics at the 11th hour and mislead the public with the deliberate pretense of inadequate resources.”
Sen. Louis Patrick Hill joined Russell in urging the majority to reconsider.
“As last year’s Chairman of the Finance Committee, I ensured that $1.9 million dollars was appropriated for this program, which is funded annually between 60 and 75 percent by the federal government,” he said. “With full support from the Department of Defense and National Guard Bureau, our local National Guard — which has worked relentlessly to see this program come to fruition — is passionate to begin, awaiting only the enacting legislation.”
White’s comments about the school’s funding Thursday were somewhat different from those he made during the hearing.
“I wanted to draw attention to the needs of the CDBG (community development block grant) programs that were not being funded,” he said. “We are in budget markup right now. I don’t see the money being at risk. We have a problem with the language of the bill. I hope the proponents, instead of bellyaching it, will come to the table with the proper changes.”
It seems both the majority and the minority are on board with the program, with the need for changes to the bill and with the need for funding. There may still be hurdles ahead, however.
“We may introduce the bill again as a special order next Thursday in general session,” Sen. Neville James said in a phone conversation this Thursday. “We can amend it at that time, too. … The minority is very serious about trying to bring back in our young, who are falling by the wayside. I am optimistic cooler heads will prevail and we will pass this and start saving our kids.”
The majority may not go along with the special-order plan, however.
“We need to get away from introducing everything at the last minute in special orders,” White said. “The bill needs to be vetted through the committee process.”
Asked whether the bill could go through the committee process in time to be part of this year’s budget, White said there would be budget hearings until September, so there was time if the committee were to make it a priority.
No member of the Legislature has expressed opposition to the program. Most senators are on the record strongly supporting it.
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