Senator Jacobs Protects Head Start Funding 4/09

On the Senate floor today, Senator Nancy Jacobs, R - Harford & Cecil Counties, questioned the rationale of eliminating the state funds to support Head Start programs and offered an amendment to fully restore the funding.

In the budget plan of the House Appropriations Committee, the state contribution supporting existing Head Start centers was swapped out and replaced with federal stimulus funds.  However, the federal Department of Health and Human Services has informed the Maryland State Department of Education that the federal stimulus funds can only be used for program expansions and enhancements to Head Start - not for ongoing costs.

The Budget and Tax Committee amended the House language to make the cut in state funding to Head Start contingent upon the approval of fund swap by the federal government.  If the federal government disapproves, then the state funding of Head Start will be automatically restored under the new budget language.