Although it's official name is the Children's Movement of Florida it's called the Milk Party and its goals are to increase investment in Florida's children. The bipartisan group  was founded, and is co-chaired, by former Miami Herald publisher and long-time child advocate David Lawrence.

The Milk Party was born from the growing realization that what happens in early childhood is the biggest factor in determining how well children will do in nearly every aspect of their lives. Study after study has confirmed this fact and people are beginning to realize that our future success as a society depends on how well we provide for our children today. The party was also born from the sad fact that Florida, the fourth largest state for numbers of children,is consistently ranked at the bottom of national studies of child welfare.

Florida ranks 49th in the nation in percentage of uninsured children, with more than 18 percent of its children - nearly 800,000 - uninsured, almost double the national average. Florida meets just two of eight benchmarks for children's dental health, while more than half the state's children on Medicaid received no dental services at all in 2007, the last year for which data are available. Lawrence points out that the state spends less than $2,600 on a child's enrollment in pre-kindergarten, but $51,000 to house a juvenile in a secure facility.

"You know the statistics. You know how badly we under-invest," Lawrence said recently."If you look at money the state actually controls, not federal money, you'll find out that in state money, we spend three percent of the budget on early intervention and prevention. We're surely better people than this."

So far the party has a million dollars in private funding and major policy making experience amongst its members. Republican attorney Roberto Martinez of Miami, a member of the state Board of Education, is the co-chair. On the steering committee: former Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings, former Secretary of the Department of Children and Families Bob Butterworth, and former House Speakers Allen Bense and Jon Mills. They're calling for greater commitment to pre-kindergarten, child health care, prenatal care and mentoring programs - and are planning 15 rallies across Florida in September to alert the public.