BILL ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1979

By: Raney

International Relations & Economic Development

Committee Report (Substituted)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

The 28 local workforce development boards across Texas have the critical responsibility to help families access child-care services, allocate federal child-care funding, and support local initiatives to improve the quality and sustainability of child care in Texas. Unfortunately, statewide policies to strengthen these boards' child-care operations have not recently been updated, and the state's performance targets don't allow local boards to adequately support the different types of care needed to meet local needs. As a result, support available for families can vary dramatically based on where they live and go to work.

Additionally, stakeholders have noted various operational issues with these boards, including families and providers facing difficulties when using some of the boards' websites; limited access by stakeholders to actionable data on child-care availability, quality, and programming in their communities; board membership too often lacking sufficient child-care expertise; and a lack of local control over targeted metrics, which limits the ability of the boards to most effectively address pressing local needs. C.S.H.B. 1979 seeks to address these issues and ensure better outcomes for Texas families.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.

ANALYSIS

C.S.H.B. 1979 amends the Government Code to revise the membership requirements for a local workforce development board. The bill repeals the requirement for at least one board member to have expertise in child care or early childhood education in addition to the other qualifications applicable to their appointment. The bill instead includes owners and operators of child-care businesses among the board members appointed on the basis of having substantial private sector management or policy responsibilities and requires that these individuals constitute at least 10 percent of the board members who are appointed as private sector representatives. Moreover, the bill includes among the board's membership representatives of the child-care workforce, including persons with expertise in child care or early childhood education who are not among the board's representatives of the private sector.

C.S.H.B. 1979 requires each local workforce development board to post the following information prominently on the home page of its website and at any physical location where it provides services:

· information for parents regarding the following:

o finding quality child-care providers;

o eligibility for child-care assistance, including subsidized child-care services and other child-care scholarships;

o the application process for child-care assistance; and

o determining the status of a financial assistance application;

· information for child-care providers regarding the process for accepting children whose parents receive child-care assistance and the Texas Rising Star Program certification process;

· information regarding the value of quality child care and the Texas Rising Star Program; and

· contact information, including a telephone number and an email address, where a child-care provider may receive assistance with questions or bring a grievance.

C.S.H.B. 1979 requires each local workforce development board to make the following information available to the public on a quarterly basis:

· data regarding child-care waitlists, including the number of children in the board's workforce development area who are:

o on a waitlist, disaggregated by age and zip code based on the child's home address;

o taken off a waitlist and enrolled with a child-care provider under the subsidized child-care program; and

o added to a waitlist during the quarter;

· the number of children in the board's workforce development area receiving subsidized child care, disaggregated by zip code based on the child's home address;

· data regarding child-care providers, including the number of providers in the board's workforce development area who during the quarter improved their Texas Rising Star Program rating level, had their program rating level decrease, and received quality dollars from the board; and

· data regarding the outcomes related to quality dollars provided by the board to child-care providers in its workforce development area.

C.S.H.B. 1979 amends the Labor Code to require the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) to develop appropriate training and provide the training to local workforce development boards and persons who contract with a board to provide services related to the subsidized child-care program. The bill requires TWC to develop a reasonable timeline for implementing each change it makes to rules regarding its subsidized child-care program.

C.S.H.B. 1979 requires TWC to establish child-care performance targets in a manner that accounts for cost differentials related to providing child-care services to various populations. The bill requires TWC, in setting the performance targets, to consider the following:

· the total number of children served by child-care providers in a local workforce development board's workforce development area;

· the number of children served by Texas Rising Star Program providers in a board's workforce development area with a two-star, three-star, or four-star rating;

· the needs and ages of children served by child-care providers in a board's workforce development area;

· the types of providers commonly selected by parents in a board's workforce development area; and

· any other factors determined necessary by TWC, including data-driven factors provided to TWC by a board.

The bill requires TWC, at least once every six months during the performance period, to review its child-care performance targets and funding based on those targets and make adjustments based on the cost differentials used at the time the performance targets were initially set.

C.S.H.B. 1979 repeals Section 2308.256(g), Government Code.

EFFECTIVE DATE

September 1, 2023.

COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE

While C.S.H.B. 1979 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.

Whereas the introduced included a requirement for TWC to structure performance targets for child-care services to allow local workforce development boards to address the needs in the workforce development area identified by the board through a community needs assessment, the substitute does not. The substitute requires TWC instead to establish child-care performance targets in a manner that accounts for cost differentials related to providing child-care services to various populations. Moreover, the substitute also omits the provision from the introduced authorizing TWC to establish alternative performance targets that are set by different metrics, including certain specified metrics, as well as the provisions requiring TWC by rule to define the approval process for the alternative performance targets, develop the components of and procedures for administering a community needs assessment in local workforce development areas, and determine the allocation of funds to meet alternative performance targets.

The substitute includes a provision that requires TWC to consider certain factors in setting its child-care performance targets and sets out those considerations. Of the alternative performance targets included in the introduced, the substitute retains two as required considerations in setting the performance targets, which are the following:

· the total number of children served by child-care providers in the board's workforce development area; and

· the number of children served by Texas Rising Star Program providers in the board's workforce development area with a three-star or four-star rating.

The substitute, however, revises the latter of those by also including program providers with a two-star rating. The substitute omits the remaining alternative metrics specified in the introduced, which were:

· the number of infants and toddlers served by child-care providers in the board's workforce development area;

· the number of children served by child-care providers in the board's workforce development area if the area is located in:

o an area where the number of children younger than six years of age who have working parents is at least three times greater than the capacity of licensed child-care providers in the area; or

o an area determined by TWC to be underserved with respect to child-care providers; and

· the number of children served by providers in the board's workforce development area who provide care during non-traditional hours.

With respect to the considerations set out in the substitute, those without an analogous provision in the introduced are the following:

· the needs and ages of children served by child-care providers in a board's workforce development area;

· the types of providers commonly selected by parents in a board's workforce development area; and

· any other factors determined necessary by TWC, including data-driven factors provided to TWC by a board.

The substitute includes provisions that were not in the introduced requiring TWC, at least once every six months during the performance period, to review its child-care performance targets and funding based on those targets and make adjustments based on the cost differentials used at the time the performance targets were initially set.

The introduced and the substitute each include a requirement for TWC to develop appropriate training with respect to its subsidized child-care program, however the substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced also requiring TWC to provide the training to local workforce development boards and persons who contract with a board to provide services related to the subsidized child-care program. The substitute omits the specification from the introduced that the training developed be written.

The substitute omits the provision from the introduced limiting the Texas Rising Star Program providers classified as quality child-care providers for purposes of the annual evaluation by TWC of the allocation formulas for child-care development funds to only three-star or four-star program providers.

The introduced and the substitute both require a local workforce development board to include representatives of the child-care workforce. However, the substitute omits the provision from the introduced requiring these members to constitute not less than 25 percent of the total board membership. Additionally, the substitute requires all members appointed as representatives of the child-care workforce to have experience in child care or early childhood education and qualifying work experience, whereas the introduced allowed an individual to be appointed as a representative of the child-care workforce on the basis of having qualifying work experience as an alternative to having such educational experience. Finally, the substitute includes a provision absent from the introduced that includes owners and operators of child-care businesses among the board members appointed on the basis of having substantial private sector management or policy responsibilities and requires that these individuals constitute not less than 10 percent of the private sector representatives on the board.