SRC-CDH C.S.S.B. 1112 75(R)BILL ANALYSIS Senate Research CenterC.S.S.B. 1112 By: Ellis Health & Human Services 3-31-97 Committee Report (Substituted) DIGEST Currently, a growing number of Texas children have both parents or their only parent in the workforce. Parents seeking reliable, safe, and convenient child care often find it difficult to locate useful information to guide their decisions, and many parents rely on simple word-of-mouth recommendations or the availability of an opening. Presently, Texas has no strategy to deliver comprehensive child-care information to parents. In addition, the federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, which requires states to move 50 percent of welfare recipients to work by 2002 and will demand greater statewide child care capacity, gives this issue a sense of urgency. C.S.S.B. 1112 creates such a guide to assist child-care consumers in making informed choices regarding child-care services and to provide useful information regarding the child-care industry by providing a directory of accredited service providers complete with comprehensive information about the nature and quality of the services available, and current information about early childhood development and factors for consideration in choosing child care. In addition, this legislation creates an interagency work group to assist the comptroller in developing and updating the guide. PURPOSE As proposed, C.S.S.B. 1112 establishes the creation of a statewide guide on child care. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY This bill does not grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, institution, or agency. SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS SECTION 1. Amends Chapter 403B, Government Code, by adding Section 403.026, as follows: Sec. 403.026. CHILD-CARE GUIDE; INTERAGENCY WORK GROUP. Requires the comptroller to develop and periodically update a statewide guide for child care designed to assist child-care consumers in making informed choices regarding available child-care services and to provide useful information regarding the child-care industry to child-care service providers. Requires the guide to contain a directory of accredited service providers of child care; contain information on service providers, early childhood development, considerations in making child-care choices, child care for children with disabilities, training opportunities, best practices, and financing options, among others. Requires the guide to enable a child-care consumer to assess available child-care options. Creates an interagency work group to assist the comptroller in developing and updating the guide. Sets forth the composition of the work group, the method for appointing and electing officers, the compensation of members, and meeting times. Provides that a member of the work group serves at the will of the appointing agency, and establishes that the work group is not subject to Article 6252-33, V.T.C.S. Requires the comptroller to make the guide available to the public in electronic format and through the Internet. SECTION 2. Requires the comptroller to complete development of the guide not later than January 1, 1998, and to make the guide available in the manner required. SECTION 3. Emergency clause. Effective date: upon passage. SUMMARY OF COMMITTEE CHANGES Amends the relating clause to provide for the development of a statewide guide, rather than a statewide consumer guide, on child care. SECTION 1. Amends Section 403.026, Government Code, to change the heading to read, "CHILD-CARE GUIDE; INTERAGENCY WORK GROUP." Replaces all references to "statewide consumer guide" with "statewide guide." Requires the comptroller to develop and update a guide designed to provide useful information regarding the child-care industry to child-care service providers. Revises the list of the required contents for the guide. Deletes the provision requiring the comptroller to make the guide available in print. SECTION 2. Replaces the reference to "child-care consumer guide" with "child-care guide."