By: Ellis, West S.B. No. 1490
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to the administration of federal and state-funded
1-2 child-care programs and to training for local workforce development
1-3 boards.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 302.043, Labor Code, is
1-6 amended to read as follows:
1-7 (a) The division shall provide management and board
1-8 development training for all members of local workforce development
1-9 boards that includes information regarding client eligibility
1-10 determination, early childhood education, vendor management, the
1-11 importance of high-quality workforces, and the complexity of
1-12 managing multiple state and federal child-care funding sources and
1-13 that [to the economic prosperity of their communities and]
1-14 encourages board members to be advocates in their communities for
1-15 effective and efficient workforce development programs and for the
1-16 improvement of child-care quality. If a member of a local
1-17 workforce development board does not receive training under this
1-18 section before the 91st day after the date on which the member
1-19 begins service on the board, the person is ineligible to continue
1-20 serving on the board unless the training required under this
1-21 subsection was requested by the member but not provided by the
1-22 division.
1-23 SECTION 2. Section 302.043, Labor Code, is amended by adding
1-24 Subsection (c) to read as follows:
2-1 (c) The division shall ensure that a local workforce
2-2 development board receives training under Subsection (a) before the
2-3 board begins to manage the delivery of child-care services.
2-4 SECTION 3. Section 44.061, Human Resources Code, is amended
2-5 to read as follows:
2-6 Sec. 44.061. STATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE. (a) The State
2-7 Advisory Committee on Child-Care Programs is appointed by the Texas
2-8 Workforce Commission [Board of Human Services] on the
2-9 recommendation of the executive director of the Texas Workforce
2-10 Commission [Commissioner of Human Services].
2-11 (b) The committee shall consist of 20 members, not including
2-12 ex officio members, who serve two-year terms.
2-13 (c) The Texas Workforce Commission [Board of Human Services]
2-14 shall appoint the advisory committee to provide for balanced
2-15 representation of:
2-16 (1) parents, guardians, or custodians of children who
2-17 use child-care programs;
2-18 (2) child-care advocacy groups;
2-19 (3) operators and providers of child-care programs and
2-20 services representing rural and urban communities;
2-21 (4) for profit and nonprofit providers of child-care
2-22 services representing rural and urban communities;
2-23 (5) experts in early childhood development and
2-24 education;
2-25 (6) experts in child health and nutrition;
2-26 (7) other child-care professionals;
2-27 (8) the general public; and
3-1 (9) ex officio representatives from each state agency
3-2 that has an interest or role in state child-care programs.
3-3 (d) The Texas Workforce Commission [Department of Human
3-4 Services] shall provide to the committee staff support and other
3-5 support necessary to operate the committee.
3-6 (e) A member of the committee is not entitled to
3-7 compensation but is entitled to reimbursement of the travel
3-8 expenses incurred by the member while conducting the business of
3-9 the board, as provided by the General Appropriations Act [Section
3-10 22.009 applies to the committee].
3-11 (f) The committee shall advise and assist [the Texas
3-12 Department of Human Services and] the Texas Workforce Commission in
3-13 developing coordinated state policies for the use of federal and
3-14 state funds in child-care programs, including policies relating to
3-15 the:
3-16 (1) review of any state plan required for the use of
3-17 federal or state funds;
3-18 (2) development of a coordinated and comprehensive
3-19 training program for child-care providers;
3-20 (3) establishment of guidelines providing technical
3-21 assistance to child-care providers, including loans, grants, or
3-22 training;
3-23 (4) development of a quality improvement program for
3-24 federal and state funded child-care services;
3-25 (5) review of public access to current child-care
3-26 services, with special emphasis placed on special needs populations
3-27 and localities of the state with limited child-care programs;
4-1 (6) development of consumer education programs related
4-2 to the access and selection of child-care services;
4-3 (7) review of appropriations to child-care programs;
4-4 (8) review of expenditures of child-care programs; and
4-5 (9) review of state efforts to maximize access to
4-6 federal child-care funding.
4-7 (g) The committee shall review child-care policies and
4-8 programs for compliance with applicable guidelines and shall advise
4-9 the Texas Workforce Commission [Board of Human Services, the
4-10 commission, and the Texas Department of Human Services] on the
4-11 results of the review.
4-12 (h) The Texas Workforce Commission [Department of Human
4-13 Services], with assistance from the committee, shall hold biennial
4-14 public hearings on state and federal child-care programs to elicit
4-15 public response and recommendations regarding the quality,
4-16 accessibility, and affordability of child-care services. The
4-17 hearings must be held in at least three separate geographical
4-18 regions of the state and may be held in conjunction with other
4-19 public hearings on child-care held by the Texas Workforce
4-20 Commission [Department of Human Services].
4-21 (i) The committee shall annually report its findings and
4-22 recommendations to the Texas Workforce Commission [Board of Human
4-23 Services].
4-24 (j) The Texas Workforce Commission shall adopt rules to
4-25 implement this section.
4-26 SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-27 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the
5-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.