1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the provision of scholarships, bonuses, and wage
1-3 supplementation for professional child-care workers.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is amended
1-6 by adding Section 302.006 to read as follows:
1-7 Sec. 302.006. PROFESSIONAL CHILD-CARE TRAINING SCHOLARSHIPS,
1-8 BONUSES, AND WAGE SUPPLEMENTATION. (a) The commission shall
1-9 develop and administer a program under which the commission awards
1-10 scholarships in the amount of $1,000 each for professional
1-11 child-care training to eligible recipients.
1-12 (b) A recipient may use a scholarship awarded under this
1-13 section only to pay expenses associated with obtaining:
1-14 (1) Child Development Associate (CDA) national
1-15 credentials;
1-16 (2) Certified Child-Care Professional (CCP)
1-17 credentials; or
1-18 (3) a level one certificate or associate's degree in
1-19 the area of child development or early childhood education from a
1-20 public or private institution of higher education.
1-21 (c) To be eligible to receive a scholarship awarded under
1-22 this section, a person must:
1-23 (1) be employed in a child-care facility, as defined
1-24 by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code;
2-1 (2) intend to obtain a credential, certificate, or
2-2 degree specified in Subsection (b);
2-3 (3) agree to work in a child-care facility, as defined
2-4 by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code, for at least 18 additional
2-5 months; and
2-6 (4) satisfy any other requirements adopted by the
2-7 commission.
2-8 (d) A person may not receive more than one scholarship
2-9 awarded under this section.
2-10 (e) In addition, the commission may provide for payment of a
2-11 bonus or wage supplementation to a scholarship recipient who for 18
2-12 months after the date of receiving the scholarship provides care
2-13 for children younger than six years of age while remaining in the
2-14 employment of the child-care facility that employed the person when
2-15 the scholarship was awarded. Any bonus or wage supplementation
2-16 provided under this subsection shall be paid in equal shares by the
2-17 scholarship recipient's employer and the commission. The
2-18 commission shall determine the amount of any bonus and the amount
2-19 and duration of any wage supplementation provided under this
2-20 subsection.
2-21 (f) The commission shall fund scholarships and any bonuses
2-22 or wage supplementation provided under this section through federal
2-23 Child Care Development funds or other funding sources available to
2-24 the commission. Total funding may not exceed $2 million per state
2-25 biennium.
2-26 (g) The commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement
2-27 this section. The rules must include provisions that:
3-1 (1) address the computation of the 18-month service
3-2 requirement prescribed by Subsection (c); and
3-3 (2) ensure that the commission may recover scholarship
3-4 money from a recipient who fails to comply with that service
3-5 requirement or any other requirement imposed by the commission.
3-6 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-7 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
3-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2609 was passed by the House on May
12, 1999, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 2609 was passed by the Senate on May
24, 1999, by a viva-voce vote.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor