By Tillery                                            H.B. No. 3333
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to certain duties of local workforce development boards in
 1-3     connection  with the provision of child care.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter G, Chapter 2308, Government Code, is
 1-6     amended by adding Sections 2308.315 and 2308.316 to read as
 1-7     follows:
 1-8           Sec. 2308.315.  REIMBURSEMENT RATES FOR CHILD CARE.  Each
 1-9     board shall establish graduated reimbursement rates for child care
1-10     based on the Texas Workforce Commission's designated vendor
1-11     program.  The minimum reimbursement rate must be 80 percent of the
1-12     local rate based on a current market survey.  The vendor program
1-13     must be voluntary and have standards related to the accreditation
1-14     and certification held by the vendor.  The minimum reimbursement
1-15     rate for a facility that does not participate in the voluntary
1-16     designated vendor program must be at least 75 percent of the local
1-17     rate based on the current market survey.
1-18           Sec. 2308.316.  FUNDING OF COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT SYSTEM FOR
1-19     INFANT AND TODDLER CHILD CARE.  (a)  Each board shall allocate a
1-20     portion of the board's federal child care development funds to a
1-21     competitive procurement system that encourages the provision of
1-22     child care for children under four years of age in registered
1-23     family homes that:
1-24                 (1)  meet the requirements of the Department of
 2-1     Protective and Regulatory Services;
 2-2                 (2)  have low child-to-staff ratios;
 2-3                 (3)  have at least five years of experience with child
 2-4     care contracts;
 2-5                 (4)  provide a homelike environment;
 2-6                 (5)  are located near where the children reside; and
 2-7                 (6)  have flexible hours of operation that meet the
 2-8     needs of parents who  do not have traditional working hours.
 2-9           (b)  Only a voluntary participant in the Texas Workforce
2-10     Commission's designated vendor program shall be eligible to
2-11     participate under this section.
2-12           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-13           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-14     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-15     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-16     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-17     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.