This website will be unavailable from Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. through Monday, June 3, 2024 at 7:00 a.m. due to data center maintenance.



	Amend CSHB 2048 by adding the following appropriately 
numbered SECTION to the bill and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS 
accordingly:
	SECTION __.  (a)  Section 531.0312, Government Code, is 
amended by adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
	(e)  Each local workforce development board, the Texas Head 
Start State Collaboration Office, and each school district shall 
provide the Texas Information and Referral Network with information 
regarding eligibility for and availability of child-care and 
education services for inclusion in the statewide information and 
referral network.  The local workforce development boards, Texas 
Head Start State Collaboration Office, and school districts shall 
provide the information in a form determined by the executive 
commissioner.  In this subsection, "child-care and education 
services" has the meaning assigned by Section 531.03131.
	(b)  Subchapter B, Chapter 531, Government Code, is amended 
by adding Section 531.03131 to read as follows:
	Sec. 531.03131.  ELECTRONIC ACCESS TO CHILD-CARE AND 
EDUCATION SERVICES REFERRAL INFORMATION.  (a)  In this section, 
"child-care and education services" means:
		(1)  subsidized child-care services administered by 
the Texas Workforce Commission and local workforce development 
boards and funded wholly or partly by federal child-care 
development funds;
		(2)  child-care and education services provided by a 
Head Start or Early Head Start program provider;
		(3)  child-care and education services provided by a 
school district through a prekindergarten or after-school program; 
and
		(4)  any other government-funded child-care and 
education services, other than education and services provided by a 
school district as part of the general program of public and 
secondary education, designed to educate or provide care for 
children under the age of 13 in middle- or low-income families.
	(b)  In addition to providing health and human services 
information, the Texas Information and Referral Network Internet 
site established under Section 531.0313 shall provide information 
to the public regarding child-care and education services provided 
by public or private entities throughout the state.  The Internet 
site will serve as a single point of access through which a person 
may be directed on how or where to apply for all child-care and 
education services available in the person's community.
	(c)  The Internet site must:                                            
		(1)  be geographically indexed and designed to inform 
an individual about the child-care and education services provided 
in the area where the person lives;
		(2)  contain prescreening questions to determine a 
person's or family's probable eligibility for child-care and 
education services; and
		(3)  be designed in a manner that allows staff of the 
Texas Information and Referral Network to:
			(A)  provide an applicant with the telephone 
number, physical address, and electronic mail address of the 
nearest Head Start or Early Head Start office or center and local 
workforce development center and the appropriate school district; 
and
			(B)  send an electronic mail message to each 
appropriate entity described by Paragraph (A) containing the name 
of and contact information for each applicant and a description of 
the services the applicant is applying for.
	(d)  On receipt of an electronic mail message from the Texas 
Information and Referral Network under Subsection (c)(3)(B), each 
entity shall contact the applicant to verify information regarding 
the applicant's eligibility for available child-care and education 
services and, on certifying eligibility, shall match the applicant 
with entities providing those services in the applicant's 
community, including local workforce development boards, local 
child-care providers, or a Head Start or Early Head Start program 
provider.
	(e)  The child-care resource and referral network under 
Chapter 310, Labor Code, and each entity providing child-care and 
education services in this state, including local workforce 
development boards, the Texas Education Agency, school districts, 
Head Start and Early Head Start program providers, municipalities, 
counties, and other political subdivisions of this state, shall 
cooperate with the Texas Information and Referral Network as 
necessary in the administration of this section.
	(f)  Not later than the last day of the month following each 
calendar quarter, the commission shall file with the legislature a 
report regarding the use of the Internet site in the provision and 
delivery of child-care and education services during the reporting 
period.  The report must include:
		(1)  the number of referrals made to Head Start or Early 
Head Start offices or centers;
		(2)  the number of referrals made to local workforce 
development centers; and
		(3)  the number of referrals made to each school 
district.           
	(c)  If before implementing any provision of this section a 
state agency determines that a waiver or authorization from a 
federal agency is necessary for implementation of that provision, 
the agency affected by the provision shall request the waiver or 
authorization and may delay implementing that provision until the 
waiver or authorization is granted.