Bill Text: TX HB680 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Enrolled


Bill Title: Relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Workforce Commission and local workforce development boards regarding the provision of child care.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)

Status: (Passed) 2019-06-14 - Effective on 9/1/19 [HB680 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-HB680-Enrolled.html
 
 
  H.B. No. 680
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the powers and duties of the Texas Workforce Commission
  and local workforce development boards regarding the provision of
  child care.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 2308.317, Government Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
         (e)  Each board shall, to the extent practicable, ensure that
  any professional development for child care providers, directors,
  and employees funded under Subsection (a):
               (1)  can be used toward requirements for a credential,
  certification, or degree program; and
               (2)  meets the professional development requirements
  of the Texas Rising Star Program.
         SECTION 2.  Section 302.0042, Labor Code, is amended by
  amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read
  as follows:
         (b)  The commission's evaluation must assess:
               (1)  the use of current federal child care funds by each
  local workforce development board;
               (2)  the ability of each local workforce development
  board to meet child care performance measures;
               (3)  the average cost of child care in each local
  workforce development area;
               (4)  the average monthly price charged by child care
  providers for full-day child care in each local workforce
  development area as stated in the market rate survey conducted
  under 45 C.F.R. Section 98.45(c);
               (5)  the average monthly price charged by quality child
  care providers for full-day child care in each local workforce
  development area;
               (6)  the poverty rate of each local workforce
  development area compared to the state's poverty rate;
               (7) [(5)]  the number of children on waiting lists for
  child care in each local workforce development area; [and]
               (8) [(6)]  the number of places that are reserved for
  participants in the child-care subsidy program out of the total
  number of children enrolled with a provider on a full-time basis
  categorized by age of the child for each provider [vacant slots
  available for child care placement] in each local workforce
  development area that is certified as a 2-star, 3-star, or 4-star
  provider in the Texas Rising Star Program or that does not
  participate in the Texas Rising Star Program;
               (9)  the total number of child care providers
  participating in the Texas Rising Star Program in each local
  workforce development area and the number of 2-star, 3-star, and
  4-star rated child care providers in the local workforce
  development area;
               (10)  the number of child care providers participating
  in the Texas Rising Star Program in each local workforce
  development area as a percentage of the total number of both
  subsidized child care providers and all child care providers in the
  local workforce development area;
               (11)  the number of 2-star, 3-star, and 4-star rated
  child care providers in the local workforce development area as a
  percentage of the total number of both subsidized child care
  providers and all child care providers in the local workforce
  development area;
               (12)  the total number of children enrolled in
  subsidized child care providers participating in the Texas Rising
  Star Program in each local workforce development area and the
  number of subsidized children enrolled in 2-star, 3-star, and
  4-star rated child care providers in the local workforce
  development area; and
               (13)  the number of subsidized children enrolled in
  child care providers participating in the Texas Rising Star Program
  in each local workforce development area as a percentage of the
  total number of subsidized children enrolled in child care
  providers in the local workforce development area and the number of
  subsidized children enrolled in 2-star, 3-star, and 4-star rated
  child care providers in the local workforce development area as a
  percentage of the total number of subsidized children enrolled in
  child care providers in the local workforce development area.
         (c)  For the purposes of evaluation under this section, the
  commission shall annually update the information described by
  Subsections (b)(7)-(13).
         (d)  In this section, "quality child care provider" means a
  child care provider that:
               (1)  participates in the commission's Texas Rising Star
  Program; or
               (2)  is accredited by the National Early Childhood
  Program Accreditation Commission or the National Association for
  the Education of Young Children, or holds any other accreditation
  the commission determines meets the quality standards of the Texas
  Rising Star Program.
         SECTION 3.  Section 302.0043, Labor Code, is amended by
  adding Subsection (c-1) and amending Subsections (e) and (f) to
  read as follows:
         (c-1)  The commission shall measure and evaluate the
  progress of the commission's child care program regarding:
               (1)  coordination by the commission with the Texas
  Education Agency to assign a Public Education Information
  Management System (PEIMS) number to children younger than six years
  of age enrolled in the commission's child care program;
               (2)  coordination with the Texas Education Agency,
  school districts, and open-enrollment charter schools on any
  prekindergarten quality improvement efforts;
               (3)  efforts to increase coordination between
  participating providers in the commission's child care program,
  school districts, and open-enrollment charter schools;
               (4)  facilitation of child care provider enrollment in
  the Texas Rising Star Program and progression of providers to the
  highest rating level in the program; and
               (5)  development and implementation of rates and
  payments, as determined by local workforce development boards, to:
                     (A)  allow participating providers to provide
  high-quality child care; and
                     (B)  ensure that the commission meets performance
  measures established by the legislature for the average number of
  children served by the commission's child-care program per day.
         (e)  The commission shall make the information collected by
  the commission and the commission's findings available to local
  workforce development boards, school districts, open-enrollment
  charter schools, and the public.
         (f)  Not later than January 15 of each odd-numbered year, the
  commission shall report to the legislature regarding the
  commission's findings regarding the effectiveness of the
  commission's child care program. The report must:
               (1)  include employment outcome information,
  disaggregated by local workforce development area, regarding
  parents receiving subsidized care under the program; [and]
               (2)  identify multiyear trends in the information
  collected and analyzed by the commission under this section,
  including trends in the information for at least the five state
  fiscal years preceding the date of the report;
               (3)  include information described by Sections
  302.0042(b)(9)-(13);
               (4)  include a summary of the input obtained under
  Section 302.00435; and
               (5)  include any recommendations for legislation or
  regulation, including regulatory recommendations for governmental
  bodies other than the commission, regarding the input obtained
  under Section 302.00435.
         SECTION 4.  Section 302.00435, Labor Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 302.00435.  SUBSIDIZED CHILD CARE PROGRAM; INPUT
  POLICY. (a) The commission shall develop a policy for obtaining,
  through appropriate methods, input from interested parties
  regarding its subsidized child care program and for using that
  input in administering that program.
         (b)  The policy developed under Subsection (a) must include
  methods for obtaining input from the Texas Education Agency, school
  districts, open-enrollment charter schools, subsidized child care
  providers, relevant businesses, and the public, regarding:
               (1)  improving coordination between the subsidized
  child care program and prekindergarten programs;
               (2)  increasing the quality of and access to the
  subsidized child care program;
               (3)  existing health and safety rules and regulations
  that could be more efficient or less costly without reducing health
  and safety outcomes; and
               (4)  the burdens relating to complying with existing
  regulations that could be mitigated, reduced, or eliminated while
  maintaining the intent, objective, or purpose of the underlying
  regulation.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter C, Chapter 302, Labor Code, is
  amended by adding Section 302.0461 to read as follows:
         Sec. 302.0461.  CHILD CARE PROVIDER CONTRACT AGREEMENTS.
  (a) A local workforce development board may contract with child
  care providers operating in the board's area to provide subsidized
  child care services. The local workforce development board shall
  determine the number of places that the board reserves in the
  contract with a child care provider participating in the
  commission's subsidized child care program.
         (b)  To be eligible for a contract under Subsection (a), a
  child care provider must:
               (1)  be a Texas Rising Star Program provider with a
  three-star rating or higher; and
               (2)  meet one of the following priorities of the
  commission:
                     (A)  be located in: 
                           (i)  an area where the number of children
  younger than six years of age who have working parents is at least
  three times greater than the capacity of licensed child care
  providers in the area; or 
                           (ii)  an area determined by the commission
  to be underserved with respect to child care providers;
                     (B)  have a partnership with a school district to
  provide a prekindergarten program;
                     (C)  have a partnership with the Early Head Start
  or Head Start Program;
                     (D)  increase the number of places reserved for
  infants and toddlers by high-quality child care providers; or
                     (E)  satisfy a requirement in the local workforce
  development board's strategic plan.
         (c)  Not later than six months after a local workforce
  development board enters into a contract under Subsection (a), the
  board shall submit a report to the commission evaluating the
  contract to determine its effect on:
               (1)  the financial stability of the child care provider
  participating in the contract;
               (2)  the availability of high-quality child care
  options for participants in the commission's subsidized child care
  program in the workforce development area;
               (3)  the number of high-quality child care providers in
  any part of the workforce development area with a high
  concentration of families with a need for child care; and
               (4)  the percentage of children participating in the
  commission's subsidized child care program at each Texas Rising
  Star Program provider in the local workforce development area.
         (d)  The commission shall determine the information that
  must be included in the report required by Subsection (c). A local
  workforce development board shall update the report required by
  Subsection (c) every six months from the date the board submits its
  initial report to the commission.
         SECTION 6.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 680 was passed by the House on April
  24, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 84, Nays 61, 2 present, not
  voting; that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B. No.
  680 on May 24, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 91, Nays 49, 2
  present, not voting; and that the House adopted H.C.R. No. 182
  authorizing certain corrections in H.B. No. 680 on May 24, 2019, by
  the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 0, 2 present, not voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 680 was passed by the Senate, with
  amendments, on May 20, 2019, by the following vote:  Yeas 22, Nays
  9; and that the Senate adopted H.C.R. No. 182 authorizing certain
  corrections in H.B. No. 680 on May 26, 2019, by the following vote:
  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate   
  APPROVED: __________________
                  Date       
   
           __________________
                Governor       
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