Major investments in early childhood education continue, with the passage of a two-year budget that invests nearly $333 million in affordable child care. Lawmakers set subsidies to the 85th percentile of the 2021 market rate survey, which means more child care providers can continue to operate and recruit and retain dedicated staff. They also invested $80 million to expand and strengthen high-quality pre-K for income-qualified 3- and 4-year-olds.
SB 5225: Expanding eligibility for affordable child care to immigrant families, child care employees, and those participating in therapeutic courts. This bill widens access to not only undocumented students in higher education, but more broadly to mixed-status immigrant families. Advocates also successfully fended off several amendments, including one that would prioritize children with citizenship over children without citizenship.
HB 1106: Would provide unemployment insurance to employees who voluntarily leave work due to lack of child care. This bill expands the definition of a “good cause quit” or “voluntary quit,” which is when an employee quits due to a disability, death, or illness of a family member, or due to other needs that were not addressed by their employer. When an individual must leave work due to a last-minute change in their work shift, with a minimum of six hours difference from their originally scheduled and regular shift, and they are unable to secure care for their family due to the change in schedule, individuals are able to pursue a “good cause quit” and receive unemployment insurance. This bill was somewhat controversial because of concerns that it would increase employers’ payroll taxes; it passed the legislature with a slim majority.
SB 5316 – Requires the state’s Department of Children, Youth, and Families to pay the fees of early childhood professionals and foster care applicants who apply for background checks, removing a barrier to employment for child care workers. The bill also allows the background check to be valid for five years rather than three.
HB 1238: Dramatically expands access to free school meals in districts across the state. The bill grants any student enrolled in a school in which 30 percent or more of their classmates qualify for free and reduced-price meals the right to receive a healthy school breakfast or lunch upon request. The bill obliges the state to reimburse local districts for the cost of these meals, rather than requiring the school district to bear the cost not borne by the federal government, which reimburses the cost of meals when 40 percent or more students qualify.
HB 1168: Providing prevention services, diagnoses, treatment, and support for prenatal substance exposure. Increases access to services for children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) and other prenatal substance disorders, by requiring the state to contract with a group to provide services to children and families within the child welfare system. This contract would allow more families to stay together while minimizing foster care placements, leading to the least restrictive and disruptive experience for children and families.
HB 1199: Allowing child care centers in common-interest communities (homeowners’ associations). This bill will primarily ensure that child care providers can legally operate in their units. If homeowners’ associations attempt to limit use of a unit, the HOA will be fined $1,000.