hb 0451

CHAPTER 244

HB 451 - FINAL VERSION

AN ACT establishing a commission to study the impact of pay and health care benefits for child care workers on the quality of care and education for children by considering and exploring funding methods for accomplishing any recommendations.

SPONSORS: Rep. Pilliod, Belk 3; Rep. Gile, Merr 16

This bill establishes a commission to study issues regarding the pay and benefits of child care providers, including creative ways in which to make affordable health insurance available to persons providing child care services to children and families in New Hampshire.

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Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

I. Quality early learning and care is critical to the well-being of an estimated 48,000 children who need out-of-home care while their parents work.

II. New Hampshire employers are already losing as much as $24 million per year because of child-care-related absenteeism; continued erosion of affordable, available child care threatens increased harm to the state's economy. A significant part of New Hampshire's labor force is made up of the parents of 74 percent of preschoolers in New Hampshire who require child care to enable them to work.

III. Some of the chief causes of a lack of available child care and poor quality child care are high employee turnover and inexperienced staff, a major cause of which is the fact that as many as 2/3 of child care workers do not have access to affordable health insurance.

IV. Qualified and educated individuals who want to make a professional career in child care are unable to do so because of the low pay and lack of benefits, especially health insurance.

V. The urgency of this crisis requires that a special commission be established that brings the creative forces of business, the executive branch, child care providers, and insurance experts to identify and recommend ways by which affordable health insurance can be made available to child care workers in New Hampshire.

244:2 Commission Established. There is established a commission to study the impact of pay and benefits for child care workers on quality of care for children.

(a) Two members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house.

(e) Two representatives from the department of health and human services, one of whom shall be from the child development bureau and the other from the division of family assistance, appointed by the commissioner of health and human services.

(g) A representative from New Hampshire Business Partners for Early Learning, selected by that organization.

(h) A representative from the University of New Hampshire knowledgeable in research related to the quality of child care programs, selected by the chancellor of the university.

(i) A representative from the New Hampshire Child Care Association representing non-profit child care providers, selected by that association.

(j) A representative from the New Hampshire Family Child Care Association, selected by that association.

(l) A representative of New Hampshire Child Care Resource and Referral Network, selected by that organization.

(m) An individual who is a parent of a child in an early care and learning program, appointed by the governor.

(n) A representative from the advisory council on child care in New Hampshire, appointed by that body.

II. Legislative members of the commission shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the commission. Lay members of the commission shall not be reimbursed for their participation. However, the commission may accept private contributions to support its work.

I. Investigate creative ways in which to make affordable health insurance available to all persons providing child care services to children and families in New Hampshire.

II. Investigate the experiences in other states with programs designed to improve pay and benefits of child care providers to ascertain whether these programs have led to an improvement in the quality and availability of child care in those states.

III. Monitor any private or other initiatives undertaken in New Hampshire which address pay and benefits to ascertain the impact on the quality of care for children, paying particular attention to issues of turnover and continuity of care experienced by children.

IV. Consider new and innovative funding methods for accomplishing any recommendations of the commission.

244:5 Chairperson. The members of the commission shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the commission shall be called by the first-named house member. The first meeting of the commission shall be held within 45 days of the effective date of this section.

I. The commission shall issue a preliminary report of its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the senate president, the house clerk, the senate clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before November 1, 2001.

II. The commission shall issue a final report of its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the senate president, the house clerk, the senate clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before December 1, 2002.