Introduced Version
HOUSE BILL No. 1430
_____
DIGEST OF INTRODUCED BILL
Citations Affected: IC 12-17-20.
Synopsis: Employee child care assistance partnership program.
Establishes the employee child care assistance partnership program.
Makes an appropriation.
Effective: July 1, 2025.
Dant Chesser
January 21, 2025, read first time and referred to Committee on Family, Children and
Human Affairs.
2025 IN 1430—LS 7360/DI 148 Introduced
First Regular Session of the 124th General Assembly (2025)
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HOUSE BILL No. 1430
A BILL FOR AN ACT to amend the Indiana Code concerning
human services and to make an appropriation.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana:
1 SECTION 1. IC 12-17-20 IS ADDED TO THE INDIANA CODE
2 AS A NEW CHAPTER TO READ AS FOLLOWS [EFFECTIVE
3 JULY 1, 2025]:
4 Chapter 20. Employee Child Care Assistance Partnership
5 Program
6 Sec. 1. As used in this chapter, the following definitions apply:
7 (1) "Child care provider" means a person that:
8 (A) provides child care; and
9 (B) meets the standards of quality recognized by a Level 3
10 or Level 4 Paths to QUALITY program rating under
11 IC 12-17.2-2-14.2 or has a comparable rating from a
12 nationally recognized accrediting body.
13 (2) "Contribution" means a direct payment to a child care
14 provider either:
15 (A) directly by an employer; or
16 (B) indirectly through a third party vendor;
17 to subsidize an employee's eligible child care costs.
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1 (3) "Eligible child care costs" means costs to be incurred by
2 an individual for services rendered by an eligible child care
3 provider.
4 (4) "Employee" means an individual who works in Indiana
5 and is employed by an employer.
6 (5) "Employer" means a person with at least one (1) employee
7 who works in Indiana in each of twenty (20) or more calendar
8 weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.
9 (6) "Fund" means the employee child care assistance
10 partnership fund established under section 2 of this chapter.
11 (7) "Program" means the employee child care assistance
12 partnership program established under section 3 of this
13 chapter.
14 (8) "Small business" means an employer who employs not
15 more than forty-nine (49) employees working at least
16 thirty-five (35) hours per week.
17 (9) "State match" means the money paid directly to the child
18 care provider by the division from the fund.
19 (10) "State median household income" means the most recent
20 estimate available of real median household income for the
21 state, as determined by the United States Census Bureau, and
22 adjusted for family size.
23 Sec. 2. (a) The employee child care assistance partnership fund
24 is established to carry out the purpose of the program. The division
25 shall administer the fund.
26 (b) The fund consists of the following:
27 (1) Appropriations from the state general fund.
28 (2) Contributions.
29 (3) Grants.
30 (4) Donations.
31 (c) Money in the fund at the end of the fiscal year does not
32 revert to the state general fund.
33 (d) The expenses of administering the fund shall be paid from
34 money in the fund. However, in each fiscal year, the total cost of
35 administration must not exceed five percent (5%) of the total fund.
36 Sec. 3. (a) The employee child care assistance partnership
37 program is established to incentivize employers to contribute to the
38 child care costs of the employer's employees. The division shall
39 administer the program.
40 (b) The division may do the following:
41 (1) Delegate authority to a subsidiary division.
42 (2) Coordinate and share information with other executive
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1 branch agencies.
2 (3) Enter into a contract with a third party to administer
3 specific portions of the program.
4 (c) The division shall do the following:
5 (1) Create and make available a standardized contract for
6 participation in the program.
7 (2) Process the contract between an employer, employee, and
8 child care provider that is submitted to the division.
9 (3) Notify the parties under subdivision (2) of the parties'
10 enrollment status in the program.
11 (4) Manage and administer the fund.
12 (5) Secure third party vendors in accordance with all
13 applicable federal and state procurement laws.
14 (6) Verify the eligibility of an employee, employer, and child
15 care provider before distributing a state match.
16 (7) Collect and verify household income information from
17 eligible employees and determine the amount of any state
18 match for which the employee is eligible.
19 (8) Distribute educational materials about the program's
20 objectives, benefits, and eligibility requirements to employers,
21 employees, and child care providers.
22 (9) Review the completed contract after it is submitted by the
23 employer and, if the parties are eligible and subject to section
24 4 of this chapter, agree to match the contribution made by the
25 employer up to one hundred percent (100%) of the cost of
26 service from the fund.
27 Sec. 4. (a) The division may not become a party to a proposed
28 contract under the program unless the fund reflects a positive
29 balance for both:
30 (1) the division's existing contractual obligations already
31 accrued under the program; and
32 (2) the division's additional financial obligation imposed by
33 the proposed contract.
34 (b) The division shall not become a party to a proposed contract
35 under the program if doing so would cause the fund to accrue a
36 negative balance.
37 Sec. 5. (a) The division may maintain a wait list for contracts
38 submitted while available funds are expended.
39 (b) Once new funds become available, the division may become
40 a party to a proposed contract from the wait list according to the
41 order in which it was received.
42 Sec. 6. The division shall issue a state match:
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1 (1) directly to the child care provider; or
2 (2) indirectly through a third party vendor;
3 for the duration of the contract.
4 Sec. 7. The division shall not disclose an employee's personal
5 information without the employee's express written consent.
6 Sec. 8. (a) Beginning July 1, 2026, the division shall submit a
7 report detailing the efficacy of the program to:
8 (1) the governor; and
9 (2) the legislative council, in an electronic format under
10 IC 5-14-6;
11 not later than December 15th of each calendar year.
12 (b) The report described in subsection (a) must include the
13 following:
14 (1) Any appropriation made in the previous fiscal year to the
15 fund.
16 (2) The total number of standardized contracts submitted by
17 employers.
18 (3) The total amount of state matches paid out of the fund by
19 the division.
20 (4) The breakdown of the state matches paid by county.
21 (5) Information on the size, geographical location, and
22 industry type of participating employers.
23 (6) The number, license type, quality rating, and geographical
24 location of participating child care providers.
25 (7) The average cost for services charged by participating
26 child care providers and information on how the cost of
27 services have increased or decreased in the most recent
28 previous reporting period.
29 (8) The number and total dollar value of contracts not
30 approved by the division.
31 (9) The demographic information of employees participating
32 in the program.
33 Sec. 9. The director of the division may adopt rules under
34 IC 4-22-2 to carry out this chapter.
35 Sec. 10. (a) The state match must not exceed one hundred
36 percent (100%) of the contribution made by the employer for
37 contracts in which the employee's household income is equal to or
38 less than one hundred percent (100%) of the state median
39 household income.
40 (b) The division shall decrease the state match by ten percent
41 (10%) for each twenty percent (20%) increase in household income
42 over one hundred percent (100%) of the state median household
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1 income up to one hundred eighty percent (180%) of the state
2 median household income.
3 (c) The state match must equal fifty percent (50%) for contracts
4 in which the employee's household income exceeds one hundred
5 eighty percent (180%) of the state median household income.
6 Sec. 11. In each fiscal year, the division shall distribute
7 twenty-five percent (25%) of the total fund to contracts in which
8 the employer is a small business.
9 Sec. 12. A state match provided under this chapter is not taxable
10 income.
11 Sec. 13. To participate in the program, an employer must do the
12 following:
13 (1) Enter into an agreement with the employee and a child
14 care provider using the standardized contract provided by the
15 division.
16 (2) Submit the proposed contract to the division.
17 (3) Submit any additional information the division requests.
18 (4) Make contributions to the employee's eligible child care
19 costs either:
20 (A) directly to the child care provider; or
21 (B) through a third party vendor;
22 according to payment terms agreed to in the final contract.
23 Sec. 14. To participate in the program, an employee must do the
24 following:
25 (1) Complete the standardized contract with the employer and
26 the child care provider.
27 (2) Provide any additional information the division requires.
28 (3) Make payments to the child care provider according to the
29 payment terms agreed to in the final contract.
30 Sec. 15. (a) If the relationship between the employee and
31 employer is severed, the employer shall notify:
32 (1) the child care provider; and
33 (2) the division;
34 not more than three (3) business days after the relationship is
35 severed. An active contract under the program is considered
36 terminated on the date provided by the employer in the notice.
37 (b) If an employer fails to make the notice described in
38 subsection (a) and the division issues a state match to the provider
39 on behalf of the employee thereafter, the employer shall reimburse
40 the division for the unnecessary state match.
41 Sec. 16. (a) If an employer fails to make a contribution for the
42 eligible child care costs according to the terms of an active contract
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1 under the program, the child care provider shall notify the division
2 not more than five (5) business days after an employer fails to
3 make the contribution.
4 (b) After receiving notice under subsection (a), the division
5 shall:
6 (1) temporarily cease making a state match on behalf of the
7 employee; and
8 (2) notify the employer that the contract will be terminated
9 unless the employer remedies the nonpayment not more than
10 five (5) business days after receiving the notice from the
11 division.
12 (c) If the provider fails to make the notice described in
13 subsection (a) and receives a state match from the division
14 thereafter, the child care provider shall reimburse the division for
15 the unnecessary state match.
16 Sec. 17. (a) If an employee fails to pay the child care provider
17 according to the payment terms in the contract, the child care
18 provider may do one (1) or both of the following:
19 (1) Give the employee reasonable time to remedy the
20 nonpayment.
21 (2) Notify the division and terminate the contract.
22 (b) If a child care provider:
23 (1) voluntarily excuses the employee's nonpayment; or
24 (2) fails to notify the division under subsection (a)(2) not more
25 than two (2) calendar months after the date of the employee's
26 failure to pay and continues to provide child care services;
27 the contract made between all the parties will automatically reflect
28 the reduction in value.
29 Sec. 18. (a) Either the employer or employee may terminate the
30 contract at any time for any reason.
31 (b) The terminating party shall:
32 (1) notify all parties to the contract; and
33 (2) specify the desired termination date, which must occur no
34 sooner than two (2) weeks after the date of notification unless
35 the child care provider gives its consent to an earlier
36 termination date.
37 (c) All parties to the contract are financially obligated,
38 according to the terms of the contract, up to the termination date.
39 Sec. 19. (a) The division may impose a civil penalty of not more
40 than five hundred dollars ($500) per violation for any person who
41 intentionally gives false information under this chapter.
42 (b) A penalty collected under subsection (a) must be deposited
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1 into the fund.
2 Sec. 20. There is annually appropriated to the employee child
3 care assistance partnership fund established under section 2 of this
4 chapter an amount necessary from the state general fund for its use
5 in carrying out the purposes of the fund.
2025 IN 1430—LS 7360/DI 148