Maryland 2025 Regular Session

Maryland Senate Bill SB452 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2
3	3	EXPLANATION: CAPITALS INDICATE MAT TER ADDED TO EXISTIN G LAW.
4	4	[Brackets] indicate matter deleted from existing law.
5	5	sb0452
6	6
7	7	SENATE BILL 452
8	8	O4 5lr2380
9	9	CF 5lr2317
10	10	By: Senator King
11	11	Introduced and read first time: January 21, 2025
12	12	Assigned to: Education, Energy, and the Environment
13	13
14	14	A BILL ENTITLED
15	15
16	16	AN ACT concerning 1
17	17
18	18	Child Care Affordability Commission – Establishment 2
19	19
20	20	FOR the purpose of establishing the Child Care Affordability Commission to study and 3
21	21	make recommendations regarding child care affordability in the State; and generally 4
22	22	relating to the Child Care Affordability Commission. 5
23	23
24	24	SECTION 1. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, 6
25	25	That: 7
26	26
27	27	(a) There is a Child Care Affordability Commission. 8
28	28
29	29	(b) The Commission consists of the following members: 9
30	30
31	31	(1) two members of the Senate of Maryland, appointed by the President of 10
32	32	the Senate; 11
33	33
34	34	(2) two members of the House of Delegates, appointed by the Speaker of 12
35	35	the House; 13
36	36
37	37	(3) the Secretary of Labor, or the Secretary’s designee; 14
38	38
39	39	(4) the Comptroller, or the Comptroller’s designee; 15
40	40
41	41	(5) the State Superintendent of Schools, or the State Superintendent’s 16
42	42	designee; 17
43	43
44	44	(6) one representative of the Maryland Family Network, designated by the 18
45	45	Executive Director of the Maryland Family Network; 19
46	46
47	47	(7) one representative of the Maryland State Child Care Association, 20
48	48	designated by the President of the Maryland State Child Care Association; 21 2 SENATE BILL 452
49	49
50	50
51	51
52	52	(8) one representative of the Maryland State Family Child Care 1
53	53	Association, designated by the President of the Maryland State Family Child Care 2
54	54	Association; 3
55	55
56	56	(9) one representative of the Maryland Head Start Association, designated 4
57	57	by the President of the Maryland Head Start Association; 5
58	58
59	59	(10) one representative of the Latino Child Care Association of Maryland, 6
60	60	Inc., designated by the President of the Latino Child Care Association of Maryland, Inc.; 7
61	61	and 8
62	62
63	63	(11) the following members, appointed by the Governor: 9
64	64
65	65	(i) two parents of children eligible for scholarships from the Child 10
66	66	Care Scholarship Program; 11
67	67
68	68	(ii) two representatives from child care providers that: 12
69	69
70	70	1. serve children under the age of 5 years; and 13
71	71
72	72	2. accept scholarships from the Child Care Scholarship 14
73	73	Program; 15
74	74
75	75	(iii) one representative of a labor union that represents child care 16
76	76	workers; 17
77	77
78	78	(iv) one representative of the Maryland Chamber of Commerce; 18
79	79
80	80	(v) one representative of the Maryland Retailers Alliance; 19
81	81
82	82	(vi) two representatives of large employers in the State that employ 20
83	83	more than 1,000 employees; 21
84	84
85	85	(vii) two representatives of medium–sized employers in the State that 22
86	86	employ between 500 and 1,000 employees; 23
87	87
88	88	(viii) two representatives of small employers in the State that employ 24
89	89	fewer than 500 employees; and 25
90	90
91	91	(ix) two nonvoting representatives of national child care policy 26
92	92	organizations with expertise in state child care financing models. 27
93	93
94	94	(c) The Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House 28
95	95	jointly shall designate the chair of the Commission. 29
96	96
97	97	(d) The Governor’s Office for Children shall provide staff for the Commission. 30 SENATE BILL 452 3
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99	99
100	100
101	101	(e) A member of the Commission: 1
102	102
103	103	(1) may not receive compensation as a member of the Commission; but 2
104	104
105	105	(2) is entitled to reimbursement for expenses under the Standard State 3
106	106	Travel Regulations, as provided in the State budget. 4
107	107
108	108	(f) (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, the Commission may accept 5
109	109	charitable or philanthropic contributions. 6
110	110
111	111	(2) The Commission may use charitable or philanthropic contributions 7
112	112	accepted under paragraph (1) of this subsection only to hire external consultants. 8
113	113
114	114	(g) The Commission shall study and make recommendations regarding child care 9
115	115	affordability in the State, including: 10
116	116
117	117	(1) an identification of: 11
118	118
119	119	(i) obstacles to obtaining a fiscally sustainable system of child care 12
120	120	and early childhood education that meets the needs of children living in poverty and 13
121	121	children at risk of living in poverty; 14
122	122
123	123	(ii) barriers to increasing the supply of child care while offering 15
124	124	additional supports and incentives to achieve and maintain quality; 16
125	125
126	126	(iii) measures to ensure the success and sustainability of the Child 17
127	127	Care Scholarship Program for working families and any additional measures to support 18
128	128	working families, including business tax credits and other incentives for investments in 19
129	129	child care; and 20
130	130
131	131	(iv) revenue streams to create an adequate and sustainable source of 21
132	132	funding for child care in the State; 22
133	133
134	134	(2) a determination of the economic threshold the State should use to cap 23
135	135	the cost of child care for families in the State; and 24
136	136
137	137	(3) an examination of any other relevant issues concerning access to or the 25
138	138	quality or affordability of child care, as determined by the Commission. 26
139	139
140	140	(h) (1) On or before January 1, 2026, the Commission shall submit an interim 27
141	141	report of its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly in accordance with § 28
142	142	2–1257 of the State Government Article. 29
143	143
144	144	(2) On or before December 1, 2026, the Commission shall submit a final 30
145	145	report of its findings and recommendations to the General Assembly in accordance with § 31
146	146	2–1257 of the State Government Article. 32 4 SENATE BILL 452
147	147
148	148
149	149
150	150	SECTION 2. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall take effect July 1
151	151	1, 2025. It shall remain effective for a period of 2 years and, at the end of June 30, 2027, 2
152	152	this Act, with no further action required by the General Assembly, shall be abrogated and 3
153	153	of no further force and effect. 4
154	154