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28	28	STATE OF OKLAHOMA
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30	30	1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
31	31
32	32	HOUSE BILL 1979 By: Ranson
33	33
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38	38	AS INTRODUCED
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40	40	An Act relating to children; creating the Early
41	41	Childhood Task Force; providing for task force
42	42	membership; providing for election of chai r and vice-
43	43	chair; permitting the selection of honorary chair;
44	44	directing task force to provide reports; disallowing
45	45	certain members from receiving compensation or
46	46	reimbursement; permitting certain members to claim
47	47	certain expenses; requiring task force to b e subject
48	48	to the Oklahoma Open Records Act and Oklahoma Open
49	49	Meeting Act; providing that task force documents and
50	50	recommendations shall only be considered advice;
51	51	providing a vision statement; providing a mission;
52	52	providing principles the task force is to be guided
53	53	by; providing tasks for the task force; providing for
54	54	codification; and providing an effective date..
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60	60	BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
61	61	SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
62	62	in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 390 of Title 10, unless there is
63	63	created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
64	64	A. There is hereby created the Early Childhood Task Force to
65	65	study and make recommendations to improve access to and increase the
66	66	quantity of high-quality early childhood services.
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93	93	B. The task force shall be comprised of seventeen (17) members
94	94	to be appointed as follows:
95	95	1. The Secretary of Human Services, or a designee;
96	96	2. The State Commissioner of Health, or a designee;
97	97	3. The Secretary of Commerce, or a designee;
98	98	4. The Secretary of Education, or a desi gnee;
99	99	5. A representative of business selected by the State Chamber
100	100	of Oklahoma;
101	101	6. A representative of a philanthropic organization dedicated
102	102	to early childhood selected by the Director of Oklahoma Partnership
103	103	for School Readiness ;
104	104	7. A representative selected by the Director of Oklahoma Head
105	105	Start;
106	106	8. A representative selected by the Licensed Child Care
107	107	Association of Oklahoma;
108	108	9. A representative selected by the Oklahoma C hild Care
109	109	Association;
110	110	10. The Executive Director of Oklahoma Partnership for School
111	111	Readiness;
112	112	11. A representative of an early childhood advocacy
113	113	organization appointed by the Early Childhood Education Institute or
114	114	the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advo cacy;
115	115	12. An Oklahoma State Senator selected by the Pro Tempore of
116	116	the Senate;
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143	143	13. An Oklahoma State Representative selected by the Speaker of
144	144	the House of Representatives;
145	145	14. A representative of parents with young children selected by
146	146	the Oklahoma Early Childhood Program (OECP);
147	147	15. A representative responsible for programs un der Part C of
148	148	the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) selected by
149	149	the State Commissioner of Health;
150	150	16. A representative from Oklahoma State University 's
151	151	Department of Human Development and Family Science selected by the
152	152	Department Head of the Department of Human Development and Family
153	153	Science; and
154	154	17. A pediatric specialist selected by the Oklahoma Chapter of
155	155	the American Academy of Pediatrics (OKAAP) .
156	156	C. The Early Childhood Task Force shall elect a chair and vice -
157	157	chair, or co-chairs, from the Task Force's membership, and the chair
158	158	or co-chairs shall establish rules for the Task Force 's meetings and
159	159	the conducting of business. Upon the absence or vacancy of the
160	160	chair, the vice-chair shall serve as chair in an acting capacity.
161	161	D. An honorary chair may be selected to serve in a ceremonial
162	162	capacity. The honorary chair shall not serve as a voting member of
163	163	the Task Force but may engage with the work of the Task For ce in an
164	164	advisory role or in a manner deemed appropriate by the chair or co -
165	165	chairs.
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192	192	E. The Task Force shall develop and submit an initial report to
193	193	the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House
194	194	of Representatives by November 202 5 and a final report by November
195	195	2025.
196	196	F. Members shall receive no compensation or reimbursement for
197	197	expenses and shall serve voluntarily. Officers or employees of
198	198	state agencies who are appointed to the Task Force as part of their
199	199	duties shall be authorized to participate on the Task Force and may
200	200	claim subsistence, allowance, mileag e, or associated expenses from
201	201	their respective agency budgets as permitted by law.
202	202	G. The Task Force shall be subject to the Oklahoma Open Records
203	203	Act and the Oklahoma Open Mee ting Act.
204	204	H. Plans, reports, or recommendations of any nature adopted by
205	205	the Task Force shall be considered advice to the Legislature and
206	206	shall not be construed as official policies, positions, or
207	207	interpretations of laws, rules, or regulations by any depa rtment or
208	208	agency of state government, nor shall any such department or agency
209	209	be bound in any manner to consider such advice when conducting their
210	210	advisory and regulatory affairs.
211	211	I. The Task Force shall be guided by the following vision
212	212	statement: Oklahoma children, especially those between zero (0) and
213	213	five (5) years of age deserve healthy childhoods that are supported
214	214	by a robust early childhood system which improves outcomes and
215	215	effectively provides high -quality early care and education, improves
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242	242	and enhances school readiness, adapts to the needs of families and
243	243	communities, and is equitably accessible to all communities across
244	244	the state.
245	245	J. The Task Force shall work towards the mission of creating a
246	246	framework for a more efficient and effective govern ance structure
247	247	for early childhood programming, such as a coordinated,
248	248	consolidated, or new independent agency.
249	249	K. The Task Force's work shall be guided by a commitment to the
250	250	following principles:
251	251	1. Children, family, and community well -being shall be centered
252	252	throughout the Early Childhood Task Force 's work;
253	253	2. Efforts shall be focused on maximizing efficiencies to
254	254	reduce the administrative burdens on families and improve access to
255	255	early childhood services through the creation of a new governance
256	256	structure;
257	257	3. Any possible consolidation of early childhood services shall
258	258	be informed by what families and communities say they want and need;
259	259	4. Access to programs and services shall be equitable and
260	260	available to all children and families regardless of soci oeconomic
261	261	status or geographic location;
262	262	5. Intentional focus shall be placed on developing strategies
263	263	to reach families and young children in care deserts or furthest
264	264	from opportunity and existing resources;
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291	291	6. Access to affordable and quality health care, nutrition,
292	292	early education and care, mental health, home visiting, early
293	293	intervention, support for families, early learning, and other
294	294	services in the critical prenatal to five (5) age period will
295	295	decisively impact academic success, economic opportunit ies, and the
296	296	prosperity of Oklahoma;
297	297	7. Efforts shall be made to use data -informed approaches and
298	298	explore better ways to develop shared data systems;
299	299	8. Work shall focus on strengthening and expanding the early
300	300	education and care delivery system already in use in Oklahoma;
301	301	9. Alignment across sectors and state agencies will increase
302	302	capacity, maximize funding, and create a more streamlined delivery
303	303	of services;
304	304	10. The importance of growing a diverse and well -supported
305	305	early childhood workforce shall re main at the forefront and be
306	306	informed by the Task Force 's work;
307	307	11. While focusing on advancing the delivery system, work shall
308	308	highlight the importance of defining quality care and expanding
309	309	capacity and access to create a greater quantity of quality
310	310	services;
311	311	12. To incentivize innovation and respond to family needs,
312	312	communities must be empowered to develop local, community -based
313	313	solutions that take a whole -child and whole-family approach in
314	314	responding to needs;
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341	341	13. To ensure holistic childhood well -being and improve health
342	342	outcomes, there must be alignment between state efforts to improve
343	343	early learning and care and existing prenatal and maternal health
344	344	initiatives; and
345	345	14. Strengthening early childhood developmental health is vital
346	346	to ensuring that children are prepared to achieve academic success
347	347	and are setup for lifelong learning.
348	348	L. The Task Force's duties shall include:
349	349	1. Conducting an analysis of the current early childhood
350	350	delivery system in Oklahoma and how it is financed with specific
351	351	focus on gaps, inefficiencies, and redundancies. This work should
352	352	focus on how creating a new governance structure for early childhood
353	353	services could overcome these challenges and improve how care is
354	354	delivered, accessed, and funded. This analysis must specif ically
355	355	include:
356	356	a. a review of current early childhood programs and
357	357	policies dispersed between the Department of Human
358	358	Services, State Department of Health, Oklahoma
359	359	Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
360	360	Services, and the State Department of Educ ation. The
361	361	review should pay special attention to where current
362	362	statutory authority over certain operations exists and
363	363	where possible areas of redundancy occur,
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390	390	b. a review of how current funding systems blend and
391	391	various funding opportunities, with speci al attention
392	392	as to how funding streams are currently utilized for
393	393	early childhood programs that are housed across
394	394	departments. This fiscal review should map the routes
395	395	all private, public, federal, and state funding
396	396	streams take from funding authority to program
397	397	application,
398	398	c. a review of how Oklahoma might integrate existing
399	399	programming into a consolidated delivery system and
400	400	what needs might exist for new programming that the
401	401	state currently lacks,
402	402	d. recommendations on how cross -agency collaboration an d
403	403	partnerships can be fostered to develop a whole -of-
404	404	government approach to strengthening the delivery of
405	405	early childhood services, specifically ensuring that
406	406	data infrastructure is integrated across agencies,
407	407	account for both qualitative and quantitative methods,
408	408	and can be widely utilized by multiple state agencies,
409	409	e. recommendations on how a new governance structure
410	410	might maximize efficiencies for early childhood
411	411	providers and their workforce. This work should
412	412	determine how licensing, workforce develop ment and
413	413	support, and facility review can be improved to
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440	440	eliminate barriers to entry for providers and
441	441	professionals. This should also include a review of
442	442	current regulatory structures that complicate the
443	443	process of entering the early childhood sector,
444	444	f. recommendations on how a new governance structure can
445	445	strengthen the existing health care workforce to
446	446	better support the development of young children and
447	447	well-being of mothers through improved access to
448	448	comprehensive and preventive care. This should al so
449	449	include a review of how to secure improved health
450	450	outcomes for children, financial sustainability of
451	451	delivery models, and cultivating workforce pipelines,
452	452	g. an analysis of key lessons learned from states already
453	453	advancing consolidated systems of early childhood
454	454	governance to inform Oklahoma 's own process;
455	455	2. Conducting a series of stakeholder engagement opportunities
456	456	to elicit feedback on the current early childhood governance
457	457	structure and better understand the needs of parents, families,
458	458	providers, and businesses;
459	459	3. Following the engagement of stakeholders, the Task Force
460	460	shall conduct a review that synthesizes feedback received from
461	461	families, providers, community leaders, and the business sector.
462	462	This review shall include recommendations on how th e state delivery
463	463	system and governance model can be improved to respond to fam ily and
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490	490	community needs. It shall also include recommendations for how the
491	491	state can better engage with parents, families, and communities on a
492	492	regular basis to ensure family voice is centered in the work of
493	493	state agencies;
494	494	4. Drafting a proposed transition plan to ensure the continuous
495	495	operation of state services upon the creation of a new governance
496	496	structure for early childhood. This plan shall:
497	497	a. include detailed recommend ations for what programs and
498	498	services should remain in their current place or
499	499	transition into a new governance structure. Each
500	500	recommendation shall consider the challenges and
501	501	benefits of moving programs,
502	502	b. focus on movement between agencies and how
503	503	collaboration can be strengthened with nonexecutive
504	504	agencies. It shall also include recommendations for
505	505	any necessary interagency agreements,
506	506	c. include a review of what additional funding and
507	507	resources might be needed to transition to a new
508	508	governance structure effectively and efficiently,
509	509	d. provide recommended goals and metrics for the new
510	510	entity to strive towards once operational; and
511	511	5. Drafting proposed legislation that creates a new governance
512	512	structure that oversees Oklahoma 's early childhood educatio n and
513	513	care programs.
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540	540	SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
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542	542	60-1-11164 CMA 01/11/25

Oklahoma 2025 Regular Session

Oklahoma House Bill HB1979 Compare Versions