SENATE BILL 902
By Oliver
HOUSE BILL 992
By Love
HB0992
003141
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AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71,
Chapter 3, relative to child care.
WHEREAS, the provision of child care is an essential service in this State that is relied
upon by many working Tennessee parents; and
WHEREAS, the cost of child care services has become burdensome to many families
due to inflationary and other factors; and
WHEREAS, child care workers and early childhood educators are often underpaid
relative to the quality and necessity of the dedicated services they provide; and
WHEREAS, the high cost of child care is often especially burdensome to child care
workers, even in the very child care agencies or other settings in which they work; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Human Services should utilize the Child Care WAGE$
program as a model to reward early childhood educators for their years of dedicated service and
promote longevity in the profession; now, therefore,
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 71, Chapter 3, Part 5, is amended by
adding the following as new sections:
71-3-522.
(a) This section is known and may be cited as the "Child Care Workforce
Improvement Act."
(b)
(1) The commissioner shall develop, and, no later than January 1, 2026,
implement a Child Care WAGE$ Tennessee program to provide supplemental
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payments to full- and part-time child care workers in this state based upon time in
service.
(2) A child care worker is eligible to receive a supplemental payment
under the program established pursuant to subdivision (b)(1) if the child care
worker:
(A) Works at a child care program licensed by the department;
(B) Earns twenty dollars ($20) per hour or less;
(C) Has worked at least six (6) months in the same child care
program, at least ten (10) classroom hours per week, with children from
birth to five (5) years of age; and
(D) Is employed at the same child care program at a time when
funding is available and a final confirmation has been completed.
(c) Beginning January 1, 2026, and each January 1 thereafter, the commissioner
shall annually adjust the payments for the program described in subsection (b) by the
percentage increase in the consumer price index's United States average for all urban
consumers, as prepared by the United Stated department of labor's bureau of labor
statistics.
(d) The commissioner may use funds from the child care improvement fund
established pursuant to § 71-3-520 to support and supplement the program described in
subsection (b).
71-3-523.
(a) As used in this section, "early childhood educator" means an employee who
works at least twenty (20) hours per week at a licensed child care center, family child
care home, or group child care home, regardless of the employee's income.
(b)
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(1) The commissioner shall develop, and, no later than January 1, 2026,
implement a program to provide assistance payments to eligible early childhood
educators in this state through the child care payment assistance program.
(2) An early childhood educator is eligible to receive an assistance
payment under the program established pursuant to subdivision (b)(1) if:
(A) The early childhood educator is a resident of this state;
(B) The early childhood educator is the parent of a child that
attends:
(i) The licensed child care center, family child care home,
or group child care home where the early childhood educator is
employed; or
(ii) Any licensed child care center, family child care home,
or group child care home in this state;
(C) The facility described in subdivision (b)(2)(B)(i) or (ii) is
approved to accept, and accepts, child care assistance payments; and
(D) The early childhood educator provides proof of employment to
the satisfaction of the department.
(c) The commissioner shall exclude all of an applicant early childhood educator's
income, earned and unearned, when making an eligibility determination for assistance
payments under the program developed pursuant to subdivision (b)(1).
(d)
(1) Except as provided in subdivision (d)(2), and unless otherwise
prohibited by federal or state law, a child care agency licensed under this part
shall not place a dependent child of an early childhood educator who is a
recipient of assistance payments under the program developed pursuant to
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subdivision (b)(1) on a wait list behind a child whose parent or guardian is not an
early childhood educator receiving assistance payments under such program.
(2) A child care agency shall give first priority on the agency's wait list to
children described in § 71-3-518, if any.
(e) Beginning January 1, 2026, and each January 1 thereafter, the commissioner
shall annually adjust the payments for the program described in subsection (b) by the
percentage increase in the consumer price index's United States average for all urban
consumers, as prepared by the United States department of labor's bureau of labor
statistics.
(f) The commissioner may use funds from the child care improvement fund
established pursuant to § 71-3-520 to support and supplement the program described in
subsection (b).
(g) The commissioner shall include the eligibility requirements of subdivision
(b)(2) in the next available application for the federal child care development fund grant.
SECTION 2. The commissioner of human services is authorized to promulgate rules to
effectuate this act. The rules must be promulgated in accordance with the Uniform
Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4, Chapter 5.
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.