Wisconsin 2023-2024 Regular Session

Wisconsin Senate Bill SB1096 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	LRB-5992/1
2	2	EAW:cdc
3	3	2023 - 2024 LEGISLATURE
4	4	2023 SENATE BILL 1096
5	5	March 27, 2024 - Introduced by Senator LARSON, cosponsored by Representative
6	6	STUBBS. Referred to Committee on Government Operations.
7	7	AN ACT to create 15.207 (20), 48.47 (20) and 48.6595 of the statutes; relating
8	8	to: creation of the council on child care availability and reporting on the cost of
9	9	child care.
10	10	Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau
11	11	This bill creates a council on child care availability, to be housed in the
12	12	Department of Children and Families. The council is charged with studying various
13	13	issues related to the establishment of a free and universal child care system within
14	14	the state and with making an annual report to the legislature and governor with
15	15	recommendations for how to establish and pay for the free and universal child care
16	16	system.
17	17	Under the bill, DCF is required to create a biennial report detailing the actual
18	18	cost of child care, broken out by the type of care provided and compared to the child
19	19	care rates established by DCF under current law.
20	20	For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as
21	21	an appendix to this bill.
22	22	The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do
23	23	enact as follows:
24	24	SECTION 1. 15.207 (20) of the statutes is created to read:
25	25	1
26	26	2
27	27	3
28	28	4 - 2 -2023 - 2024 Legislature LRB-5992/1
29	29	EAW:cdc
30	30	SECTION 1 SENATE BILL 1096
31	31	15.207 (20) COUNCIL ON CHILD CARE AVAILABILITY. There is created in the
32	32	department of children and families a council on child care availability. The council
33	33	shall consist of the following members:
34	34	(a) The secretary of children and families and the secretary of workforce
35	35	development, or their designees, and a representative from the office of the governor
36	36	who shall serve as cochairpersons of the council.
37	37	(b) Three individuals appointed by the speaker of the assembly, at least one of
38	38	whom is a parent who has participated in the Wisconsin Shares program.
39	39	(c) Three individuals appointed by the assembly minority leader, at least one
40	40	of whom is a parent who has participated in the Wisconsin Shares program.
41	41	(d) Three individuals appointed by the president of the senate, at least one of
42	42	whom is a parent who has participated in the Wisconsin Shares program.
43	43	(e) Three individuals appointed by the senate minority leader, at least one of
44	44	whom is a parent who has participated in the Wisconsin Shares program.
45	45	(f) Two representatives of a child care resource and referral agency.
46	46	(g) Two representatives of home-based child care providers.
47	47	(h) Two representatives of center-based child care providers.
48	48	(i) Two representatives from the business community.
49	49	(j) Two representatives from unions that represent child care providers.
50	50	(k) At least one representative from each of the following entities:
51	51	1. The department of children and families.
52	52	2. The department of revenue.
53	53	3. The Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
54	54	4. The University of Wisconsin System.
55	55	5. The technical college system.
56	56	1
57	57	2
58	58	3
59	59	4
60	60	5
61	61	6
62	62	7
63	63	8
64	64	9
65	65	10
66	66	11
67	67	12
68	68	13
69	69	14
70	70	15
71	71	16
72	72	17
73	73	18
74	74	19
75	75	20
76	76	21
77	77	22
78	78	23
79	79	24
80	80	25 - 3 -2023 - 2024 Legislature
81	81	LRB-5992/1
82	82	EAW:cdc
83	83	SECTION 1
84	84	SENATE BILL 1096
85	85	6. The department of public instruction.
86	86	7. A county social services agency or an entity that advocates on behalf of social
87	87	services or county governments.
88	88	8. A nonprofit child care advocacy organization.
89	89	SECTION 2. 48.47 (20) of the statutes is created to read:
90	90	48.47 (20) REPORT ON THE COST OF CHILD CARE. Biennially, prepare a report
91	91	detailing the actual cost providers incur when providing child care. The department
92	92	shall report its findings and recommendations to the governor and to the appropriate
93	93	standing committees of the legislature under s. 13.172 (3) no later than July 1, 2024
94	94	and by July 1 of each even-numbered year thereafter, and shall post the report on
95	95	its publicly available website. The report shall include:
96	96	(a) Detailed cost data for each setting, age group, care provided to children with
97	97	special needs, and any other grouping for which a separate cost estimation is
98	98	appropriate.
99	99	(b) The level of quality care available for each setting, as determined by the
100	100	quality rating system under s. 48.659.
101	101	(c) A description of the major cost drivers for providing care.
102	102	(d) A comparison of the costs of child care for each grouping to the child care
103	103	rates established under s. 49.155 (6).
104	104	SECTION 3. 48.6595 of the statutes is created to read:
105	105	48.6595 Council on child care availability. (1) The council on child care
106	106	availability shall advise the state in developing a system of free and universal child
107	107	care using existing state and federal resources and shall make recommendations
108	108	based on its study of all of the following:
109	109	1
110	110	2
111	111	3
112	112	4
113	113	5
114	114	6
115	115	7
116	116	8
117	117	9
118	118	10
119	119	11
120	120	12
121	121	13
122	122	14
123	123	15
124	124	16
125	125	17
126	126	18
127	127	19
128	128	20
129	129	21
130	130	22
131	131	23
132	132	24 - 4 -2023 - 2024 Legislature LRB-5992/1
133	133	EAW:cdc
134	134	SECTION 3 SENATE BILL 1096
135	135	(a) How to implement a universal child care system that is free at the point of
136	136	service for all families and that delivers high-quality child care to all residents of this
137	137	state, with a 4-year phase-in, taking into account the following priorities and
138	138	principles:
139	139	1. Expansions of subsidized care are targeted to first cover low-income
140	140	families, historically underserved communities, and families facing complex needs,
141	141	including children with disabilities and child welfare involvement.
142	142	2. Work requirements, activities tests, and immigration status requirements
143	143	for low-income families are all eliminated.
144	144	3. The phase-in takes all reasonable steps to avoid benefit cliffs.
145	145	4. Reasonable steps are taken to guard against increases in costs for
146	146	middle-income families.
147	147	5. Roll-out of universal child care is coordinated with expansions of universal
148	148	preschool programs so that such programs do not cause unintentional harm to child
149	149	care providers.
150	150	(b) How to eliminate the barriers that eligible families face in obtaining or
151	151	utilizing child care subsidies.
152	152	(c) How to ensure the availability of child care for nontraditional work hours,
153	153	and identification of the funding that would be needed to expand facilities that cover
154	154	nontraditional work hours.
155	155	(d) Whether parents are voluntarily leaving the workforce due to lack of child
156	156	care, and the demographic information of such parents, if known.
157	157	(e) Whether employers have identified a lack of child care as a reason for a
158	158	shortage of a qualified workforce.
159	159	1
160	160	2
161	161	3
162	162	4
163	163	5
164	164	6
165	165	7
166	166	8
167	167	9
168	168	10
169	169	11
170	170	12
171	171	13
172	172	14
173	173	15
174	174	16
175	175	17
176	176	18
177	177	19
178	178	20
179	179	21
180	180	22
181	181	23
182	182	24 - 5 -2023 - 2024 Legislature
183	183	LRB-5992/1
184	184	EAW:cdc
185	185	SECTION 3
186	186	SENATE BILL 1096
187	187	(f) The impact of child care, or lack thereof, on economic development
188	188	throughout the state.
189	189	(g) Availability of quality child care by region, including identification of
190	190	underserved communities and recommendations for making available free,
191	191	high-quality child care in such communities.
192	192	(h) Whether regulatory or statutory changes could promote free and universal
193	193	access to high-quality child care and improve health and safety standards in child
194	194	care programs.
195	195	(i) Incentives to institutions that offer child care to increase universal and free
196	196	child care.
197	197	(j) The existence of unlicensed or unregulated child care providers, the labor
198	198	conditions of employees at such facilities, and regulatory recommendations for
199	199	approaching such providers.
200	200	(k) Disparities in the quality of child care provided to families of different
201	201	economic backgrounds, different geographic regions, and the funding needed to
202	202	provide high-quality child care for all.
203	203	(L) The factors contributing to the success of expanding universal preschool
204	204	programs in the state and the potential unintended consequences impacting child
205	205	care providers, particularly family-based providers.
206	206	(m) The availability of a searchable database of child care providers, and
207	207	recommendations for improvement of the database.
208	208	(n) The availability of funds for child care infrastructure development.
209	209	(o) The creation of an office of early education within the department.
210	210	(p) Ways to address concerns identified by the council.
211	211	(q) Anything else the council deems necessary.
212	212	1
213	213	2
214	214	3
215	215	4
216	216	5
217	217	6
218	218	7
219	219	8
220	220	9
221	221	10
222	222	11
223	223	12
224	224	13
225	225	14
226	226	15
227	227	16
228	228	17
229	229	18
230	230	19
231	231	20
232	232	21
233	233	22
234	234	23
235	235	24
236	236	25 - 6 -2023 - 2024 Legislature LRB-5992/1
237	237	EAW:cdc
238	238	SECTION 3 SENATE BILL 1096
239	239	(2) Beginning 2 years after the effective date of this subsection .... [LRB inserts
240	240	date], the council shall report its findings and recommendations annually to the
241	241	governor and to the appropriate standing committees of the legislature under s.
242	242	13.172 (3). The council shall include the following in its report:
243	243	(a) Specific recommendations to develop and implement a free and universal
244	244	child care system with a 4-year phase-in.
245	245	(b) Recommendations for budget allocations to fund the free and universal
246	246	child care system, including wage increases for child care workers that allow them
247	247	to achieve pay parity with public school teachers, capital expenditures to allow for
248	248	the expansion of child care infrastructure into communities most in need, and
249	249	startup funds to allow for the creation of new child care programs in child care
250	250	deserts.
251	251	(c) Recommendations for maximizing the allocation of federal funds, as well as
252	252	supplemental funding from the state that would allow for a free and universal child
253	253	care system.
254	254	(d) Recommendations for the integration of child care programs into existing
255	255	public programs, such as public schools, public universities, and public housing, to
256	256	deliver high-quality child care to all residents.
257	257	(3) Each year, the taskforce shall provide a score card stating how close the
258	258	state is to achieving a high-quality universal child care system. Council members
259	259	who are members of the legislature or who are employees of the governor's office or
260	260	the legislature shall recuse themselves from the rating process.
261	261	(END)
262	262	1
263	263	2
264	264	3
265	265	4
266	266	5
267	267	6
268	268	7
269	269	8
270	270	9
271	271	10
272	272	11
273	273	12
274	274	13
275	275	14
276	276	15
277	277	16
278	278	17
279	279	18
280	280	19
281	281	20
282	282	21
283	283	22
284	284	23