AN ACT Relating to child care; adding a new section to chapter 28A.34 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 41.04 RCW; adding a new chapter to Title 26 RCW; and making an appropriation.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that:

(1) The inability to obtain convenient, quality, and cost-effective child care is a major impediment for parents seeking to find and sustain employment;

(2) The cost of day care prevents many single parents, especially women, from career advancement and from escaping the cycle of poverty;

(3) Recent data indicates that close to one-half of all mothers with children under six years of age are working and that approximately one-fifth of the nation's children reside in single-parent households;

(4) Certain employers have provided model child care programs that should be encouraged and that there is a need for increased information and sponsorship by employers of flexible child care programs; and

(5) Effective child care can aid employee productivity, lower absenteeism and job turnover, and promotes good public relations.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

(1) "Community-based organization" means nonprofit corporations whose primary purpose is to provide child care assistance to parents on a local, regional, or state-wide basis.

(2) "Department" means the department of social and health services.

(3) "Employer-sponsored child care" means policies and programs initiated by private employers to enable current or future employees to use increased child care assistance. This includes but is not limited to: Direct services such as on-site child care, consortium centers, child care networks, and sick child care programs; financial assistance, including vendor and voucher programs and charitable contributions; and changes in personnel policies such as flex-time, job sharing, flexible benefits, maternity and paternity leave, part-time employment, and sick leave.

(4) "Matching funds" includes anything of value that is contributed by business and industry to the clearinghouse which is reasonably calculated to support directly the development and expansion of a particular program under section 5 of this act and represents an addition to any financial support previously or customarily provided by the donor. "Matching funds" includes, but is not limited to, funds, federal funds, equipment, and facilities.

(5) "Small business" means a business located in the state that employs fewer than two hundred fifty employees.

(6) "Clearinghouse" means the program and information center established by this chapter.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A clearinghouse is hereby established to provide information to private employers on methods to establish employer-sponsored child care programs. The goal of the clearinghouse is to increase the number of child care programs offered by employers, especially for low-income parents. The clearinghouse shall:

(1) Provide information to employers about the range of options available to providing child care programs;

(2) Offer technical assistance to employers in developing feasibility studies for specific corporate needs and resources;

(3) Market the benefits and motivational reasons for employers to take advantage of child care programs; and

(4) Provide seed money for demonstration projects in small businesses.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. (1) The clearinghouse shall develop a competitive process to select demonstration projects for employer-sponsored child care projects. The clearinghouse shall solicit federal funds and matching grants to assist the development of demonstration projects.

(2) Demonstration projects shall be selected for consideration on a geographic basis.

(3) Participation by small businesses shall be encouraged.

(4) Priority consideration shall be given to those projects that assist low-income parents.

(5) Use of other federal and state funds shall be encouraged.

(6) No demonstration project may use more than ten thousand dollars of state funds allocated under this chapter.

(7) Each demonstration project shall be matched by private-sector matching funds.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The department shall provide assistance to the clearinghouse and shall contract with community-based organizations on a regional or state-wide basis to provide services under this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. A new section is added to chapter 28A.34 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The state board of education and the superintendent of public instruction shall review state educational policies, including school construction programs and school transportation systems, in light of the purposes of chapter 26.-- RCW (sections 1 through 5 of this act). The state board of education and the superintendent of public instruction shall adopt rules necessary to carry out the purposes of chapter 26.-- RCW (sections 1 through 5 of this act) and report to the legislature on necessary statutory changes to enable schools to assist in providing day care services for school children and children of school district employees.

(2) The superintendent of public instruction shall develop a demonstration program for public school day care programs. The superintendent shall work with the department and the clearinghouse in establishing its demonstration program. The program may be funded in part by grants awarded for this purpose. The grant for any single day care center may not exceed ten thousand dollars, may only be used for capital and start-up costs, and must be matched from other school district resources.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. A new section is added to chapter 41.04 RCW to read as follows:

The department of personnel shall enter into negotiations with state employee bargaining units concerning the allocation of a portion of any salary increase appropriations into a fund to provide grants for capital and start-up costs for day care facilities for state employees. Any such agreement shall provide for a committee of state employees to determine the amount of funds necessary for the grants provided for in this section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. Sections 1 through 5 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 26 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. (1) There is appropriated from the general fund to the department of social and health services for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, to carry out the purposes of sections 1 through 5 of this act.

(2) There is appropriated from the general fund to the superintendent of public instruction for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, the sum of one hundred thousand dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of section 6(2) of this act.