H-1044              _______________________________________________

                                                    HOUSE BILL NO. 664

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Representatives Jacobsen, Tanner, Leonard, Scott and Wang

Read first time 2/8/85 and referred to Committee on Trade & Economic Development.

AN ACT Relating to child care; creating new sections; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     The legislature finds that demographic, economic, and social trends underlie an increased demand for child care services in the state of Washington.  As this need increases, and traditional sources of support such as extended families and government aid are diminishing, there is an urgent need to improve the availability, affordability, and quality of child care services in the state.

          It is the purpose of this act to establish a state child care policy and to foster a partnership between the public and private sectors to implement that policy.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     It is hereby declared to be the policy of the state of Washington to:

          (1) Maintain and support a variety of child care services;

          (2) Recognize and support the primary role of the family in making child care decisions, and encourage parents to participate fully in all phases of planning for and providing of child care;

          (3) Establish and enforce high standards for quality of service, training of child care providers, monitoring of facilities, and safety of children;

          (4) Assure equal access to quality child care services to all families, regardless of income; and

          (5) Promote broad community and private sector support for child care services, as part of a state commitment to families and children.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     (1) A revolving loan fund for the purpose of providing loans to small businesses to defray start-up costs associated with providing child care facilities for employees is hereby established as a pilot project under the administration of the director of commerce and economic development.

          (2) The director shall establish guidelines and rules of loan eligibility including but not limited to provisions to insure that:

          (a) Loan funds shall be used for construction or renovation of a child care facility, purchase of equipment, and other start-up costs, but not for operating expenses.

          (b) Interest rates on loans will be set at a level to be determined by the director which will be slightly lower than market rates but high enough to insure the stability of the loan fund; and

          (c) Loan eligibility shall be limited to companies employing one hundred or fewer employees.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     The sum of .......... dollars, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated to the department of commerce and economic development from the general fund for the biennium ending June 30, 1987, to carry out the purposes of this act.