HOUSE BILL REPORT

2SSB 5871

BYSenate Committee on Ways & Means (originally sponsored by Senator Peterson)

Establishing the Washington institutions of higher education day care program.

House Committe on Higher Education

Majority Report:  Do pass with amendments.  (9)

      Signed by Representatives Jacobsen, Chair; Heavey, Vice Chair; Basich, Jesernig, Nelson, Silver, Unsoeld, K. Wilson and Wineberry.

Minority Report:  Do not pass.  (3)

      Signed by Representatives Allen, Barnes and Miller.

House Staff:Susan Hosch (786-7120)

AS PASSED HOUSE APRIL 13, 1987

BACKGROUND:

In 1985 138,642 students attended Washington community colleges.  Of those enrolled, more than 53 percent were women, and nearly 52,000 were women between the ages of 20 and 45, the primary period for child rearing.  It is estimated that a significant number of these women require access to child day care facilities on or near campus in order to continue their education.  At least 20 of the 27 community colleges already provide child day care services.  Students have requested that all community colleges provide child day care services.

SUMMARY:

The State Board for Community College Education (SBCCE) and the Higher Education Coordinating (HEC) Board are required to conduct surveys of institutionally-related child day care facilities available in the 1986-87 academic year to children of college or university students, faculty and staff in their assigned institutions.  The surveys must include an examination of:  the number of children served, the percentage of children from each segment of the institution's population, the size and location of the facility used, the fees charged, and the facility's annual budget, including sources of funding.  State colleges or universities that have no child day care facilities on or near campus are required by the appropriate board to conduct needs assessments, in consultation with faculty, staff and students.  The surveys and needs assessments, with recommendations for meeting identified needs,  are due to the appropriate legislative policy committees on December 1, 1987.

Fiscal Note:      Attached.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Saundra Taylor, Western Washington University; Larry Macmillan, Washington Campus Child Care Coalition; Jim Sullivan, Washington Student Lobby; Eugene St. John, Washington Public Employees Association; and Lonnie Johns-Brown, National Organization for Women.

House Committee - Testified Against:      Sonnia Bean.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Currently no survey of on campus child care facilities or programs exists.  Yet the availability of affordable and reliable child care programs is a high priority with students and staff of state institutions of higher education.  A need exists to identify existing programs, to assess the child care needs of students and employees, and to design programs that meet those needs.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      Providing child care is, and should remain, a parental responsibility. Children in an institutional setting, such as a daycare facility, may be exposed to contagious diseases, drugs, and other undesirable influences.  Day care centers should not be funded with public dollars.