BILL REQ. #:  S-0901.1 

Read first time 01/27/09.   Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection.

     AN ACT Relating to improving quality, access, and stability of child care through providing collective bargaining for child care center directors and workers; amending RCW 41.56.028, 41.56.030, 41.56.113, 41.56.465, 41.04.810, 43.01.047, 43.215.350, and 74.15.020; reenacting and amending RCW 43.215.010; adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 74.08A RCW; adding a new section to chapter 74.12 RCW; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that, as of 2009, the challenges posed by low wages and lack of training that the legislature identified in enacting the child care career and wage ladder persist, and the availability of quality child care in the state continues to suffer. The legislature intends to address these problems by creating the possibility for a new relationship between child care center directors and workers and the state. Child care center directors and workers are to be given the opportunity to work collectively to improve standards in their profession and to expand opportunities for educational advancement to ensure continuous quality improvement in the delivery of early learning services. Family child care providers in the state have recently been given a similar opportunity, and the results of their efforts have improved standards and quality for that segment of the child care industry.
     The legislature intends to create a new type of collective bargaining for these directors and workers whereby they can come together and bargain with the state over matters within the state's purview to improve the quality of child care for the state's families. Unlike traditional collective bargaining, this new approach will afford these directors and workers the opportunity to bargain with the state only over the state's support for child care centers, a matter of common concern to both directors and workers. Specific terms and conditions of employment at individual centers, which are the subjects of traditional collective bargaining between employers and their employees, fall outside the limited scope of bargaining defined by this act. Accordingly, traditional policy concerns over supervisors and employees being organized into a common bargaining unit are inapplicable. Sharing a community of interest in the subjects of bargaining enables directors and workers to work side by side in the same bargaining unit for common goals.
     All child care center directors and workers will equally be able to maintain full membership in the organization that represents them in their efforts to improve the quality of child care they provide to the state's children. This new bargaining relationship does not intrude in any manner upon those relationships governed by the national labor relations act (29 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq). Child care center directors and workers do not forfeit their rights under the national labor relations act by becoming members of an organization that represents them in their dealings with the state. Under the national labor relations act, an organization that represents child care center directors and workers in bargaining with the state under this act is precluded from representing workers seeking to engage in traditional collective bargaining with their employer over specific terms and conditions of employment at individual child care centers.
     Nothing in this act is intended to create any unfunded mandates or financial obligations on child care centers covered by this act.

Sec. 2   RCW 41.56.028 and 2007 c 278 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In addition to the entities listed in RCW 41.56.020, this chapter applies to the governor with respect to family child care providers and to child care center directors and workers. Solely for the purposes of collective bargaining and as expressly limited under subsections (2) and (3) of this section, the governor is the public employer of family child care providers and of child care center directors and workers who, solely for the purposes of collective bargaining, are public employees. The public employer shall be represented for bargaining purposes by the governor or the governor's designee appointed under chapter 41.80 RCW.
     (2) This chapter governs the collective bargaining relationship between the governor and family child care providers and between the governor and child care center directors and workers, except as follows:
     (a) ((A statewide unit of all family child care providers is)) The only units appropriate for purposes of collective bargaining under RCW 41.56.060 are:
     (i) A statewide unit for family child care providers; and
     (ii) The units for child care center directors and workers determined by the commission which shall conform to the unit requested in the application for certification as the bargaining representative if consistent with the terms of this act. In determining the units, the commission shall include in the same unit all child care center directors and workers employed at child care centers located in department of social and health services regions existing on the effective date of this section, and may group together regions to minimize the number of units.
     (b) The exclusive bargaining representative of family child care providers or of child care center directors and workers in the units specified in (a) of this subsection shall be the representative chosen in an election conducted pursuant to RCW 41.56.070, except that:
     (i) In the initial election conducted under chapter 54, Laws of 2006, or this act, if more than one labor organization is on the ballot and none of the choices receives a majority of the votes cast, a run-off election shall be held; and
     (ii) To show at least thirty percent representation within a unit to accompany a request for an initial election under this act, the written proof of representation is valid only if collected not more than two years prior to the date the request is filed with the commission.
     (c) For the exclusive bargaining representatives certified by the commission to represent units of child care center directors and workers, negotiations of a collective bargaining agreement shall be conducted jointly by all certified representatives. The representatives shall bargain for one collective bargaining agreement covering all of the represented child care center directors and workers.
     (d)(i) Notwithstanding the definition of "collective bargaining" in RCW 41.56.030(4), the scope of collective bargaining for family child care providers under this section shall be limited solely to: (((i))) (A) Economic compensation, such as manner and rate of subsidy and reimbursement, including ((tiered reimbursements)) quality incentives; (((ii))) (B) health and welfare benefits; (((iii))) (C) professional development and training; (((iv))) (D) labor-management committees; (((v))) (E) grievance procedures; and (((vi))) (F) other economic matters. Retirement benefits shall not be subject to collective bargaining. By such obligation neither party shall be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession unless otherwise provided in this chapter.
     (((d))) (ii) Notwithstanding the definition of "collective bargaining" in RCW 41.56.030(4), the matters subject to bargaining under this section shall be within the purview of the state and within the community of interest of child care center directors and workers. The public employer is: (A) Required to bargain over the manner and rate of subsidy and reimbursement, including quality incentives; (B) permitted, but not required, to bargain over: (I) Funding for professional development and training; (II) mechanisms and funding to improve the access of child care centers to health care insurance and other benefit programs; (III) other economic support for child care centers; and (IV) grievance procedures to resolve disputes arising out of the interpretation or application of the collective bargaining agreement; and (C) prohibited from bargaining over retirement benefits. By such obligation neither party shall be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession unless otherwise provided in this chapter.
     (e) The mediation and interest arbitration provisions of RCW 41.56.430 through 41.56.470 and 41.56.480 apply, except that:
     (i) With respect to commencement of negotiations between the governor and the exclusive bargaining representative of family child care providers or the exclusive bargaining representative or representatives of child care center directors and workers, negotiations shall be commenced initially upon certification of an exclusive bargaining representative under (a) of this subsection and, thereafter, by February 1st of any even-numbered year; and
     (ii) The decision of the arbitration panel is not binding on the legislature and, if the legislature does not approve the request for funds necessary to implement the compensation and benefit provisions of ((the)) an arbitrated collective bargaining agreement for family child care providers or an arbitrated collective bargaining agreement for child care center directors and workers, is not binding on the state.
     (((e))) (f) Nothing in chapter 54, Laws of 2006, or this act grants family child care providers ((do not have)) and child care center directors and workers the right to strike.
     (3) Family child care providers and child care center directors and workers who are public employees solely for the purposes of collective bargaining under subsection (1) of this section are not, for that reason, employees of the state for any purpose. This section applies only to the governance of the collective bargaining relationship between the employer and family child care providers and between the employer and child care center directors and workers as provided in subsections (1) and (2) of this section.
     (4) This section does not create or modify:
     (a) The parents' or legal guardians' right to choose and terminate the services of any family child care provider or any child care center that provides care for their child or children;
     (b) The child care centers' right to choose, direct, and terminate the services of any child care worker who provides care in the center, and unless otherwise provided in this chapter, to manage and operate facilities and programs, including rights to plan, direct, and control the use of resources;
     (c) The rights of employers and employees under the national labor relations act, 29 U.S.C. Sec. 151 et seq.;
     (d) The secretary of the department of social and health services' right to adopt requirements under RCW 74.15.030, except for requirements related to grievance procedures and collective negotiations on personnel matters as specified in subsection (2)(((c))) (d) of this section;
     (((c))) (e) Chapter 26.44 RCW, RCW 43.43.832, 43.20A.205, and 74.15.130; and
     (((d))) (f) The legislature's right to make programmatic modifications to the delivery of state services through child care subsidy programs, including standards of eligibility of parents, legal guardians, ((and)) family child care providers and child care centers participating in child care subsidy programs, ((and)) the nature of services provided, and the right to determine standards for professional development and training, quality criteria, or ratings through programs such as a quality rating system. The governor shall not enter into, extend, or renew any agreement under this section that does not expressly reserve the legislative rights described in this subsection (4)(((d))) (f).
     (5) Upon meeting the requirements of subsection (6) of this section, the governor must submit, as a part of the proposed biennial or supplemental operating budget submitted to the legislature under RCW 43.88.030, ((a)) requests for funds necessary to implement the compensation and benefit provisions of a collective bargaining agreement for family child care providers and a collective bargaining agreement for child care center directors and workers entered into under this section or for legislation necessary to implement such agreements.
     (6) ((A)) Requests for funds necessary to implement the compensation and benefit provisions of a collective bargaining agreement for family child care providers and a collective bargaining agreement for child care center directors and workers entered into under this section shall not be submitted by the governor to the legislature unless such ((request has)) requests have been:
     (a) Submitted to the director of financial management by October 1st before the legislative session at which the request is to be considered, except that, for initial negotiations under this section for family child care providers, the request must be submitted by November 15, 2006, and for child care center directors and workers, the request may not be submitted before July 1, 2010; and
     (b) Certified by the director of financial management as being feasible financially for the state or reflects the binding decision of an arbitration panel reached under this section.
     (7) The legislature must approve or reject the submission of the requests for funds as a whole. If the legislature rejects or fails to act on the submissions, any such agreements will be reopened solely for the purpose of renegotiating the funds necessary to implement the agreements.
     (8) The governor shall periodically consult with the joint committee on employment relations established by RCW 41.80.010 regarding appropriations necessary to implement the compensation and benefit provisions of ((any)) a collective bargaining agreement for family child care providers and a collective bargaining agreement for child care center directors and workers and, upon completion of negotiations, advise the committee on the elements of the agreements and on any legislation necessary to implement such agreements.
     (9) After the expiration date of any collective bargaining agreement entered into under this section, all of the terms and conditions specified in any such agreement remain in effect until the effective date of a subsequent agreement, not to exceed one year from the expiration date stated in the agreement, except as provided in subsection (4)(((d))) (f) of this section.
     (10) If, after the compensation and benefit provisions of ((an)) a collective bargaining agreement for family child care providers or for a collective bargaining agreement for child care center directors and workers are approved by the legislature, a significant revenue shortfall occurs resulting in reduced appropriations, as declared by proclamation of the governor or by resolution of the legislature, both parties shall immediately enter into collective bargaining for a mutually agreed upon modification of the agreement.
     (11) In enacting this section, the legislature intends to provide state action immunity under federal and state antitrust laws for the joint activities of family child care providers and their exclusive bargaining representative and of child care center directors and workers and their exclusive bargaining representatives to the extent such activities are authorized by this chapter.

Sec. 3   RCW 41.56.030 and 2007 c 184 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter:
     (1) "Public employer" means any officer, board, commission, council, or other person or body acting on behalf of any public body governed by this chapter, or any subdivision of such public body. For the purposes of this section, the public employer of district court or superior court employees for wage-related matters is the respective county legislative authority, or person or body acting on behalf of the legislative authority, and the public employer for nonwage-related matters is the judge or judge's designee of the respective district court or superior court.
     (2) "Public employee" means any employee of a public employer except any person (a) elected by popular vote, or (b) appointed to office pursuant to statute, ordinance or resolution for a specified term of office as a member of a multimember board, commission, or committee, whether appointed by the executive head or body of the public employer, or (c) whose duties as deputy, administrative assistant or secretary necessarily imply a confidential relationship to (i) the executive head or body of the applicable bargaining unit, or (ii) any person elected by popular vote, or (iii) any person appointed to office pursuant to statute, ordinance or resolution for a specified term of office as a member of a multimember board, commission, or committee, whether appointed by the executive head or body of the public employer, or (d) who is a court commissioner or a court magistrate of superior court, district court, or a department of a district court organized under chapter 3.46 RCW, or (e) who is a personal assistant to a district court judge, superior court judge, or court commissioner. For the purpose of (e) of this subsection, no more than one assistant for each judge or commissioner may be excluded from a bargaining unit.
     (3) "Bargaining representative" means any lawful organization which has as one of its primary purposes the representation of employees in their employment relations with employers.
     (4) "Collective bargaining" means the performance of the mutual obligations of the public employer and the exclusive bargaining representative to meet at reasonable times, to confer and negotiate in good faith, and to execute a written agreement with respect to grievance procedures and collective negotiations on personnel matters, including wages, hours and working conditions, which may be peculiar to an appropriate bargaining unit of such public employer, except that by such obligation neither party shall be compelled to agree to a proposal or be required to make a concession unless otherwise provided in this chapter.
     (5) "Commission" means the public employment relations commission.
     (6) "Executive director" means the executive director of the commission.
     (7) "Uniformed personnel" means: (a) Law enforcement officers as defined in RCW 41.26.030 employed by the governing body of any city or town with a population of two thousand five hundred or more and law enforcement officers employed by the governing body of any county with a population of ten thousand or more; (b) correctional employees who are uniformed and nonuniformed, commissioned and noncommissioned security personnel employed in a jail as defined in RCW 70.48.020(5), by a county with a population of seventy thousand or more, and who are trained for and charged with the responsibility of controlling and maintaining custody of inmates in the jail and safeguarding inmates from other inmates; (c) general authority Washington peace officers as defined in RCW 10.93.020 employed by a port district in a county with a population of one million or more; (d) security forces established under RCW 43.52.520; (e) firefighters as that term is defined in RCW 41.26.030; (f) employees of a port district in a county with a population of one million or more whose duties include crash fire rescue or other fire fighting duties; (g) employees of fire departments of public employers who dispatch exclusively either fire or emergency medical services, or both; or (h) employees in the several classes of advanced life support technicians, as defined in RCW 18.71.200, who are employed by a public employer.
     (8) "Institution of higher education" means the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Eastern Washington University, Western Washington University, The Evergreen State College, and the various state community colleges.
     (9) "Home care quality authority" means the authority under chapter 74.39A RCW.
     (10) "Individual provider" means an individual provider as defined in RCW 74.39A.240(4) who, solely for the purposes of collective bargaining, is a public employee as provided in RCW 74.39A.270.
     (11) "Child care subsidy" means a payment from the state through a child care subsidy program established pursuant to RCW 74.12.340 or 74.08A.340, 45 C.F.R. Sec. 98.1 through 98.17, or any successor program.
     (12) "Family child care provider" means a person who: (a) Provides regularly scheduled care for a child or children in the home of the provider or in the home of the child or children for periods of less than twenty-four hours or, if necessary due to the nature of the parent's work, for periods equal to or greater than twenty-four hours; (b) receives child care subsidies; and (c) is either licensed by the state under RCW 74.15.030 or is exempt from licensing under chapter 74.15 RCW.
     (13) "Adult family home provider" means a provider as defined in RCW 70.128.010 who receives payments from the medicaid and state-funded long-term care programs.
     (14) "Child care center directors and workers" includes all employees of child care centers who work on-site at the centers. "Child care center directors and workers" also includes owners of child care centers who work on-site at the centers.
     (15)(a) "Child care center" means a child care center licensed by the state under RCW 74.15.030 that has at least four children for whom it receives a child care subsidy.
     (b) "Child care center" does not include a child care center:
     (i) Operated directly by another unit of government or a tribe;
     (ii) Operated by an individual, partnership, profit or nonprofit corporation, or other entity that operates ten or more child care centers statewide; or
     (iii) Operated by a local nonprofit organization whose primary mission is to provide social services, including serving children and families, and that pays membership dues or assessments to either: (A) A national organization, exempt from income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code, with more than three million dollars in membership dues and assessments annually, as reported to the internal revenue service; or (B) a regional council that is affiliated with a national organization, exempt from income tax under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code, with more than two hundred affiliates.

Sec. 4   RCW 41.56.113 and 2007 c 184 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Upon the written authorization of an individual provider, a family child care provider, or an adult family home provider within the bargaining unit and after the certification or recognition of the bargaining unit's exclusive bargaining representative, the state as payor, but not as the employer, shall, subject to subsection (((3))) (4) of this section, deduct from the payments to an individual provider, a family child care provider, or an adult family home provider the monthly amount of dues as certified by the secretary of the exclusive bargaining representative and shall transmit the same to the treasurer of the exclusive bargaining representative.
     (2) If the governor and the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit of individual providers, family child care providers, or adult family home providers enter into a collective bargaining agreement that:
     (a) Includes a union security provision authorized in RCW 41.56.122, the state as payor, but not as the employer, shall, subject to subsection (((3))) (4) of this section, enforce the agreement by deducting from the payments to bargaining unit members the dues required for membership in the exclusive bargaining representative, or, for nonmembers thereof, a fee equivalent to the dues; or
     (b) Includes requirements for deductions of payments other than the deduction under (a) of this subsection, the state, as payor, but not as the employer, shall, subject to subsection (((3))) (4) of this section, make such deductions upon written authorization of the individual provider, family child care provider, or adult family home provider.
     (3) In lieu of the deductions authorized under subsections (1) and (2) of this section, and the union security provisions authorized under RCW 41.56.122, the governor and the exclusive representative of a bargaining unit of child care center directors and workers shall agree to a representation fee to be paid to the exclusive representative for the costs of representation of child care center directors and workers as provided in this chapter. The state shall deduct the representation fee from the monthly amount of the child care subsidy due to a child care center and transmit the representation fee to the secretary of the exclusive bargaining representative. However:
     (a) Any agreement to pay a representation fee must safeguard the child care center owner's and operator's rights of nonassociation based on bona fide religious tenets or teachings of a church or other religious body of which the owner or operator is a member. The child care center owner or operator shall pay an amount equivalent to the representation fee to a nonreligious charity or to another charitable organization;
     (b) The child care center shall furnish written proof that such payment has been made.
     (4)(a) The initial additional costs to the state in making deductions ((from the payments to individual providers, family child care providers, and adult family home providers)) under this section shall be negotiated, agreed upon in advance, and reimbursed to the state by the exclusive bargaining representative.
     (b) The allocation of ongoing additional costs to the state in making deductions ((from the payments to individual providers, family child care providers, or adult family home providers)) under this section shall be an appropriate subject of collective bargaining between the exclusive bargaining representative and the governor unless prohibited by another statute. If no collective bargaining agreement containing a provision allocating the ongoing additional cost is entered into between the exclusive bargaining representative and the governor, or if the legislature does not approve funding for the collective bargaining agreement as provided in RCW 74.39A.300, 41.56.028, or 41.56.029, as applicable, the ongoing additional costs to the state in making deductions ((from the payments to individual providers, family child care providers, or adult family home providers)) under this section shall be negotiated, agreed upon in advance, and reimbursed to the state by the exclusive bargaining representative.
     (((4))) (5) The governor and the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit of family child care providers may not enter into a collective bargaining agreement that contains a union security provision unless the agreement contains a process, to be administered by the exclusive bargaining representative of a bargaining unit of family child care providers, for hardship dispensation for license- exempt family child care providers who are also temporary assistance for needy families recipients or WorkFirst participants.

Sec. 5   RCW 41.56.465 and 2007 c 278 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) In making its determination, the panel shall be mindful of the legislative purpose enumerated in RCW 41.56.430 and, as additional standards or guidelines to aid it in reaching a decision, the panel shall consider:
     (a) The constitutional and statutory authority of the employer;
     (b) Stipulations of the parties;
     (c) The average consumer prices for goods and services, commonly known as the cost of living;
     (d) Changes in any of the circumstances under (a) through (c) of this subsection during the pendency of the proceedings; and
     (e) Such other factors, not confined to the factors under (a) through (d) of this subsection, that are normally or traditionally taken into consideration in the determination of wages, hours, and conditions of employment. For those employees listed in RCW 41.56.030(7)(a) who are employed by the governing body of a city or town with a population of less than fifteen thousand, or a county with a population of less than seventy thousand, consideration must also be given to regional differences in the cost of living.
     (2) For employees listed in RCW 41.56.030(7) (a) through (d), the panel shall also consider a comparison of the wages, hours, and conditions of employment of personnel involved in the proceedings with the wages, hours, and conditions of employment of like personnel of like employers of similar size on the west coast of the United States.
     (3) For employees listed in RCW 41.56.030(7) (e) through (h), the panel shall also consider a comparison of the wages, hours, and conditions of employment of personnel involved in the proceedings with the wages, hours, and conditions of employment of like personnel of public fire departments of similar size on the west coast of the United States. However, when an adequate number of comparable employers exists within the state of Washington, other west coast employers may not be considered.
     (4) For ((employees)) family child care providers listed in RCW 41.56.028:
     (a) The panel shall also consider:
     (i) A comparison of child care provider subsidy rates and reimbursement programs by public entities, including counties and municipalities, along the west coast of the United States; and
     (ii) The financial ability of the state to pay for the compensation and benefit provisions of a collective bargaining agreement; and
     (b) The panel may consider:
     (i) The public's interest in reducing turnover and increasing retention of child care providers;
     (ii) The state's interest in promoting, through education and training, a stable child care workforce to provide quality and reliable child care from all providers throughout the state; and
     (iii) In addition, for employees exempt from licensing under chapter 74.15 RCW, the state's fiscal interest in reducing reliance upon public benefit programs including but not limited to medical coupons, food stamps, subsidized housing, and emergency medical services.
     (5) For child care center directors and workers listed in RCW 41.56.028, the panel shall also consider:
     (a) A comparison of child care provider subsidy rates and reimbursement programs by public entities, including counties and municipalities, along the west coast of the United States; and
     (b) The financial ability of the state to pay for a collective bargaining agreement.
     (6) For employees listed in RCW 74.39A.270:
     (a) The panel shall consider:
     (i) A comparison of wages, hours, and conditions of employment of publicly reimbursed personnel providing similar services to similar clients, including clients who are elderly, frail, or have developmental disabilities, both in the state and across the United States; and
     (ii) The financial ability of the state to pay for the compensation and fringe benefit provisions of a collective bargaining agreement; and
     (b) The panel may consider:
     (i) A comparison of wages, hours, and conditions of employment of publicly employed personnel providing similar services to similar clients, including clients who are elderly, frail, or have developmental disabilities, both in the state and across the United States;
     (ii) The state's interest in promoting a stable long-term care workforce to provide quality and reliable care to vulnerable elderly and disabled recipients;
     (iii) The state's interest in ensuring access to affordable, quality health care for all state citizens; and
     (iv) The state's fiscal interest in reducing reliance upon public benefit programs including but not limited to medical coupons, food stamps, subsidized housing, and emergency medical services.
     (((6))) (7) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section may not be construed to authorize the panel to require the employer to pay, directly or indirectly, the increased employee contributions resulting from chapter 502, Laws of 1993 or chapter 517, Laws of 1993 as required under chapter 41.26 RCW.

Sec. 6   RCW 41.04.810 and 2007 c 184 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     Individual providers, as defined in RCW 74.39A.240, family child care providers, as defined in RCW 41.56.030, child care center directors and workers, as defined in RCW 41.56.030, and adult family home providers, as defined in RCW 41.56.030, are not employees of the state or any of its political subdivisions and are specifically and entirely excluded from all provisions of this title, except as provided in RCW 74.39A.270, 41.56.028, and 41.56.029.

Sec. 7   RCW 43.01.047 and 2007 c 184 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     RCW 43.01.040 through 43.01.044 do not apply to individual providers under RCW 74.39A.220 through 74.39A.300, family child care providers under RCW 41.56.028, child care center directors and workers under RCW 41.56.028, or adult family home providers under RCW 41.56.029.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Every child care center shall provide to the department a list of the names and addresses of all current child care center directors and workers, as defined in RCW 41.56.030, annually by January 30th, except that initially the lists shall be provided within thirty days of the effective date of this section.
     (2) The department shall, upon request, provide to a labor organization seeking to organize child care center directors and workers, a list of all directors and workers in the unit that the organization seeks to organize. The list shall contain the information collected with regard to the directors and workers pursuant to subsection (1) of this section.
     (3) A labor organization receiving information under subsection (2) of this section may not release that information to any other party and may only use that information for collective bargaining and for the purposes specified in subsection (2) of this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 9   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     The department shall adjust the rates of child care subsidies, as defined in RCW 41.56.030, paid to all child care centers located in a department of social and health services region to reflect the rate provisions in a collective bargaining agreement for child care center directors and workers employed at child care centers located in the same region that was negotiated under RCW 41.56.028 and funded by the legislature.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 10   A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:
     The department shall adjust the rates of child care subsidies, as defined in RCW 41.56.030, paid to all child care centers located in a department of social and health services region to reflect the rate provisions in a collective bargaining agreement for child care center directors and workers employed at child care centers located in the same region that was negotiated under RCW 41.56.028 and funded by the legislature.

Sec. 11   RCW 43.215.010 and 2007 c 415 s 2 and 2007 c 394 s 2 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Agency" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or facility that provides child care and early learning services outside a child's own home and includes the following irrespective of whether there is compensation to the agency:
     (a) "Child day care center" means an agency that regularly provides child day care and early learning services for a group of children for periods of less than twenty-four hours;
     (b) "Early learning" includes but is not limited to programs and services for child care; state, federal, private, and nonprofit preschool; child care subsidies; child care resource and referral; parental education and support; and training and professional development for early learning professionals;
     (c) "Family day care provider" means a child day care provider who regularly provides child day care and early learning services for not more than twelve children in the provider's home in the family living quarters;
     (d) "Nongovernmental private-public partnership" means an entity registered as a nonprofit corporation in Washington state with a primary focus on early learning, school readiness, and parental support, and an ability to raise a minimum of five million dollars in contributions;
     (e) "Service provider" means the entity that operates a community facility.
     (2) "Agency" does not include the following:
     (a) Persons related to the child in the following ways:
     (i) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and including first cousins, nephews or nieces, and persons of preceding generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great;
     (ii) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;
     (iii) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance with state law; or
     (iv) Spouses of any persons named in (i), (ii), or (iii) of this subsection (2)(a), even after the marriage is terminated;
     (b) Persons who are legal guardians of the child;
     (c) Persons who care for a neighbor's or friend's child or children, with or without compensation, where the person providing care for periods of less than twenty-four hours does not conduct such activity on an ongoing, regularly scheduled basis for the purpose of engaging in business, which includes, but is not limited to, advertising such care;
     (d) Parents on a mutually cooperative basis exchange care of one another's children;
     (e) Nursery schools or kindergartens that are engaged primarily in educational work with preschool children and in which no child is enrolled on a regular basis for more than four hours per day;
     (f) Schools, including boarding schools, that are engaged primarily in education, operate on a definite school year schedule, follow a stated academic curriculum, accept only school-age children, and do not accept custody of children;
     (g) Seasonal camps of three months' or less duration engaged primarily in recreational or educational activities;
     (h) Facilities providing care to children for periods of less than twenty-four hours whose parents remain on the premises to participate in activities other than employment;
     (i) Any agency having been in operation in this state ten years before June 8, 1967, and not seeking or accepting moneys or assistance from any state or federal agency, and is supported in part by an endowment or trust fund;
     (j) An agency operated by any unit of local, state, or federal government or an agency, located within the boundaries of a federally recognized Indian reservation, licensed by the Indian tribe;
     (k) An agency located on a federal military reservation, except where the military authorities request that such agency be subject to the licensing requirements of this chapter;
     (l) An agency that offers early learning and support services, such as parent education, and does not provide child care services on a regular basis.
     (3) "Applicant" means a person who requests or seeks employment in an agency.
     (4) "Child care center directors and workers" means the same as in RCW 41.56.030.
     (5) "Department" means the department of early learning.
     (((5))) (6) "Director" means the director of the department.
     (((6))) (7) "Employer" means a person or business that engages the services of one or more people, especially for wages or salary to work in an agency.
     (((7))) (8) "Enforcement action" means denial, suspension, revocation, modification, or nonrenewal of a license pursuant to RCW 43.215.300(1) or assessment of civil monetary penalties pursuant to RCW 43.215.300(3).
     (((8))) (9) "Family child care licensee" means a person who: (a) Provides regularly scheduled care for a child or children in the home of the provider for periods of less than twenty-four hours or, if necessary due to the nature of the parent's work, for periods equal to or greater than twenty-four hours; (b) does not receive child care subsidies; and (c) is licensed by the state under RCW 43.215.200.
     (10) "Probationary license" means a license issued as a disciplinary measure to an agency that has previously been issued a full license but is out of compliance with licensing standards.
     (((9))) (11) "Requirement" means any rule, regulation, or standard of care to be maintained by an agency.

Sec. 12   RCW 43.215.350 and 2007 c 17 s 15 are each amended to read as follows:
     The director shall have the power and it shall be the director's duty to engage in negotiated rule making pursuant to RCW 34.05.310(2)(a) with:
     (1) The exclusive representative of the unit of family child care licensees selected in accordance with RCW 43.215.355 and with other affected interests before adopting requirements that affect family child care licensees; and
     (2) The exclusive representative or representatives of the unit or units of child care center directors and workers selected in accordance with RCW 41.56.028 and with other affected interests before adopting requirements that affect child care center directors and workers.

Sec. 13   RCW 74.15.020 and 2007 c 412 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     For the purpose of this chapter and RCW 74.13.031, and unless otherwise clearly indicated by the context thereof, the following terms shall mean:
     (1) "Agency" means any person, firm, partnership, association, corporation, or facility which receives children, expectant mothers, or persons with developmental disabilities for control, care, or maintenance outside their own homes, or which places, arranges the placement of, or assists in the placement of children, expectant mothers, or persons with developmental disabilities for foster care or placement of children for adoption, and shall include the following irrespective of whether there is compensation to the agency or to the children, expectant mothers or persons with developmental disabilities for services rendered:
     (a) "Child-placing agency" means an agency which places a child or children for temporary care, continued care, or for adoption;
     (b) "Community facility" means a group care facility operated for the care of juveniles committed to the department under RCW 13.40.185. A county detention facility that houses juveniles committed to the department under RCW 13.40.185 pursuant to a contract with the department is not a community facility;
     (c) "Crisis residential center" means an agency which is a temporary protective residential facility operated to perform the duties specified in chapter 13.32A RCW, in the manner provided in RCW 74.13.032 through 74.13.036;
     (d) "Emergency respite center" is an agency that may be commonly known as a crisis nursery, that provides emergency and crisis care for up to seventy-two hours to children who have been admitted by their parents or guardians to prevent abuse or neglect. Emergency respite centers may operate for up to twenty-four hours a day, and for up to seven days a week. Emergency respite centers may provide care for children ages birth through seventeen, and for persons eighteen through twenty with developmental disabilities who are admitted with a sibling or siblings through age seventeen. Emergency respite centers may not substitute for crisis residential centers or HOPE centers, or any other services defined under this section, and may not substitute for services which are required under chapter 13.32A or 13.34 RCW;
     (e) "Foster-family home" means an agency which regularly provides care on a twenty-four hour basis to one or more children, expectant mothers, or persons with developmental disabilities in the family abode of the person or persons under whose direct care and supervision the child, expectant mother, or person with a developmental disability is placed;
     (f) "Group-care facility" means an agency, other than a foster-family home, which is maintained and operated for the care of a group of children on a twenty-four hour basis;
     (g) "HOPE center" means an agency licensed by the secretary to provide temporary residential placement and other services to street youth. A street youth may remain in a HOPE center for thirty days while services are arranged and permanent placement is coordinated. No street youth may stay longer than thirty days unless approved by the department and any additional days approved by the department must be based on the unavailability of a long-term placement option. A street youth whose parent wants him or her returned to home may remain in a HOPE center until his or her parent arranges return of the youth, not longer. All other street youth must have court approval under chapter 13.34 or 13.32A RCW to remain in a HOPE center up to thirty days;
     (h) "Maternity service" means an agency which provides or arranges for care or services to expectant mothers, before or during confinement, or which provides care as needed to mothers and their infants after confinement;
     (i) "Responsible living skills program" means an agency licensed by the secretary that provides residential and transitional living services to persons ages sixteen to eighteen who are dependent under chapter 13.34 RCW and who have been unable to live in his or her legally authorized residence and, as a result, the minor lived outdoors or in another unsafe location not intended for occupancy by the minor. Dependent minors ages fourteen and fifteen may be eligible if no other placement alternative is available and the department approves the placement;
     (j) "Service provider" means the entity that operates a community facility.
     (2) "Agency" shall not include the following:
     (a) Persons related to the child, expectant mother, or person with developmental disability in the following ways:
     (i) Any blood relative, including those of half-blood, and including first cousins, second cousins, nephews or nieces, and persons of preceding generations as denoted by prefixes of grand, great, or great-great;
     (ii) Stepfather, stepmother, stepbrother, and stepsister;
     (iii) A person who legally adopts a child or the child's parent as well as the natural and other legally adopted children of such persons, and other relatives of the adoptive parents in accordance with state law;
     (iv) Spouses of any persons named in (i), (ii), or (iii) of this subsection (2)(a), even after the marriage is terminated;
     (v) Relatives, as named in (i), (ii), (iii), or (iv) of this subsection (2)(a), of any half sibling of the child; or
     (vi) Extended family members, as defined by the law or custom of the Indian child's tribe or, in the absence of such law or custom, a person who has reached the age of eighteen and who is the Indian child's grandparent, aunt or uncle, brother or sister, brother-in-law or sister-in-law, niece or nephew, first or second cousin, or stepparent who provides care in the family abode on a twenty-four-hour basis to an Indian child as defined in 25 U.S.C. Sec. 1903(4);
     (b) Persons who are legal guardians of the child, expectant mother, or persons with developmental disabilities;
     (c) Persons who care for a neighbor's or friend's child or children, with or without compensation, where the parent and person providing care on a twenty-four-hour basis have agreed to the placement in writing and the state is not providing any payment for the care;
     (d) A person, partnership, corporation, or other entity that provides placement or similar services to exchange students or international student exchange visitors or persons who have the care of an exchange student in their home;
     (e) A person, partnership, corporation, or other entity that provides placement or similar services to international children who have entered the country by obtaining visas that meet the criteria for medical care as established by the United States immigration and naturalization service, or persons who have the care of such an international child in their home;
     (f) Schools, including boarding schools, which are engaged primarily in education, operate on a definite school year schedule, follow a stated academic curriculum, accept only school-age children and do not accept custody of children;
     (g) Hospitals licensed pursuant to chapter 70.41 RCW when performing functions defined in chapter 70.41 RCW, nursing homes licensed under chapter 18.51 RCW and boarding homes licensed under chapter 18.20 RCW;
     (h) Licensed physicians or lawyers;
     (i) Facilities approved and certified under chapter 71A.22 RCW;
     (j) Any agency having been in operation in this state ten years prior to June 8, 1967, and not seeking or accepting moneys or assistance from any state or federal agency, and is supported in part by an endowment or trust fund;
     (k) Persons who have a child in their home for purposes of adoption, if the child was placed in such home by a licensed child-placing agency, an authorized public or tribal agency or court or if a replacement report has been filed under chapter 26.33 RCW and the placement has been approved by the court;
     (l) An agency operated by any unit of local, state, or federal government or an agency licensed by an Indian tribe pursuant to RCW 74.15.190;
     (m) A maximum or medium security program for juvenile offenders operated by or under contract with the department;
     (n) An agency located on a federal military reservation, except where the military authorities request that such agency be subject to the licensing requirements of this chapter.
     (3) "Department" means the state department of social and health services.
     (4) (("Family child care licensee" means a person who: (a) Provides regularly scheduled care for a child or children in the home of the provider for periods of less than twenty-four hours or, if necessary due to the nature of the parent's work, for periods equal to or greater than twenty-four hours; (b) does not receive child care subsidies; and (c) is licensed by the state under RCW 74.15.030.
     (5))) "Juvenile" means a person under the age of twenty-one who has been sentenced to a term of confinement under the supervision of the department under RCW 13.40.185.
     (((6))) (5) "Probationary license" means a license issued as a disciplinary measure to an agency that has previously been issued a full license but is out of compliance with licensing standards.
     (((7))) (6) "Requirement" means any rule, regulation, or standard of care to be maintained by an agency.
     (((8))) (7) "Secretary" means the secretary of social and health services.
     (((9))) (8) "Street youth" means a person under the age of eighteen who lives outdoors or in another unsafe location not intended for occupancy by the minor and who is not residing with his or her parent or at his or her legally authorized residence.
     (((10))) (9) "Transitional living services" means at a minimum, to the extent funds are available, the following:
     (a) Educational services, including basic literacy and computational skills training, either in local alternative or public high schools or in a high school equivalency program that leads to obtaining a high school equivalency degree;
     (b) Assistance and counseling related to obtaining vocational training or higher education, job readiness, job search assistance, and placement programs;
     (c) Counseling and instruction in life skills such as money management, home management, consumer skills, parenting, health care, access to community resources, and transportation and housing options;
     (d) Individual and group counseling; and
     (e) Establishing networks with federal agencies and state and local organizations such as the United States department of labor, employment and training administration programs including the job training partnership act which administers private industry councils and the job corps; vocational rehabilitation; and volunteer programs.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 14   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 15   If any part of this act is found to be in conflict with federal requirements that are a prescribed condition to the allocation of federal funds to the state, the conflicting part of this act is inoperative solely to the extent of the conflict and with respect to the agencies directly affected, and this finding does not affect the operation of the remainder of this act in its application to the agencies concerned. Rules adopted under this act must meet federal requirements that are a necessary condition to the receipt of federal funds by the state.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 16   This act may be known and cited as the access to quality child care workforce act.