BILL REQ. #:  S-0274.4 

Read first time 01/19/11.   Referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

     AN ACT Relating to child care center subsidies; amending RCW 74.12.010; adding new sections to chapter 74.08A RCW; adding a new section to chapter 74.12 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.215 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that, as of 2011, the challenges posed by low subsidies for child care providers persist. As a result, the availability of quality child care in the state continues to suffer. The legislature further finds that while state child care subsidy programs assist eligible families with children pay child care costs, the amount of the current subsidy does not cover the costs of caring for children and that a structure to provide for regular subsidy increases should be put in place.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     For purposes of this chapter, "child care subsidy" means a payment from the state through a child care subsidy program established pursuant to RCW 74.12.340, 74.08A.340, 45 C.F.R. Sec. 98.1 through 98.17, or any successor program.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 74.08A RCW to read as follows:
     (1) On July 1, 2014, the child care subsidy rates paid to all child care centers shall be increased by five percent if the director of the office of financial management has certified that this increase is economically feasible for the state.
     (2) Beginning with the 2015-2017 biennium and every two years thereafter, the rates of child care subsidies paid to all child care centers shall be adjusted for inflation if the director of the office of financial management has certified that this increase is economically feasible for the state. The adjustment made under this subsection must be made using one of the following indices, whichever produces the greatest increase to the subsidy rate for that biennium:
     (a) The consumer price index, which for the purposes of this section, means, for any calendar year, the consumer price index for the Seattle, Washington, area as compiled by the bureau of labor statistics of the United States department of labor; or
     (b) The implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures for the United States as published for the most recent twelve-month period by the bureau of economic analysis of the United States department of commerce.

Sec. 4   RCW 74.12.010 and 1999 c 120 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) For the purposes of the administration of temporary assistance for needy families, the term "dependent child" means any child in need under the age of eighteen years who is living with a relative as specified under federal temporary assistance for needy families program requirements, in a place of residence maintained by one or more of such relatives as his, her, or their home((s)). The term a "dependent child" shall, notwithstanding the foregoing, also include a child who would meet such requirements except for his or her removal from the home of a relative specified above as a result of a judicial determination that continuation therein would be contrary to the welfare of such child, for whose placement and care the state department of social and health services or the county office is responsible, and who has been placed in a licensed or approved child care institution or foster home as a result of such determination and who: (((1))) (a) Was receiving an aid to families with dependent children grant for the month in which court proceedings leading to such determination were initiated; or (((2))) (b) would have received aid to families with dependent children for such month if application had been made therefor; or (((3))) (c) in the case of a child who had been living with a specified relative within six months prior to the month in which such proceedings were initiated, would have received aid to families with dependent children for such month if in such month he or she had been living with such a relative and application had been made therefor, as authorized by the social security act.
     (2) "Child care subsidy" means a payment from the state through a child care subsidy program established pursuant to RCW 74.12.340, 74.08A.340, 45 C.F.R. Sec. 98.1 through 98.17, or any successor program.
     (3) "Temporary assistance for needy families" means money payments, services, and remedial care with respect to a dependent child or dependent children and the needy parent or relative with whom the child lives.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 74.12 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) On July 1, 2014, the child care subsidy rates paid to all child care centers shall be increased by five percent if the director of the office of financial management has certified that this increase is economically feasible for the state.
     (2) Beginning with the 2015-2017 biennium and every two years thereafter, the rates of child care subsidies paid to all child care centers shall be adjusted for inflation if the director of the office of financial management has certified that this increase is economically feasible for the state. The adjustment made under this subsection must be made using one of the following indices, whichever produces the greatest increase to the subsidy rate for that biennium:
     (a) The consumer price index, which for the purposes of this section, means, for any calendar year, the consumer price index for the Seattle, Washington, area as compiled by the bureau of labor statistics of the United States department of labor; or
     (b) The implicit price deflator for personal consumption expenditures for the United States as published for the most recent twelve-month period by the bureau of economic analysis of the United States department of commerce.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 43.215 RCW to read as follows:
     The department shall review the subsidy rates currently paid to child care centers whose average daily population includes more than fifty percent of children for whom the center receives a state subsidized rate. No later than December 1, 2011, the department shall make a recommendation to the appropriate legislative committees whether the subsidy rates to these child care centers should be increased, and if so, by how much and for what reasons. In developing its recommendation, the department must consider the results of the state's voluntary quality improvement rating system pilot communities and potential impacts a variable subsidy rate structure would have on the quality of child care in the state. If the department recommends that subsidy rates for these centers should not be raised, then it shall detail the reasons for its conclusion.