House Bill 333

AN ACT TO CREATE THE CHILD CARE FOR WORKING FAMILIES STUDY COMMITTEE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMITTEE SHALL DEVELOP RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENSURING EVERY WORKING PARENT IN MISSISSIPPI CAN ACCESS AND AFFORD CHILD CARE SO THEY CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE LABOR FORCE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMITTEE SHALL IDENTIFY AND EXAMINE ALL FEDERAL REVENUE RECEIVED BY THE STATE AND ALL STATE FUNDS SPENT ON FEDERAL MATCHING OR MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT REQUIREMENTS THAT CAN ALLOWABLY BE SPENT, ALLOCATED, TRANSFERRED, GRANTED OR EXPENDED DIRECTLY TO THE CHILD CARE PAYMENT PROGRAM FOR PURPOSES OF INCREASING THE NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE PARENTS AND CHILDREN SERVED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) There is created the Child Care for Working Families Study Committee to identify and examine all federal revenue received by Mississippi and all state funds spent on federal matching or maintenance of effort requirements that can allowably be spent, allocated, transferred, granted or expended directly to the Child Care Payment Program (CCPP) administered by the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) for purposes of developing strategies and recommendations for increasing the current number of children and families receiving child care assistance so that low- to moderate-income parents can participate in the labor force.

The committee shall, at a minimum, study and report to the 2023 Regular Session of the Legislature the following:

(a) The total amount of federal revenue received by Mississippi and the total amount of state funds spent on federal matching or maintenance of effort requirements that can allowably fund the Child Care Payment Program, and the total amounts of

federal revenue and of state spending disaggregated by agency,

program, and revenue source;

(b) A cost—benefit analysis examining the impact of increasing Mississippi's labor force participation rate by increasing access to affordable child care through reprioritizing current expenditures of certain federal and state funds;

(c) The total number of children in families with working parents earning eighty-five percent (85%) or less of state median income;

(d) The total number of children on the Child Care Payment Program pending funding list during state fiscal years 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2023;

(e) The total annual funding required to serve all current recipients of Child Care Payment Program assistance and the total additional annual funding necessary to serve all eligible children and families on the pending funding list;

(f) The economic impact of increasing the labor force

participation rate through increasing access to child care

assistance for unemployed and underemployed adults and the

economic impact of increasing spending at child care centers;

(g) Examples in Mississippi and/or in other states of private employer—funded child care assistance for working parents;

(h) Benefits to employers of employee access to affordable child care for more Mississippi workers; and

(i) Recommendations for increasing the amount of federal revenue and state funds spent on child care assistance for

low— to moderate-income working parents.

(2) The Study Committee shall be composed of the following eleven (11) members:

(a) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Human Services or his/her designee;

(b) The Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Employment Security or his/her designee;

(d) The State Treasurer or his/her designee;

(e) The Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration or his/her designee;

(f) The Governor's Workforce Development Policy Advisor;

(g) The Chairman of the House Workforce Development Committee;

(h) The Chairman of the Senate Economic Development Committee;

(i) The Chairman of the Senate Labor Committee;

(j) A member of the Mississippi Community College Board; and

(k) A designee of the community-based nonprofit organization Mississippi Low—Income Child Care Initiative.

(3) Appointments shall be made within thirty (30) days after the effective date of this act. The committee shall hold its first meeting before August 1, 2022. The Executive Director of the Department of Human Services or his/her designee shall serve as chairman of the Study Committee.

(4) A majority of the members of the committee shall constitute a quorum. In the adoption of the rules, resolutions and reports, an affirmative vote of a majority of the members shall be required. All members shall be notified in writing of all meetings, such notices shall be mailed at least five (5) days before the date on which a meeting is to be held.

(5) To effectuate the purposes of this section, any department, division, board, bureau, committee or agency of the state or any political subdivision thereof, shall, at the request of any member of the committee, provide such facilities, assistance, information and data as will enable the committee to properly carry out its duties.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2022.