1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to child care; providing incentives for 
  1.3             nonstandard hour care; appropriating money; proposing 
  1.4             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 119B.
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [119B.26] [NONSTANDARD HOUR CHILD CARE 
  1.7   DEVELOPMENT GRANTS.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The commissioner of 
  1.9   children, families, and learning shall award grants to child 
  1.10  care research and referral programs to increase the number of 
  1.11  providers who offer child care during nonstandard times.  Grants 
  1.12  must be used to recruit new family providers for nonstandard 
  1.13  hour care, including evenings, nights, and weekends and, for the 
  1.14  first year, to provide them with support through start-up 
  1.15  grants, training, technical assistance, and payment of a 
  1.16  guaranteed wage subsidy.  
  1.17     Subd. 2.  [RESOURCE AND REFERRAL RESPONSIBILITY.] A 
  1.18  resource and referral program must submit an application to the 
  1.19  commissioner that includes documentation of the demand for 
  1.20  nonstandard hour care in its service area, a plan to recruit and 
  1.21  support new providers, and a project budget.  A program that 
  1.22  receives a grant must: 
  1.23     (1) recruit one or more new family child care providers for 
  1.24  nonstandard hour care; 
  1.25     (2) recruit an experienced child care provider to serve as 
  2.1   a business mentor to a new nonstandard hour provider; 
  2.2      (3) arrange for or provide prelicensing and ongoing 
  2.3   training for the new provider; 
  2.4      (4) provide a start-up grant for toys, equipment, and other 
  2.5   initial costs of providing nonstandard hour child care; 
  2.6      (5) pay a guaranteed wage subsidy to the new provider for 
  2.7   up to one year under subdivision 4; and 
  2.8      (6) monitor the number of children and hours of child care 
  2.9   and child care payments during the period of the guaranteed wage 
  2.10  subsidy. 
  2.11     Subd. 3.  [RESPONSIBILITY OF PARTICIPATING PROVIDERS.] A 
  2.12  family child care provider who participates in this program must 
  2.13  agree to: 
  2.14     (1) furnish a licensed child care facility; 
  2.15     (2) provide child care at market rates during nonstandard 
  2.16  hours; 
  2.17     (3) participate in prelicensing and ongoing child care 
  2.18  training; and 
  2.19     (4) work with an assigned mentor on marketing, good 
  2.20  business practices, and other aspects of operating a family 
  2.21  child care facility. 
  2.22     Subd. 4.  [PAYMENT OF GUARANTEED WAGE SUBSIDY.] Payment of 
  2.23  a guaranteed wage subsidy must be made according to this 
  2.24  subdivision.  A participating provider may be paid an amount 
  2.25  equal to the maximum guaranteed wage subsidy less the amount of 
  2.26  child care payments received by the provider.  The maximum 
  2.27  guaranteed wage subsidy is equal to the guaranteed wage rate 
  2.28  multiplied by the number of hours of child care provided in 
  2.29  nonstandard times, up to a maximum of 45 hours per week.  The 
  2.30  resource and referral program must establish a guaranteed wage 
  2.31  rate based on area wages for similar jobs.  The guaranteed wage 
  2.32  rate must not exceed $....... per hour.  The payment of a 
  2.33  guaranteed wage subsidy to a child care provider does not 
  2.34  establish an employee-employer relationship between the provider 
  2.35  and the resource and referral program or the state. 
  2.36     Subd. 5.  [ADMINISTRATION.] The commissioner shall 
  3.1   establish procedures for making grants to resource and referral 
  3.2   programs under this section.  The commissioner shall allocate 
  3.3   grant awards based on the unmet need for nonstandard hour child 
  3.4   care in each area. 
  3.5      Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATIONS.] 
  3.6      $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  3.7   commissioner of children, families, and learning to establish 
  3.8   the grant program under section 1.  Of this amount, up to five 
  3.9   percent may be used for administrative costs.  The appropriation 
  3.10  in this section is available until June 30, 1999.