1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to children; removing obsolete child care 
  1.3             system reports from statute; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 1998, section 119B.24. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 119B.24, is 
  1.7   amended to read: 
  1.8      119B.24 [DUTIES OF COMMISSIONER.] 
  1.9      In addition to the powers and duties already conferred by 
  1.10  law, the commissioner of children, families, and learning shall: 
  1.11     (1) ~~by September 1, 1998, and every five years thereafter,~~ 
  1.12  ~~survey and report on all components of the child care system,~~ 
  1.13  ~~including, but not limited to, availability of licensed child~~ 
  1.14  ~~care slots, the number of children in various kinds of child~~ 
  1.15  ~~care settings, staff wages, rate of staff turnover,~~ 
  1.16  ~~qualifications of child care workers, cost of child care by type~~ 
  1.17  ~~of service and ages of children, and child care availability~~ 
  1.18  ~~through school systems;~~ 
  1.19     ~~(2) by September 1, 1998, and every five years thereafter,~~ 
  1.20  ~~survey and report on the extent to which existing child care~~ 
  1.21  ~~services fulfill the need for child care, giving particular~~ 
  1.22  ~~attention to the need for part-time care and for care of~~ 
  1.23  ~~infants, sick children, children with special needs, low-income~~ 
  1.24  ~~children, toddlers, and school-age children;~~ 
  1.25     ~~(3)~~ administer the child care fund, including the sliding 
  2.1   fee program authorized under sections 119B.01 to 119B.16; 
  2.2      ~~(4)~~ (2) monitor the child care resource and referral 
  2.3   programs established under section 119B.19; and 
  2.4      ~~(5)~~ (3) encourage child care providers to participate in a 
  2.5   nationally recognized accreditation system for early childhood 
  2.6   programs.  The commissioner shall reimburse licensed child care 
  2.7   providers for one-half of the direct cost of accreditation fees, 
  2.8   upon successful completion of accreditation.