BILL NUMBER: SCR 44	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  AUGUST 18, 2009
	AMENDED IN SENATE  JULY 8, 2009

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Corbett

                        MAY 6, 2009

   Relative to child care.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 44, as amended, Corbett. Child care.
   This measure would request the State Department of Education to
 hold an open meeting to  review California's current
regional market rate methodology and implementation guidelines for
subsidized child care, and question whether adherence to the current
regional market rate system has resulted in sufficient access for
working poor families. The measure would also request that the
department  operate   hold  an open
 and transparent process   meeting  where
all vested stakeholders are fully versed in the methodology used for
the regional market rate survey  and are included in the
planning and implementation process being undertaken by the
department to establish new rates or a new rate structure  .
The measure would also request that the department, on or before
April 1, 2010,  submit a report to the Legislature 
 hold an open meeting  relating to  its 
 the department's  review of California's current regional
market rate methodology and implementation guidelines, and any
recommended changes to the current methodology.
   Fiscal committee: yes.



   WHEREAS, In 1990, the federal government began a major investment
in child care with the passage of the Child Care and Development
Block Grant (CCDBG) Act (42 U.S.C. Sec. 9858 et seq); and
   WHEREAS, In 1996 CCDBG was expanded as part of federal welfare
reform legislation called the Personal Responsibility and Work
Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PROWORA). At that time, the child
care funding component became known as the Child Care and Development
Fund (CCDF); and
   WHEREAS, A vital cornerstone of CCDF funding is parental choice.
Allowing families the ability to choose a child care environment that
best meets the needs of the child and the family is an integral part
of keeping children learning while parents are earning; and
   WHEREAS, The intent of both the federal and state child care
subsidy programs is to ensure that families have equal access to
child care providers who provide child care to nonsubsidized
families; and
   WHEREAS, The subsidized child care reimbursement system should be
based on the current regional market rates of child care providers
who provide care to private nonsubsidized families; and
   WHEREAS, California's child care provider reimbursement rate
should be updated no less than every two years in accordance with
requirements of the United States Department of Health and Human
Services and be included as part of California's State Plan; and
   WHEREAS, The methodology for the California regional market rate
survey was last approved in 2005. The methodology approved takes into
account 12 different variables including median home values, median
gross rent, median real estate taxes, and median household income;
and
   WHEREAS, The California economy has changed dramatically since the
methodology for the regional market rate was approved and these
changes may have an adverse impact on the upcoming regional market
rate survey; and
   WHEREAS, By the time California conducts and implements the market
rate survey, often it is already out-of-date; and
   WHEREAS, Families are disadvantaged with outdated rates that limit
the access to providers who are willing and able to provide quality
child care to subsidized children; and
   WHEREAS, The regulations that govern the implementation of the
California regional market rate ceilings can be administratively
burdensome and are in need of a more simplified process; and
   WHEREAS, The regional market rate development process has become
inadequate in providing a reasonable rate that affords families
access to high quality child care programs and does not always
represent the true cost of care; now, therefore, be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature requests the State
Department of Education to hold an open meeting to  review
California's current regional market rate methodology and
implementation guidelines, and question whether adherence to the
current regional market rate system has resulted in sufficient access
for working poor families; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature requests that the State Department
of Education  operate an open and transparent process
  hold an open meeting  where all vested
stakeholders are fully versed in the methodology used for the
regional market rate survey  and are included in the planning
and implementation process being undertaken by the State Department
of Education to establish new rates or a new rate structure 
; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Legislature requests that the State Department
of Education, on or before April 1, 2010,  submit a report to
the Legislature relating to its   hold an open meeting
relating to the department's  review of California's current
regional market rate methodology and implementation guidelines, and
any recommended changes to the current methodology; and be it further

   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.