Bill > HB1979

This bill establishes the Early Childhood Task Force, a group of eighteen members representing various state agencies, educational institutions, and community organizations, to study and recommend improvements to early childhood services in Oklahoma. The task force will elect a chair and vice-chair, and while some members will serve voluntarily without compensation, state agency representatives may claim expenses from their own agency budgets. The task force's proceedings will be subject to the Oklahoma Open Records Act and Open Meeting Act, ensuring transparency, but its recommendations will be considered advisory to the Legislature and not binding on state agencies. The task force is guided by a vision of healthy childhoods supported by a robust early childhood system, a mission to create a more efficient governance structure for early childhood programs, and principles focused on child and family well-being, equitable access, and strengthening the early childhood workforce. Its duties include analyzing the current system, engaging stakeholders, synthesizing feedback, drafting a transition plan for any new governance structure, and proposing legislation to create such a structure, with a goal of improving service delivery, access, and funding for children aged zero to five.

Budget and Finance

http://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb1979&Session=2600