Bill > SB559

This bill proposes to amend the Early Childhood Care and Education Act by adding a new provision that requires the department to establish rules to increase monthly reimbursement rates from the early childhood care and education fund by fifty percent for eligible providers. To qualify for this increased reimbursement, early childhood care and education providers must meet four out of five specific conditions by the first day of school. These conditions include offering at least five paid sick days to all employees, providing at least three days of paid family or medical leave, ensuring health insurance where employee contributions do not exceed five percent of household income, participating in or operating a substitute teacher program, and paying employees a minimum wage of fifteen dollars per hour. The early childhood care and education fund is a nonreverting fund managed by the department, consisting of gifts and grants, and is used to award grants to early childhood care and education providers.