AB4: Bill Text

LRB-1106/3

EAW:klm&ahe

2017 - 2018 LEGISLATURE

2017 Assembly BILL 4

January 12, 2017 - Introduced by Representative Ott, by request of Department of Children and Families. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

AB4,1,5 An Act to repeal 49.155 (6) (e) 2.; to renumber and amend 49.155 (6m); and to amend 49.155 (1m) (a) 2. and 49.155 (6) (e) 3. (intro.) of the statutes; relating to: child care record keeping and eligibility for child care subsidies (suggested as remedial legislation by the Department of Children and Families).

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

This bill makes changes to the Wisconsin Shares program related to record keeping, eligibility requirements, and maximum payment rates for child care providers. Wisconsin Shares is part of the Wisconsin Works (W-2) program under current law, which the Department of Children and Families administers and which provides work experience and benefits for low-income custodial parents who are at least 18 years old. Under current law, an individual who is the parent of a child under the age of 13 or, if the child is disabled, under the age of 19 may receive a child care subsidy under Wisconsin Shares if the individual needs child care services to participate in various educational or work activities and satisfies other eligibility criteria. Work activities for which an individual may be eligible for a child care subsidy include work in an unsubsidized job; work in a W-2 employment position, which is subsidized; and participation in a work experience component of the food stamp program, which is also subsidized. This bill expands the work activities for which an individual may be eligible for a child care subsidy to include work in any job.

Current law requires DCF to establish maximum payment rates for licensed child care services provided under Wisconsin Shares and prohibits DCF from increasing the maximum payment rates for child care providers before June 30, 2013. This bill removes that prohibition because it is obsolete.

This bill also moves child care provider record-keeping requirements from the section of the statutes governing Wisconsin Shares to the subchapter of the statutes governing child care providers generally. The bill keeps the current requirement for child care providers to retain attendance records for at least three years after the child's last day of attendance but eliminates a reference to whether or not the provider receives or is eligible to receive child care subsidies.

For further information see the state fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB4,1 Section 1. 49.155 (1m) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:

AB4,2,3 49.155 (1m) (a) 2. Work in an unsubsidized a job, including training provided by an employer during the regular hours of employment.

AB4,2 Section 2. 49.155 (6) (e) 2. of the statutes is repealed.

AB4,3 Section 3. 49.155 (6) (e) 3. (intro.) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB4,2,8 49.155 (6) (e) 3. (intro.) The department may modify a child care provider's payment rate under subd. 2. on the basis of the provider's quality rating, as described in the quality rating plan, in the following manner:

AB4,4 Section 4. 49.155 (6m) of the statutes is renumbered 48.654, and 48.654 (2), as renumbered, is amended to read:

AB4,2,14 48.654 (2) Retain the written daily attendance records under par. (a) sub. (1) for each child for at least 3 years after the child's last day of attendance, regardless of whether the child care provider is still receiving or eligible to receive payments under this section.

AB4,2,15 (End)