Mississippi HB 450: Child Care for Working Families Study Committee; establish.

Bill Text

H. B. No. 450 *HR31/R22* ~ OFFICIAL ~ G1/2
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To: Youth and Family
Affairs; Workforce
Development
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE REGULAR SESSION 2025

By: Representative Hines

HOUSE BILL NO. 450

AN ACT TO CREATE THE CHILD CARE FOR WORKING FAMILIES STUDY 1
COMMITTEE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMITTEE SHALL DEVELOP 2
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ENSURING EVERY WORKING PARENT IN MISSISSIPPI 3
CAN ACCESS AND AFFORD CHILD CARE SO THEY CAN PARTICIPATE IN THE 4
LABOR FORCE; TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMITTEE SHALL IDENTIFY AND 5
EXAMINE ALL FEDERAL REVENUE RECEIVED BY THE STATE AND ALL STATE 6
FUNDS SPENT ON FEDERAL MATCHING OR MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT 7
REQUIREMENTS THAT CAN ALLOWABLY BE SPENT, ALLOCATED, TRANSFERRED, 8
GRANTED OR EXPENDED DIRECTLY TO THE CHILD CARE PAYMENT PROGRAM FOR 9
PURPOSES OF INCREASING THE NUMBER OF ELIGIBLE PARENTS AND CHILDREN 10
SERVED; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES. 11
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI: 12
SECTION 1. (1) There is created the Child Care for Working 13
Families Study Committee to identify and examine all federal 14
revenue received by Mississippi and all state funds spent on 15
federal matching or maintenance of effort requirements that can 16
allowably be spent, allocated, transferred, granted or expended 17
directly to the Child Care Payment Program (CCPP) administered by 18
the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) for purposes 19
of developing strategies and recommendations for increasing the 20
current number of children and families receiving child care 21

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assistance so that low- to moderate-income parents can participate 22
in the labor force. 23
The committee shall, at a minimum, study and report to the 24
2026 Regular Session of the Legislature the following: 25
(a) The total amount of federal revenue received by 26
Mississippi and the total amount of state funds spent on federal 27
matching or maintenance of effort requirements that can allowably 28
fund the Child Care Payment Program, and the total amounts of 29
federal revenue and of state spending disaggregated by agency, 30
program, and revenue source; 31
(b) A cost—benefit analysis examining the impact of 32
increasing Mississippi's labor force participation rate by 33
increasing access to affordable child care through reprioritizing 34
current expenditures of certain federal and state funds; 35
(c) The total number of children in families with 36
working parents earning eighty-five percent (85%) or less of state 37
median income; 38
(d) The total number of children on the Child Care 39
Payment Program pending funding list during state fiscal years 40
2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026; 41
(e) The total annual funding required to serve all 42
current recipients of Child Care Payment Program assistance and 43
the total additional annual funding necessary to serve all 44
eligible children and families on the pending funding list; 45
(f) The economic impact of increasing the labor force 46

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participation rate through increasing access to child care 47
assistance for unemployed and underemployed adults and the 48
economic impact of increasing spending at child care centers; 49
(g) Examples in Mississippi and/or in other states of 50
private employer—funded child care assistance for working parents; 51
(h) Benefits to employers of employee access to 52
affordable child care for more Mississippi workers; and 53
(i) Recommendations for increasing the amount of 54
federal revenue and state funds spent on child care assistance for 55
low— to moderate-income working parents. 56
(2) The Study Committee shall be composed of the following 57
eleven (11) members: 58
(a) The Executive Director of the Mississippi 59
Department of Human Services or his/her designee; 60
(b) The Executive Director of the Mississippi 61
Department of Employment Security or his/her designee; 62
(c) The Chairman of the State Workforce Investment 63
Board or his/her designee; 64
(d) The State Treasurer or his/her designee; 65
(e) The Executive Director of the Department of Finance 66
and Administration or his/her designee; 67
(f) The Governor's Workforce Development Policy 68
Advisor; 69
(g) The Chairman of the House Workforce Development 70
Committee; 71

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(h) The Chairman of the Senate Economic Development 72
Committee; 73
(i) The Chairman of the Senate Labor Committee; 74
(j) A member of the Mississippi Community College 75
Board; and 76
(k) A designee of the community-based nonprofit 77
organization Mississippi Low—Income Child Care Initiative. 78
(3) Appointments shall be made within thirty (30) days after 79
the effective date of this act. The committee shall hold its 80
first meeting before August 1, 2025. The Executive Director of 81
the Department of Human Services or his/her designee shall s