Bill Text: IA HF13 | 2021-2022 | 89th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A bill for an act establishing a child care future zones program and fund within the economic development authority to award financial assistance to eligible persons involved in child care.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-01-12 - Introduced, referred to Economic Growth. H.J. 51. [HF13 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2021-HF13-Introduced.html
House File 13 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 13 BY JACOBY A BILL FOR An Act establishing a child care future zones program and fund 1 within the economic development authority to award financial 2 assistance to eligible persons involved in child care. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 1443YH (2) 89 ko/jh
H.F. 13 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 15.371 Child care future zones 1 program and fund. 2 1. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise 3 requires: 4 a. “Child care future zone” means any census tract in this 5 state with more than fifty children under the age of five that 6 contains either no child care providers or so few child care 7 providers that there are more than three times as many children 8 under the age of five as there are spaces available at the 9 existing child care providers. 10 b. “Financial assistance” means assistance provided only 11 from the funds, rights, and assets legally available to the 12 authority and includes but is not limited to assistance in the 13 form of tax incentives, tuition reimbursement, low-interest 14 loans, and grants. 15 c. “Fund” means the child care future zones fund. 16 d. “Program” means the child care future zones program. 17 2. a. A child care future zones fund is created in 18 the state treasury under the control of the authority and 19 consists of any moneys appropriated by the general assembly 20 and any other moneys available and obtained or accepted by 21 the authority for placement in the fund. The fund shall be 22 used to provide financial assistance to eligible persons under 23 the program. The authority shall use any moneys specifically 24 appropriated for purposes of this section only for the purposes 25 of this section. 26 b. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys in the fund at the 27 end of each fiscal year shall not revert to any other fund 28 but shall remain in the fund for expenditures for subsequent 29 fiscal years. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, 30 interest or earnings on moneys in the fund shall accrue to the 31 authority and shall be used for purposes of this section. All 32 repayments, payments of interest, or recaptures of financial 33 assistance provided under this section shall accrue to the 34 authority and shall be used for purposes of this section. 35 -1- LSB 1443YH (2) 89 ko/jh 1/ 5
H.F. 13 c. The authority shall use not more than five percent of 1 the moneys in the fund at the beginning of the fiscal year for 2 purposes of administrative costs, marketing, and other program 3 support. 4 3. The authority shall establish and administer a child 5 care future zones program to provide financial assistance to 6 eligible persons who own, or work in, a child care-related 7 business in a child care future zone; or who are enrolled in an 8 early childhood development degree program and currently work 9 in, or have committed to work in, a child care future zone. 10 4. A person seeking financial assistance under this section 11 shall apply to the authority pursuant to rules adopted by the 12 authority. 13 5. The authority, in consultation with the department of 14 human services, shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to 15 implement and administer this section. The rules shall, at a 16 minimum, provide for all of the following: 17 a. The identification and designation of child care future 18 zones. 19 b. The requirements for a person to be eligible for the 20 program. 21 c. The requirements for a person to be eligible for specific 22 financial assistance including all of the following: 23 (1) A five-year property tax exemption. 24 (2) A five-year sales tax exemption. 25 (3) A five-year income tax liability exemption. 26 (4) Tuition reimbursement for obtaining a degree in early 27 childhood development. 28 d. The application process for the program. 29 e. The maximum financial assistance any one person may be 30 awarded on an annual basis and on an aggregate basis. 31 Sec. 2. ANALYSIS OF NONEMPLOYEE ENROLLMENT IN THE STATE 32 OF IOWA’S EMPLOYEE GROUP HEALTH PLAN. The director of the 33 department of administrative services, or the director’s 34 designee, shall conduct an analysis of the legality and 35 -2- LSB 1443YH (2) 89 ko/jh 2/ 5
H.F. 13 feasibility of offering enrollment in the state of Iowa’s 1 employee group health plan to a nonemployee as a type of 2 financial assistance available under the program. The director 3 shall submit the director’s, or the director’s designee’s, 4 findings to the general assembly no later than January 31, 5 2022. 6 Sec. 3. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY’S COMMUNITY 7 DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT ANNUAL ACTION PLAN. As part of the 8 economic development authority’s 2021 community development 9 block grant (CDBG) annual action plan submission to the United 10 States department of housing and urban development (HUD), 11 the director of the authority, or the director’s designee, 12 shall include the program as one of the authority’s goals and 13 objectives and seek an allocation of CDBG funds for the fund. 14 EXPLANATION 15 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 16 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 17 This bill establishes a child care future zones program and 18 fund within the economic development authority (authority) to 19 award financial assistance to eligible persons involved in 20 child care. 21 “Child care future zone” is defined by the bill as any census 22 tract in this state with more than 50 children under the age 23 of five that contain either no child care providers or so few 24 child care providers that there are more than three times as 25 many children under age five as there are spaces available at 26 the existing child care providers. 27 The bill establishes a child care future zones fund (fund) 28 in the state treasury under the control of the authority 29 consisting of any moneys appropriated by the general assembly 30 and any other moneys available and obtained or accepted by 31 the authority for placement in the fund. The fund is to be 32 used to provide financial assistance to eligible persons under 33 the child care future zones program (program). The authority 34 must use any moneys specifically appropriated for purposes of 35 -3- LSB 1443YH (2) 89 ko/jh 3/ 5
H.F. 13 the program only for the purposes of the program. “Financial 1 assistance” is defined in the bill. 2 Moneys in the fund at the end of each fiscal year do not 3 revert but must remain in the fund for expenditures for 4 subsequent fiscal years. Interest or earnings on moneys in the 5 fund accrue to the authority to be used for purposes of the 6 program. All repayments, payments of interest, or recaptures 7 of financial assistance provided under the program accrue to 8 the authority for purposes of the program. The authority 9 cannot use more than 5 percent of the moneys in the fund at the 10 beginning of the fiscal year for purposes of administrative 11 costs, marketing, and other program support. 12 The bill directs the authority to establish and administer a 13 child care future zones program to provide financial assistance 14 to eligible persons who own, or work in, a child care-related 15 business in a child care future zone; or who are enrolled in an 16 early childhood development degree program and currently work 17 in, or have committed to work in, a child care future zone. 18 A person seeking financial assistance under the program 19 must apply to the authority pursuant to rules adopted by the 20 authority. The authority, in consultation with the department 21 of human services, must adopt rules to implement and administer 22 the program. The rules must, at a minimum, provide for the 23 identification and designation of child care future zones; 24 the requirements for a person to be eligible the program; the 25 requirements for a person to be eligible for specific types of 26 financial assistance as detailed in the bill; the application 27 process for the program; and the maximum financial assistance 28 any one person may be awarded on an annual or aggregate basis. 29 The bill directs the director of the department of 30 administrative services, or the director’s designee, to 31 conduct an analysis of the legality and feasibility of offering 32 enrollment in the state of Iowa’s employee group health plan 33 to nonemployees as a type of financial assistance available 34 under the program. The director must submit the finding to the 35 -4- LSB 1443YH (2) 89 ko/jh 4/ 5
H.F. 13 general assembly no later than January 31, 2022. 1 The bill directs the authority to include the program as one 2 of the authority’s goals and objectives, and seek an allocation 3 of community development block grant (CDBG) funds for the fund, 4 in the authority’s 2021 annual CDBG action plan submission to 5 the United States department of housing and urban development. 6 -5- LSB 1443YH (2) 89 ko/jh 5/ 5
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