HBA-NLM H.B. 2744 76(R)    BILL ANALYSIS


Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 2744
By: Wise
Human Services
3/21/1999
Introduced



BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE 

Under current law, the required staff to child ratio for Texas day-care
centers is 1:19 for 4-year-olds. The national average is reported to be
1:12.  The purpose of this bill is to improve the quality of daycare
facilities by requiring the Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory
Services (department) to prescribe minimum initial and annual training
standards for employees of day care facilities and to ensure that those
standards are at least as comprehensive as the reported national average.  

H.B. 2744 requires the department, by rule, to prescribe minimum initial
and annual training standards for an employee of a regulated child-care
facility. This bill also provides that the department must ensure that the
initial and annual training standards are at least as comprehensive as the
average national standards for each type of facility. It requires the
department, in adopting standards for minimum staff ratios, to require that
each day-care center maintain a staff-to-child ratio of at least 1:12 for
children who are four years of age. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking
authority previously delegated to the Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services is modified in SECTION 1 (Section 42.042, Human
Resources Code) of this bill. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1. Amends Section 42.042, Human Resources Code, by amending
Subsection (p) and by adding Subsection (q), as follows: 

(p)  Requires the Department of Protective and Regulatory Services
(department), by rule, to prescribe minimum initial and annual training
standards for an employee of a regulated child-care facility.  Requires the
department to ensure that the initial and annual training standards are at
least as comprehensive as the average national standards for each type of
facility.   

(q)  Requires the department, in adopting standards for minimum staff
ratios, to require that each day-care center maintain a staff-to-child
ratio of at least 1:12 for children who are four years of age. 

SECTION 2.  Requires the department to adopt the standards required by
Section 42.042, Human Resources Code, as amended by this Act, not later
than January 1, 2000. 

SECTION 3.  Emergency clause.
  Effective date: 90 days after adjournment.