No. HB 845
Filed under Public Health & Safety.
Employee Child Care Assistance Programs Study; Requires OPPAGA, beginning on specified date, to perform study of public & private employee child care assistance programs; provides requirements for study; requires office to submit certain report to Governor & Legislature by specified date; provides for future repeal of study.
Plain English Summary
AI-GENERATEDStarting July 1, 2026, the state's Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability must study public and private child care assistance programs offered to employees, examining their cost, affordability, and effect on school readiness.
The study must cover other states' programs and weigh a Florida program's potential effects on school readiness, the child care workforce, and licensing, consulting education and children's-services officials and the Florida Chamber of Commerce along the way.
A report with findings and policy recommendations is due to the Governor and legislative leaders by January 30, 2027. The entire study statute automatically repeals on October 1, 2027, regardless of what the Legislature does with it.
AIBeginning July 1, 2026, OPPAGA must study public and private employee child care assistance programs, evaluating their cost, affordability, and effect on school readiness.
AIOPPAGA must submit a report detailing its study findings and recommending options for a state program to improve school readiness, affordability, and cost containment, to the Governor, Senate President, and House Speaker by January 30, 2027.
AIBeyond surveying other states' programs, the study must specifically assess how a Florida child care assistance program would affect the state's child care workforce and child care regulation and licensing.
AIOPPAGA must consult the school readiness program within the Department of Education and the child care licensing program within the Department of Children and Families, plus the Florida Chamber of Commerce, while conducting the study.
AIThis new section automatically repeals itself on October 1, 2027, about nine months after the report is due, removing the study mandate from the statute books regardless of what the Legislature has done with the findings.