March 11, 2024 – Over the past two months, the Kentucky General Assembly has been discussing ways to keep the child care industry afloat past COVID-relief funding cliffs. Since February 28th was the last day any new bills could be filed, we wanted to give OST stakeholders an overview of what legislation has been proposed this session that could impact both licensed and license-exempt programs.
Sponsored by Sen. Danny Carroll, SB 203 (also known as the Horizons Act) would provide approximately $150 annually to help early childhood education programs keep their doors open and encourage new programs to open in all areas across the state, particularly in child care deserts.
Despite its seemingly narrow focus on early childhood education, the Horizons act would provide significant state funding for regulated afterschool and summer programs, since the bill defines “early childhood education services” as “child-care services for children under the age of thirteen (13) years or children with special needs under the age of eighteen (18) years, that are licensed or certified to provide child-care services by the cabinet.”
The bill would also expand Kentucky’s current definition of a “child care desert” to be more inclusive of school-age care needs. Under the bill, a “child care desert” is defined as a “county in which there are more than three (3) children under the age of thirteen (13) years per one (1) available licensed or regulated child-care slot.”
HB 561, sponsored by Rep. Samara Heavrin, encourages local governments, in collaboration with area development districts and other community stakeholders, to look at their zoning ordinances to make sure there is not any regulation preventing child care centers from opening in their local counties or cities. During the 2023 Interim Session, local zoning was identified as one of the biggest barriers to opening new child care centers in Kentucky.
HCR 43, also sponsored by Rep. Heavrin, reestablishes the Early Childhood Education Task Force during the 2024 Interim Session of the Kentucky General Assembly to “study the complex issues relating to child care and early childhood education opportunities in the Commonwealth and the impacts of child care on children and families, workforce participation, and economic development.”
According to Rep. Heavrin, the Task Force will want to explore opportunities that go beyond funding, such as regulatory reforms since the 2025 legislative session will not be a budget year. This could be a great opportunity for out-of-school time (OST) and school-age child care advocates to demonstrate to the Task Force how the current system is impacting the supply and delivery of OST programming and school-age care in Kentucky.
Lastly, HB 491, sponsored by Reps. Wade Wilson, Josh Bray, Danny Bentley, and Richard Health, seeks to change the requirements of when instructional programs for school-age children are exempt from child care licensing. Currently, instructional programs for school-age children are exempt from child care licensing in Kentucky if they provide direct instruction in a single skill, talent, ability, expertise, or proficiency. However, this bill would expand this exemption to allow programs to provide instruction in multiple areas and remain exempt.
As the session begins to wrap up, KYOSA will be closely following these bills and any new developments that could impact OST programs in Kentucky. The complete 2024 Regular Session Calendar can be viewed here.