1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to child care; modifying the at-home infant 
  1.3             child care program; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.4             section 119B.061, subdivision 1; Minnesota Statutes 
  1.5             2001 Supplement, section 119B.061, subdivision 4.  
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 119B.061, 
  1.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.9      Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] A family in which a parent 
  1.10  provides care for the family's infant child may receive a 
  1.11  subsidy in lieu of assistance if the family is eligible for, or 
  1.12  is receiving assistance under the basic sliding fee program.  An 
  1.13  eligible family must meet the eligibility factors under section 
  1.14  119B.09, except as provided in subdivision 4, the income 
  1.15  criteria under section 119B.12, and the requirements of this 
  1.16  section.  Subject to federal match and maintenance of effort 
  1.17  requirements for the child care and development fund, the 
  1.18  commissioner shall establish a pool of up to seven percent of 
  1.19  the annual appropriation for the basic sliding fee program to 
  1.20  provide assistance under the at-home infant child care program.  
  1.21  At the end of a fiscal year, the commissioner may carry forward 
  1.22  any unspent funds under this section to the next fiscal year 
  1.23  within the same biennium for assistance under the basic sliding 
  1.24  fee program. 
  1.25     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2001 Supplement, section 
  2.1   119B.061, subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  2.2      Subd. 4.  [ASSISTANCE.] (a) A family is limited to a 
  2.3   lifetime total of 12 months of assistance under subdivision 2.  
  2.4   The maximum rate of assistance is equal to 90 percent of the 
  2.5   rate established under section 119B.13 for care of infants in 
  2.6   licensed family child care in the applicant's county of 
  2.7   residence.  Assistance must be calculated to reflect the parent 
  2.8   fee requirement under section 119B.12 for the family's actual 
  2.9   income level and family size while the family is participating 
  2.10  in the at-home infant child care program under this section For 
  2.11  purposes of this section, the annual income of the applicant 
  2.12  family must be based on an annualization of the income received 
  2.13  only during the period in which the family is participating in 
  2.14  the at-home infant care program. 
  2.15     (b) A participating family must report income and other 
  2.16  family changes as specified in the county's plan under section 
  2.17  119B.08, subdivision 3.  
  2.18     (c) Persons who are admitted to the at-home infant care 
  2.19  program retain their position in any basic sliding fee program 
  2.20  or on any waiting list attained at the time of admittance.  If 
  2.21  they are on the waiting list, they must advance as if they had 
  2.22  not been admitted to the program.  Persons leaving the at-home 
  2.23  infant care program re-enter the basic sliding fee program at 
  2.24  the position they would have occupied or the waiting list at the 
  2.25  position to which they would have advanced.  Persons who would 
  2.26  have attained eligibility for the basic sliding fee program must 
  2.27  be given assistance or advance to the top of the waiting list 
  2.28  when they leave the at-home infant care program.  Persons 
  2.29  admitted to the at-home infant care program who are not on a 
  2.30  basic sliding fee waiting list may apply to the basic sliding 
  2.31  fee program, and if eligible, be placed on the waiting list. 
  2.32     (d) The time that a family receives assistance under this 
  2.33  section must be deducted from the one-year exemption from work 
  2.34  requirements under the MFIP program. 
  2.35     (e) Assistance under this section does not establish an 
  2.36  employer-employee relationship between any member of the 
  3.1   assisted family and the county or state.