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Wednesday, July 14

Last week we provided highlights of various bills First Things First (FTF) tracked that passed out of the Legislature and an update on legislation that was included in the budget. Please click the link to view last week’s update Weekly Legislative Update - July 2, 2021.  

As shared last week, this legislative session was one for the history books. More than 1,000 bills were introduced; 474 bills were passed; and, as of this writing, 435 bills have been signed into law by Governor Doug Ducey. Generally, most legislation is effective 90 days after the session ends, which will be September 29. Budget bills become effective once the Governor signs the bills. The effective date for all budget bills was July 1, 2021. 

FTF tracked several bills throughout session. Although some bills supported by the FTF Board did not pass or were not included in the budget, a lot of great legislation was passed on behalf of young children and their families. As a part of the legislative wrap-up below, you will see a list of bills FTF supported which passed in the Legislature or were included in the budget. Also included is a list of bills FTF monitored throughout session and their outcome. Additional information was included in last week’s update. 

In addition to the state legislative wrap-up, some federal policy updates are included below. FTF will discontinue weekly updates now that the legislative session has ended. However, we may send periodic updates if there is any activity impacting young children either through a special state legislative session or at the federal level. 

Interested in learning how a bill becomes a law? Click here for more information. 

SESSION WRAP-UP


BOARD SUPPORTED LEGISLATION
Passed OR Included in FY22 Budget

HB2016: child care; assistance; education training (Udall) – same as SB1387
Final Disposition: Signed by Governor 4/28 (Laws 2021, Ch. 287)

Summary: Authorizes the Department of Economic Security (DES) to waive some or all of the work requirements for child care subsidy to individuals enrolled, full time, in an accredited educational institution in order to continue subsidies for a dependent child. 

Impact to Early Childhood: Ensures that parents who are enrolled full-time in an educational or technical degree program don’t lose their child care subsidy if they cannot meet the work requirements for the program.  

HB2410: safe havens; newborn infant age (Espinoza)
Final Disposition: Signed by Governor 4/9 (Laws 2021, Ch. 195)

Summary: For infants left with safe haven providers, expands the definition of “newborn infant” to include infants who are up to 30 days old (current definition is 72 hours old). 

Impact to Early Childhood: Allows families 30 days to surrender a newborn at a Safe Haven location without reprisal. This is consistent with best practices in 30 other states.

SB1011: maternal mental health; advisory committee (Mesnard) – same as HB2630
Final Disposition: Signed by Governor 3/18 (Laws 2021, Ch. 56)

Summary: Establishes a 21-member Maternal Mental Health Advisory Committee to recommend improvements for screening and treating maternal mental health disorders.

Impact to Early Childhood: The committee’s recommendations could result in improved identification and treatment of maternal health issues. Maternal mental health is imperative for the mother’s health and to a stable environment for the newborn. 

SB1244: developmental disabilities advisory council (Barto)
Final Disposition: Signed by Governor 4/9 (Laws 2021, Ch. 208)

Summary: Requires the Council to adopt an annual master agenda and notify relevant state agencies so those agencies can compile, provide, and/or present information to the Council and mandates Council meeting information be posted online. Requires the Department of Administration to annually provide education to the Council members on the Council’s purpose and laws governing their operation.

Impact to Early Childhood: Will improve coordination of services to children with developmental and cognitive disabilities.                           

SB1355: developmental disabilities; provider rate increases (Barto)
Final Disposition: Provisions included in FY22 Budget ($30 million)

Summary: Provides $30 million in expenditure authority in FY22 to the Department of Economic Security (DES) to increase reimbursement rates for providers of services to individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities, including autism and cerebral palsy.

Impact to Early Childhood: Ensures adequate reimbursement to providers, which may help to address staffing shortages and turnover, which will result in improved services to individuals with developmental disabilities.  

SB1462: appropriation; child care subsidy program (Gowan) – Same as HB2406
Final Disposition: Signed by Governor 2/12 (Laws 2021, Ch. 18)

Summary: Increases expenditure authority in FY21, by $92.7 million, to DES for increased Child Care Subsidy Block Grant monies provided by federal COVID aid.

Impact to Early Childhood: Funds were used over the past year to help stabilize the child care industry and to provide child care for families of essential workers. 

SB1680: newborn screening program; testing (Pace)
Final Disposition: Provisions included in FY22 Budget

Summary: Requires the newborn screening program required to include all congenital disorders in the uniform screening panel adopted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for both core and secondary conditions. Beginning January 1, 2022, disorders are added to the core and secondary conditions list of the recommended uniform screening panel must be added to Arizona's newborn screening panel within 2 years after their addition.

Impact to Early Childhood: Early screening and detection of these conditions promote more timely medical intervention to address them.

HB2015: appropriations; preschool development grants (Sierra)
Final Disposition: Bill did not pass but the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and DES are working to come up with a plan to use federal funds to support PDG through 2024. This would be a total of $45M for eligible providers serving preschool-age children to improve upon and expand their curriculum.

Summary: Appropriates the following amounts from the general fund in the following fiscal years to the ADE to distribute preschool development grants to eligible providers: $7.5M in 2022, $15M in 2023, and $22.5M in 2024. The legislature intends that the monies first be used to replace federal monies that are no longer available to eligible providers who participated in the preschool development grants program in 2019 or 2020.

Impact to Early Childhood: Appropriates money to replace federal monies that are no longer available to eligible providers who participated in the preschool development grants program.
BUDGET SUMMARY

SESSION WRAP-UP CONTINUED 


BOARD MONITORED LEGISLATION
Passed OR Included in FY22 Budget

HB2020: schools; child care; reduced fees (Udall)
Final Disposition: Signed by Governor 3/24 (Laws 2021, Ch.91)

Summary: Permits public schools that provide or contract for child care services to reduce child care fees for public school employees.

Impact to Early Childhood: Allows for affordable child care choices for public school employees.
 
SB1096: deaf; hard of hearing; deafblind (Pace)
Final Disposition: Signed by the Governor 4/23 (Laws 2021, Ch. 276)

Summary: Expands the duties of the Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to include issues and services related to the needs of the “deafblind” and to make recommendations to the Legislature on assessment standards optimizing language acquisition and literacy development of relevant newborns, infants, and children.

Impact to Early Childhood: This will lead to improved services for the deafblind community.
 
SB1181: doulas; voluntary certification (Townsend)
Final Disposition: Signed by Governor 4/26 (Laws 2021, Ch. 282)

Summary: Establishes a voluntary certification process for individuals to "practice as a state-certified doula". The Department of Health Services (DHS) must prescribe certification requirements by rule, including the scope of practice, core competencies, minimum qualifications, education and training requirements, and standards and requirements for education and training programs. DHS must waive the minimum training and education requirements for applicants with current certification with a nationally recognized doula organization. Establishes the Doula Community Advisory Committee to consult with DHS on related rules.

Impact to Early Childhood: Provides expectant mothers with quality measures to use in choosing a doula. Standards of care may improve maternal and newborn health.

SB1466: family caregiver grant program (Gray)
Final Disposition: Signed by Governor 4/5 (Laws 2021, Ch. 180)

Summary: Expands qualifying expenses, family member eligibility, and reapplication requirements related to the Family Caregiver Grant Program to make it more accessible.

Impact to Early Childhood: Increases access to family members caring for their family (including young children) who need daily assistance.
 
SB1572: schools; early literacy (Shope)
Final Disposition: Signed by Governor 7/9 (Laws 2021, Ch. 434)

Summary: Delays dyslexia screening and training requirements. Establishes a literacy endorsement requirement for certificated teachers who provide literacy instruction in specified grades. Directs the State Board of Education (SBE) to adopt a statewide kindergarten evaluation tool and conduct a review of the K-3 reading program.

Impact to Early Childhood: Kindergarten evaluation tool will provide needed information on school readiness and will provide information for teachers to use to guide student instruction and family engagement. 

FEDERAL UPDATE

On June 24, after weeks of negotiations, President Joe Biden announced his support for the bipartisan infrastructure agreement created by 10 Senators. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Plan (Plan) is $1.2 trillion over eight years, with nearly $600 billion in new spending. This package focuses on traditional infrastructure investment items such as roads, bridges & rail, along with broadband internet and water systems. The House and Senate could vote on this Plan around the week of July 19.
 
The Plan does not address investments in child care, workforce development, tax credits for families, or other programs contained in President Biden’s American Families Plan (AFP). Democrats are looking to take a two-track approach with passing a separate budget reconciliation bill, including many aspects of the AFP, as well as the Plan.
 
There is no formally introduced budget bill to share highlights at this time. Congress may introduce such a bill within the next few weeks, so please stay tuned!
 
WHITE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE PLAN FACT SHEET
Please contact publicaffairs@firstthingsfirst.org or 602.771.5021 to speak to a member of First Things First regarding these bills.
Copyright © 2021 First Things First, All rights reserved.


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