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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Lopez
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
1/29/07
HB
SHORT TITLE CYFD Child Care Program Eligibility
SB 103
ANALYST Lucero
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
$18,200.0
Recurring
General Fund
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates House Bill 0232.
Relates to Appropriation in the General Appropriation Act
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD)
New Mexico Higher Education Department (HED)
SUMMARY
Senate Bill 103 appropriates eighteen million two hundred thousand dollars ($18,200,000) to
CYFD for the following expenditures:
•
$10,000,000 to expand eligibility for child care programs to two hundred percent of the
federal poverty level and to increase the reimbursement rate for licensed child care
providers.
•
$2,000,000 for aim high and stars programs designed to increase the quality of early child
care programs.
•
$1,000,000 for scholarships to help early childhood teachers study child development and
early learning while earning college degrees.
•
$1,000,000 for a pilot program of wage supplements for early childhood teachers based
on the educational level that those teachers achieve.
•
$4,200,000 to increase quality services through child development grants for working
families with children from birth to five years of age.
pg_0002
Senate Bill 103 – Page
2
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
The appropriation of eighteen million two hundred ($18,200,000) contained in this bill is a
recurring expense to the general fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at
the end of fiscal year 2008 shall revert to the general fund.
The Executive recommendation includes $2,770.2 to raise the childcare program eligibility to
165 percent of the federal poverty level, to fund 4 child care eligibility workers, and $500.0 for
technical training and assistance (TTAP). Items 4 & 5 in this bill are not part of the executive
recommendation.
The LFC recommendation for CYFD includes $3,000.0 to prioritize child care for infants aged 0
through 3 at higher federal poverty levels than the current 155 percent.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
New Mexico Higher Education Department (HED) states that the $1,000,000 for scholarship for
early childhood teachers relates to HED and provides the following analysis:
To qualify as a licensed childcare environment, the childcare provider must complete a
three credit hour course on Early Childhood Education or its equivalent. Courses taken by
early childhood care providers beyond the requirements are not known on a statewide
level.
Synthesis research on early childhood education conducted through the Northwest
Regional Educational Laboratory shows that higher education specific to early childhood
development increases the learning of the students in those environments. Research also
shows that quality early childhood education has a variety of long-term benefits including
higher grades, greater social and emotional maturity, more frequent high school
graduation, etc.
CYFD states: The proposed increase in funding for childcare assistance would allow CYFD to
serve approximately 3,077 additional children per month. The appropriation allows CYFD to
raise the childcare assistance program eligibility to 200% of the federal poverty level.
PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS
The number of licensed early childhood care providers taking courses beyond the three credit
hour requirement is a performance measure. The potential benefits of assisting early childhood
teachers in increasing their educational attainment are twofold: they may receive salary increases
and the students in their care will learn more.
A significant barrier to entering the workforce is childcare. The Office of Workforce Training
and Development is charged with placing displaced workers back in the workforce. Among the
difficulties encountered by parents entering the workforce is childcare. The bill does not address
an increased level of employment, job retention, educational attainment, etc associated with the
additional slots for the parents.
pg_0003
Senate Bill 103 – Page
3
ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS
CYFD requested additional child care eligibility staff (4 FTE) to help address the growing child
care caseload which is included in the executive recommendation for CYFD. Increasing the
federal poverty level to 200 percent, CYFD estimates the monthly caseload would increase
3,077. There may be a need for additional administrative staff.
CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP
Duplicates House Bill 232 and relates to the General Appropriations Act.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
According to CYFD, the scholarship portion of the appropriation for early childhood teachers
will flow through Teach New Mexico. Teach New Mexico will be responsible for developing the
criteria for the scholar-ship funds and distributing them.
HED believes that there is a need to develop a system to track the courses earned by early
childhood care providers beyond the three credit hour minimum. The effect of additional
childcare courses on children's success in the classroom may also be tracked. The scholarships
can be distributed by an entity other than Teach New Mexico.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
As cited in the New Mexico Business Weekly in September 2005, In New Mexico, for the past 20
years, the qualifications of early childhood educators have fallen. Thirty percent of teachers and
administrators have a high school diploma or less. Twenty-three percent of teachers and
administrators have a college degree, the fifth lowest percentage of the 43 states studies. Due to
the low wages earned, an average hourly rate of $7.48, early childhood teachers leave for higher
paying jobs as they become more educated. This is addressed in the proposed pilot program for
wage supplements based on educational attainment specific to early childhood education. Such a
model can be found in the WAGE$ Project in North Carolina, Florida, Kansas, and South
Carolina
(
http://www.childcareservices.org/ps/wage.html
).
Approximately 7% (133,454) of New Mexicans are under five years old. (HPC Quick Facts
2005)
The average annual cost of a childcare slot in New Mexico is $3,260.00 (CYFD Childcare Road
Map November 2006)
Poor Families in the State
•
More than 2 in 10 children are poor in this state. (Children’s Defense Fund, January
2003)
•
87,959 (13%) households in New Mexico make less than $10,000 annually, compared to
9% nationally. (HPC Quick Facts 2005)
•
19% of New Mexicans are poor of which 25% are children under 18
•
36% are families with female head of household with no husband present (US Census
2003 Data Profiles)
pg_0004
Senate Bill 103 – Page
4
ALTERNATIVES
None at this time.
WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL
Without financial assistance, it is possible that early childhood educators will not increase their
level of educational attainment, increase their salaries, or enhance their skills in teaching young
children.
DL/csd