HBA-EDN, SEP H.B. 1348 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 1348 By: Villarreal, Mike Economic Development 3/2/2001 Introduced BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Child-care facilities are often instrumental in providing early education services to children. These services are crucial not only in fostering positive learning environments for children during their developmental years, but also in enabling the parents of those children to work and attain self-sufficiency. In Texas, however, assistance for child-care is limited. House Bill 1348 provides one-time-funds for local workforce development boards to design and implement initiatives to address their regional child-care needs. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that rulemaking authority is expressly delegated to the Texas Workforce Commission in SECTION 1 (Section 302.0041, Labor Code) of this bill. ANALYSIS House Bill 1348 amends the Labor Code to require the Texas Workforce Commission, by rule, to establish one-time-funds for local workforce development boards to design and implement demonstration projects to address certain child-care related issues. This bill sets forth provisions for project funding. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote the Act takes effect September 1, 2001.