Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

The Senate assembled at 11:00 A.M., the hour to which it stood adjourned and was called to order by the ACTING PRESIDENT, Senator COURSON.

December 10, 1990
The Honorable Nick A. Theodore, Lieutenant Governor
South Carolina Senate
Post Office Box 142
Columbia, South Carolina 29202

Dear Lieutenant Governor Theodore:

It has been with great pleasure that I have served as Chair of the S.C. Public/Private Child Care Council. After many hours of hard work and much deliberation, the Council has finalized its recommendations.

I am enclosing a copy of the final recommendations as required by Section 13 of House Bill 3271.

With kindest regards, I am

Sincerely,
Kay Patterson

I. SUBCOMMITTEE 2/4

1. THE EMPLOYER'S GUIDE TO CHILD CARE ASSISTANCE, developed and published by the Office of the Governor, has been distributed to approximately 900 businesses in the State. It is recommended that:
a. In addition, the guide be distributed by the Office of the Governor to business and professional clubs, service clubs, local chambers of commerce, and human resource management organizations.
b. A supplement to the guide be developed by the Office of the Governor which would include descriptions of existing employer support programs for child care within the State, with testimonials from employers. These descriptions will show the variety of options local businesses are using.
c. The Office of the Governor and the Office of the Lieutenant Governor promote and encourage media coverage to the public concerning issues of employer support for child care needs of employees.

2. It is recommended that the Office of the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor sponsor the formation of a consortium with membership for all businesses offering some form of child care support to employees. The purpose of this consortium would be to serve as a clearinghouse for resources and referrals for employers considering a child care option.

3. Because employers and parents need an orientation to the issues of child care, it is recommended that the consortium, in conjunction with ETV, develop and distribute a videotape which describes the various options for child care and examples of each. The tape should emphasize the issues of quality in child care and the responsibility of employers and parents in assuring high standards in child care which they subsidize.

4. The State Department of Education has signed a contract with the State Health and Human Services Finance Commission which will fund a survey of all the school districts of the State. This survey will be a comprehensive report of the after-school child care programs currently using school facilities. It is recommended that this report, due by December 30, 1990, be circulated and promoted beyond school districts to community organizations and other interested groups and members of the Public/Private Child Care Council by both the Department of Education and the State Health and Human Services Finance Commission.

5. The Governor's Office of Health and Human Services will develop and publish a "how-to" manual for after-school child care programs. It is recommended that this manual be promoted by the Governor's Office to all organizations which currently or potentially provide school-age child care.

6. It is recommended that existing exemplary school-age child care programs be promoted by the news media to the general public in order to raise awareness concerning the issue and the need for high quality programs for school-age children outside of school hours, whether in public school facilities or other public and private settings.

7. It is recommended that the South Carolina Department of Education ensure that presentations and articles on the issue of school-age child care are made to the South Carolina School Boards Association, the South Carolina School Administrators Association, the Governor's Conference on Education, and the annual conference on school-age child care sponsored by PRT.

II. SUBCOMMITTEE 6

1. It is recommended that a task force be appointed to study the feasibility of offering child care services for capitol complex employees and that the task force be jointly chaired by one member of the Senate and one member of the House of Representatives, those appointments being respectively made by the Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House, and that six legislative staff persons be appointed to that task force, three each from Senate and House staff, those appointments being made by the chairs of the task force.
a. It is recommended that any plan considered by the task force appropriately utilize employee contributions for the provision of capitol complex child care.
b. It is recommended that the task force in conjunction with the State Budget and Control Board investigate the expansion of the state fringe benefit package as suggested in the Needs Assessment document.

2. It is recommended that the State Budget and Control Board, in conjunction and cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Social Services, develop a directory for South Carolina state employees which should:
a. assist state employees in their search for child care by providing a reference list of public and private organizations which provide child care referral services, and
b. include in its content:
(1) information on assessing child care services for special needs children;
(2) information to assist in the location of after school care; and
(3) a checklist for consumer parents to use in assessing their child care needs and in evaluating the performance of the child care provider in meeting those needs.

3. It is recommended that the State Budget and Control Board, in conjunction and cooperation with the South Carolina Department of Social Services, develop a child care services directory for those government employees working in the Capitol Complex, and that directory should list child care services conveniently available to those employees.

4. It is recommended that the South Carolina Department of Social Services develop and implement a plan to recruit and train additional family and group child care home operators. This plan should be pursued as a coordinated effort among state government, businesses, Midlands Tech, and U.S.C., and the private non-profit resource and referral services, and should be presented to the Joint Legislative Committee on Children and to all members of the Public/Private Child Care Council.

III. SUBCOMMITTEE 5/7

1. It is recommended that the Joint Legislative Committee on Children draft a formal inquiry to the South Carolina Insurance Commissioner, John G. Richards, requesting information upon possible responses by the Insurance Department and South Carolina Legislature to the rising cost of child care liability insurance. It is further recommended that the conclusions of this inquiry be sent to all members of the Public/Private Child Care Council, as well as to both the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee, and the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.

2. It is recommended that through concurrent resolution the South Carolina General Assembly encourage banks to offer low-interest loans to child care facilities who meet Accreditation Criteria and Procedures of the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs standards.

1. It is recommended that the South Carolina Tax Commission develop policy guidelines to allow for a broad and flexible interpretation of the term "child care" contained in Section 12-7-1260(A), that interpretation to include alternative work patterns which reduce the need for full-time child care, such as part-time, flex-time, job sharing, telecommuting, and home-based work and also to include referral services provided to secure child care.

2. Because employers need an orientation to home-based work and other alternative work patterns, it is recommended that the Offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor establish a joint task force to study these concepts and provide information to the business community so that employers become aware of these options. It is further recommended that the conclusions of this joint task force be provided to the members of the Public/Private Child Care Council and the Joint Legislative Committee on Children.

3. It is recommended that through concurrent resolution the South Carolina General Assembly encourage banks to offer low-interest loans to parents who want to operate a home-based business.

4. Because families whose income is less that $20,000 have great difficulty affording the child care of their choice, it is recommended that the South Carolina General Assembly repeal the current S.C. child care tax credit and replace it with a tax credit of $1,000 per child under the age of five for families earning less than $20,000 in which at least one parent is employed.

5. It is recommended that the Public/Private Child Care Council express appreciation to the South Carolina General Assembly for adopting Concurrent Resolution S. 509 (adopted in the Senate April 25, 1989, in the House February 7, 1990). The resolution memorializes the Congress of the United States to increase the federal dependent exemption. Because children have been steadily devalued in the United States Tax Code since 1948, such an increase would demonstrate a restoration of the value of children in the United States.

On motion of Senator PATTERSON, with unanimous consent, the Report was ordered printed in the Journal of Friday, January 11, 1991.

The following Joint Resolution having been read the second time was passed and ordered to a third reading:

S. 463 -- Senator Waddell: A JOINT RESOLUTION TO APPROVE THE DISSOLUTION OF THE BEAUFORT COUNTY RECREATION DISTRICT IN BEAUFORT COUNTY, TO PROVIDE FOR THE TRANSFER AND CONVEYANCE OF THE FUNCTIONS AND ASSETS OF THE DISTRICT TO A DEPARTMENT OF BEAUFORT COUNTY GOVERNMENT, AND TO REPEAL ACT 1732 OF 1972, RELATING TO THE CREATION OF THE BEAUFORT COUNTY RECREATION DISTRICT.

(By prior motion of Senator WADDELL)

On motion of Senator WADDELL, S. 463 was ordered to receive a third reading on Tuesday, January 15, 1991.

By prior motion, Senator WADDELL moved that when the Senate adjourns it stand adjourned to meet next Tuesday, January 15, 1991, at 12:00 Noon.

At 11:29 A.M., on motion of Senator SETZLER, the Senate adjourned to meet next Tuesday at 12:00 Noon.

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