(a)(1) There is established the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund Advisory Commission, which shall be part of the Legislative Department. The commission shall review and report on the financial health and status of the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund, submit and update a five-year plan to the General Assembly on expenditures from said fund that would best support early childhood education in, and child care needs of, the state and make recommendations for legislative changes to further the purposes of said fund.
(2)The commission shall consist of the following members:
(A)Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, (i) one of whom shall be a parent who is a member of the parent cabinet established by the Office of Early Childhood pursuant to section 10-500
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(a)(1) There is established the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund Advisory Commission, which shall be part of the Legislative Department. The commission shall review and report on the financial health and status of the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund, submit and update a five-year plan to the General Assembly on expenditures from said fund that would best support early childhood education in, and child care needs of, the state and make recommendations for legislative changes to further the purposes of said fund. (2) The commission shall consist of the following members: (A) Two appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, (i) one of whom shall be a parent who is a member of the parent cabinet established by the Office of Early Childhood pursuant to section 10-500 , and (ii) one of whom shall be an early childhood teacher; (B) Two appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, (i) one of whom shall be an operator or a representative of a home-based child care services provider in the state, and (ii) one of whom shall be the parent of a child receiving services under the birth-to-three program established under section 17a-248b ; (C) Two appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, (i) one of whom shall be a representative of an early childhood education program operator in the state, and (ii) one of whom shall be a representative of a family resource center described under section 10-4o and who is a member of the Early Childhood Cabinet established pursuant to section 10-16z ; (D) Two appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, (i) one of whom shall be a representative of a philanthropic organization that is (I) engaged in early childhood education issues or child care issues in the state, and (II) a member of the Early Childhood Funder Collaborative, and (ii) one of whom shall be a representative of the Connecticut Head Start State Collaboration Office within the Office of Early Childhood and who is a member of the Early Childhood Cabinet established pursuant to section 10-16z ; (E) Two appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, (i) one of whom shall be a representative of a non-home-based child care services provider in the state, and (ii) one of whom shall be a representative of the Office of Early Childhood and who administers the Childhood Care and Development Fund and who is a member of the Early Childhood Cabinet established pursuant to section 10-16z ; (F) Two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, (i) one of whom shall be a representative of a corporation with a significant physical presence in the state and that employs individuals who may benefit from early childhood education and state child care initiatives, and (ii) one of whom shall be a representative of the Office of Early Childhood and who administers Part C of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 20 USC 1431 et seq., as amended from time to time; (G) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding; (H) One member of the General Assembly appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives and one member of the General Assembly appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate; (I) The commissioners of Early Childhood and Education, or their designees; (J) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, or the secretary's designee; (K) The Treasurer, or the Treasurer's designee; and (L) The Comptroller, or the Comptroller's designee. (3) Each appointed member shall serve in accordance with the provisions of section 4-1a and the appointing authorities shall appoint members to ensure representation on the commission of all geographic areas in the state, to the extent practicable. (4) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to finance, revenue and bonding shall serve as administrative staff of the commission. (5) The members appointed under subparagraph (H) of subdivision (2) of this subsection and the Comptroller shall serve as the chairpersons of the commission. Such chairpersons shall schedule the first meeting of the commission, which shall be held not later than ninety days after June 4, 2024. The commission shall meet as often as deemed necessary by the chairpersons or a majority of the commission. Any appointed member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings or who fails to attend fifty per cent of all meetings held during any calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned from the commission. (6) Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority. Any vacancy occurring other than by expiration of term shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term. (7) A majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business. (8) (A) The members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but shall, within the limits of available funds, be reimbursed for travel expenses necessarily incurred in travelling to and from a commission meeting, except that the following members shall be eligible, within the limit of available funds, for a stipend of twenty-five dollars for each hour or portion thereof that such member attends a commission meeting: (i) The parent member of the parent cabinet established by the Office of Early Childhood and the parent of a child receiving services under the birth-to-three program; (ii) The early childhood teacher; (iii) The representative of an early childhood education program operator, provided such representative is an employee of such program operator and is compensated by such program operator on an hourly basis; (iv) The representative of a non-home-based child care services provider, provided such representative is an employee of such provider and is compensated by such provider on an hourly basis; and (v) The operator or representative of a home-based child care services provider, provided such representative is an employee of such provider. (B) The time spent by a member under subparagraph (A)(i) to (A)(v), inclusive, of this subdivision to travel to and from such meeting shall not be counted for purposes of calculating the stipend under this subdivision. (C) Each member seeking the travel expenses or stipend under this subdivision shall submit a request to the executive director of the Office of Legislative Management, in such form and manner as prescribed by said director, and shall provide any documentation required by said director to substantiate the requested amount. (b) The commission shall have the following powers and duties: (1) Review and monitor the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund to assess its financial sustainability; (2) Obtain from any executive department, board, commission or other agency of the state such assistance and data as necessary and available to carry out the purposes of this section; and (3) Perform such other acts as may be necessary and appropriate to carry out the duties described in this section. (c) The commission shall: (1) Not later than January 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, submit a report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a , to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, finance, revenue and bonding, education and children, on the financial health and status of the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund, including, but not limited to, (A) the amounts on deposit in said fund, (B) disbursements made or expected to be made from said fund for the applicable fiscal year, (C) the rates of return on investments made by the Treasurer pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, (D) a statement as to the sufficiency of the amounts on deposit in said fund to achieve the purposes of said fund, and (E) any recommendations for policy changes and amendments to the general statutes necessary to further the purposes of said fund; (2) Not later than January 1, 2026, submit a five-year plan, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a , to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, finance, revenue and bonding, education and children, of recommendations of expenditures from said fund that would best support early childhood education in, and child care needs of, the state. The commission shall, in developing such plan, consider reports on the state of (A) early childhood care and education in the state, and (B) kindergarten readiness in the state, as well as best practices in other states. The commission shall update such plan at least annually and submit such updated plan annually to said committees; and (3) Commencing with the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, hold a public hearing annually on the state of the fund and of early childhood education and child care in the state.