Legislature(2023 - 2024)BARNES 124
02/10/2023 03:15 PM House LABOR & COMMERCE
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| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| HB29 | |
| HB51 | |
| HB13 | |
| HB46 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| *+ | HB 29 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 46 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| += | HB 13 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| += | HB 51 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HB 46-CHILD CARE PROVIDER COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
3:59:25 PM
CHAIR SUMNER announced that the final order of business would be
HOUSE BILL NO. 46, "An Act allowing child care providers that
receive state aid to organize and collectively bargain with the
Department of Health; and establishing the child care provider
fund."
3:59:38 PM
CHAIR SUMNER opened public testimony on HB 46.
4:00:03 PM
KAYLA SVINICKI, Owner, Auke Lake Preschool and Afterschool,
stated that she became a child care worker because of
affordability issues with her own children's care. She said
that when she became a home-care provider, she realized that she
needed more training and education to do the best possible job
for the children in her care. She stated that she eventually
became the operator of Auke Lake Preschool and Afterschool in
Juneau, Alaska; the center employs 29 educators and cares for 75
children. She stated that child care employees do not have high
enough wages because raising their wages would cause child care
providers to have to raise the cost of tuition, which many
families would not be able to afford. She stated that child
care providers need state funding to be able to pay their
employees more and give them the training that they need to best
care for the children under their care.
4:04:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked if the ratio of caretakers to children
at Ms. Svinicki's child care center was due to statutory
regulations, or if her child care center could accept more
children if they were available.
MS. SVINICKI answered that her child care center has a long
waitlist, but the building has more capacity.
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX followed up and asked if the ratio of 3:1
caretakers to children her childcare center has is a regulatory
requirement.
MS. SVINICKI answered that the regulations are different for
different age ranges, but her childcare center employs more
caretakers to children than required to help the staff.
4:05:27 PM
REPRESENTATIVE CARRICK asked whether Ms. Svinicki was losing
employees due to low wages and benefits.
MS. SVINICKI answered that she did lose employees for those
reasons and because of the long work hours. In response to a
follow-up question, she stated that she believes those employees
would continue to work as child care providers if they received
higher compensation.
4:06:16 PM
AMANDA TRIPLETT, representing self, stated that she believes it
is essential for Alaska to have strong child care centers across
the state. She said that child care employees leaving the
industry is a common problem that creates problems for anyone
trying to return to work.
4:07:44 PM
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked Ms. Svinicki who pays Auke Lake
Preschool and Afterschool for the child care it provides.
MS. SVINICKI answered that the center's income comes from the
parents paying for their children's care, although Auke Lake
Preschool and Afterschool does have some contracts with tribal
organizations and are seeking funding from the City of Juneau.
In response to a follow up question, she stated that raising
prices would cause families to make a choice between becoming a
single income home or leaving Juneau altogether.
REPRESENTATIVE PRAX asked Ms. Svinicki if her expectation of the
bill is that it would enable child care centers to receive state
funding.
MS. SVINICKI answered that it is.
4:10:31 PM
REPRESENTATIVE RUFFRIDGE asked Ms. Svinicki how the ability to
collectively bargain would affect child care employee wages and
the cost of child care to parents.
MS. SVINICKI answered that the ability to collectively bargain
would allow child care providers to come together to work on the
issue.
REPRESENTATIVE RUFFRIDGE commented on the lack of a fiscal note
for the bill and asked what parents would be able to contribute.
MS. TRIPLETT answered that many families are already unable to
afford child care. She said that she believes the state should
step in to ensure that child care workers are paid better wages
and that families can afford child care.
4:14:40 PM
SUSAN DELOACH, Owner, Bright Beginnings Early Learning Center,
stated that she has been a childcare provider in Alaska for 28
years, and the current operating conditions are the most
difficult she has ever seen. She said that operating costs have
increased 30 percent and it is difficult to find qualified child
care workers, which has reduced the number of children Bright
Beginnings is able to accommodate. She continued that losing
access to child care will cause harm to the economy as parents
will be forced to miss work to care for their children, and the
threat of more child care centers shutting down is greater now
that pandemic relief funds are coming to an end.
4:17:45 PM
HEIDI PEARSON, representing self, stated that the difficulty of
finding child care was made more difficult by the pandemic, and
that the difficulty caused by a lack of access to child care has
caused her and her husband to consider the possibility of one of
them leaving their job. She added that it is more expensive to
send a child to day care then to send a student to the
University of Alaska. She said that she knows people that have
left the state of Alaska in part because of the difficulty of
finding adequate child care.
4:20:41 PM
DANIEL VOLLAND, OD, representing self, stated that the
Municipality of Anchorage is facing a worker shortage that is
affecting the city's ability to provide basic services. He
continued that Anchorage businesses have identified lack of
available child care as one their greatest challenges in finding
employees. He stated that he believes building the child care
workforce is necessary to build the workforce as a whole.
4:24:16 PM
CHAIR SUMNER, after ascertaining that no one else wished to
testify, closed public testimony on HB 46.
4:24:51 PM
REPRESENTATIVE FIELDS, as prime sponsor of HB 46, stated that
the percentage of income going toward child care ranged from 17
to 34 percent, depending largely on whether a household had 1 or
2 parents. He continued that government assistance covers only
the minority of the cost to parents. He stated that there are
431 licensed child care providers in Alaska, with there being a
decrease of over 50 child care centers since 2021. He said that
these closures coincided with a decrease in the total number of
child care employees.
[HB 46 was held over.]