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, 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.] 4:28:35 PM ADJOURNMENT  There being no further business before the committee, the House Labor and Commerce Standing Committee meeting was adjourned at 4:28 p.m.