Child Care Provider Licensing & Quality

Local governing authorities must prioritize the inspection, permitting, licensing, or approval process for child care facilities with which they have had a dispute or that caused a delay.

Local governing authorities must limit fees for inspections, permits, or licenses that are not required by state standards to a reasonable maximum established by department rules, with exceptions for health and sanitation inspections.

The Department of Early Childhood must phase out reliance on third-party investigators for licensing inspections by July 1, 2026, prioritizing the use of its own licensed specialists.

The Department must establish standardized training, protocols, and supervision for all personnel and contractors involved in investigations and inspections to ensure consistency across the state.

A new Child Care Licensure Task Force was created to study the current system and develop recommendations for a streamlined licensure process.

The header status was updated from 'Revised' to 'Rerevised' to indicate that all amendments have been adopted in the Second House.

A new header was added stating the bill is in '3rd Reading Unamended' with a date of May 7, 2026.

The House sponsorship list was expanded to include nine new co-sponsors (Bacon, Boesenecker, Brown, Clifford, Duran, Goldstein, Hamrick, Jackson, Lieder, Lindsay, Mauro, McCluskie, Nguyen, Phillips, Rutinel, Story, Zokaie).

Deleted a requirement for the department to phase out reliance on contracted investigators by July 1, 2026.

Removed the specific deadline of July 1, 2026, for implementing the phase-out of contracted services.

Added 'Finance' and 'Appropriations' to the list of House Committees reviewing the bill.

Changed the bill status header from 'Reengrossed' to 'Revised' to indicate the legislative stage.

The document status was updated from 'Engrossed' to 'Reengrossed' to reflect that all House amendments have been incorporated.

New sponsors (Amabile, Benavidez, Coleman, Cutter, Exum, Gonzales J., Jodeh, Kipp, Lindstedt, Marchman, Wallace) were added to the Senate sponsorship list.

A reading stamp indicating '3rd Reading Unamended' dated April 13, 2026, was added to the title page.

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Removed the mandate to create and use a new centralized digital provider file system for storing licensing and compliance documentation.

Added a requirement for the Executive Director to adopt rules ensuring facilities maintain current employee records in the existing Professional Development Information System.

Added a specific prohibition on conflicts of interest for any contractors or organizations used for investigations and inspections.

Changed the inspection reliance deadline from December 31, 2026, to July 1, 2026, requiring the department to phase out external contractors and prioritize internal specialists.