Official Summary Text
HB2239 - 572R - Senate Fact Sheet
Assigned to
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PASSED BY COMMITTEE
ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh
Legislature, Second Regular Session
AMENDED
FACT SHEET FOR
H.B. 2239
child
care; grant program; fund
Purpose
Establishes the Child Care Grant Program (Program) and Child Care
Infrastructure Fund (Fund) administered by the Department of Economic Security
(DES) to provide services to eligible Arizona families with child care needs.
Outlines administrative and eligibility requirements for the Program.
Background
DES administers child care assistance to eligible low-income families who
need child care assistance for children who are 12 years old or younger through
the Child Care Assistance Program. Depending on the category, the length of
time for which families are eligible to receive child care subsidies is
restricted to: 1) a cumulative 60-months per child, for the low-income working
population; 2) 24 months for the Transitional Child Care benefit; and 3) for
the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Child Care benefit, as long
as the family is receiving TANF Cash Benefits, which has a 24-month cumulative
lifetime limit. Families are limited to receiving child care assistance for six
children per household (
A.R.S.
� 46-803
).
In addition to DES resources, child care services are also available
through the Department of Child Safety and the Arizona Early Childhood
Development and Health Board, otherwise known as First Things First. First
Things First's primary function is to provide fully funded child care and
preschool scholarships. To qualify for child care through First Things First, a
family must: 1) have an income that is at or below 200 percent of the federal
poverty level; 2) have children who are five years old or younger; 3) include
parents who are employed; 4) accept a DES child care subsidy, if available; and
5) not be receiving duplicate funding from other programs (
First
Things First
).�
There is no anticipated fiscal impact
to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1.
Establishes
the Program, administered by DES, to grant monies to eligible applicants to
provide the following services to families in Arizona with child care needs:
a)
early learning and child care in underserved communities that have
historically experienced a lack of accessible and affordable child care,
including rural areas;
b)
early learning and child care in low-income and moderate-income
communities;
c)
child care during nonstandard working hours, such as evenings and
weekends;
d)
child care for infants and toddlers; or
e)
child
care for children with disabilities.
2.
Allows
DES to adopt rules, policies and procedures to carry out the purposes of the
Program.
3.
Requires
an eligible applicant to submit an application for a grant on a form prescribed
by DES.
4.
Requires
DES to provide assistance to grantees relating to:
a)
child care facility and capacity expansion;
b)
business strategy and operations support and training; or
c)
increasing or enhancing early learning and child care capacity for
federally recognized Indian tribes, nations or communities.
5.
Allows
DES to contract with a qualified community partner organization in Arizona to
assist in administering the Program.
6.
Establishes
the Fund, administered by DES, consisting of legislative appropriations,
grants, gifts, applicable tax credits, contributions and devises.
7.
Requires
the State Treasurer, on notice from DES, to invest and divest monies in the
Fund and credit monies earned from investment to the Fund.
8.
Specifies
that Fund monies are continuously appropriated.
9.
Allows
Fund monies to be used to pay the administrative costs of establishing and
implementing the Program.
10.
Allows Fund monies to also
be used for:
a)
planning and designing high quality early learning and child care
infrastructure;
b)
acquiring property for high quality early learning and child care
infrastructure or child care development projects;
c)
repairing, improving and renovating early learning and child care
infrastructure that would expand the capacity of the infrastructure;
d)
child care infrastructure development projects, including direct project
management costs;
e)
contracting with third parties, including nonprofit organization and
community development financial institutions, to assist in the administration
of child care infrastructure activities;
f)
child care infrastructure construction costs and expenses;
g)
child care start-up expenses, including workforce development,
licensing, insurance and accreditation;
h)
early child care infrastructure adaptations required by a licensing
agency in Arizona;
i)
providing support to establish or expand child care provider operations
and infrastructure, including training and technical assistance; or
j)
�any other costs that DES determines to be necessary to carry out early
child care infrastructure activities in Arizona.
11.
Defines an
eligible
applicant
as a:
a)
child care facility;
b)
child care provider;
c)
person or entity that is interested in opening a child care facility or
becoming a child care provider in Arizona; or
d)
person
that is engaged in unlicensed or uncertified child care and that is interested
in becoming a licensed or certified child care provider in Arizona;
12.
Defines
qualified
community partner organization
as an entity with demonstrable experience
in:
a)
providing technical assistance to child care providers in Arizona; or
b)
supporting
the establishment or expansion of child care providers in Arizona.
13.
Contains
a statement of legislative findings.
14.
Becomes
effective on the general effective date.
Amendments Adopted by the
Federalism & Family Law Committee
1.
Adds applicable tax credits to the Fund.
2.
Adds, to the definition of
eligible applicant
, an entity that is
interested in opening a child care facility or becoming a child care provider.
House Action
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Senate
Action
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3
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Prepared by Senate Research
March 27, 2026
AN/ci
Current Bill Text
Read the full stored bill text
HB2239 - 572R - H Ver
House Engrossed
child care; grant
program; fund
State of Arizona
House of Representatives
Fifty-seventh Legislature
Second Regular Session
2026
HOUSE BILL 2239
AN
ACT
Amending title 41, chapter 14, ARTICLE 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 41-1971; relating to the department
of economic SECURITY.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 41, chapter 14, article 1,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-1971, to read:
START_STATUTE
41-1971.
Child care grant program; child care infrastructure fund;
administration; purpose; definitions
A. The Child
care grant program is established to grant monies to eligible applicants to
provide any of the following services to families in this state with CHILD CARE
needs:
1. Early learning and CHILD CARE in
underserved communities that have historically experienced a lack of accessible
and affordable CHILD CARE, including rural areas.
2. Early learning and CHILD CARE in
low-income and moderate-income communities.
3. CHILD CARE during nonstandard
working hours, such as evenings and weekends.
4. CHILD CARE for infants and
toddlers.
5. CHILD CARE for children who have
disabilities.
B. The department shall administer
the grant program and may adopt rules, policies and procedures to carry out the
purposes of this section. An eligible applicant shall submit an application for
a grant on a form PRESCRIBED by the DEPARTMENT.
C. The department shall provide
assistance to grantees relating to any of the following:
1. CHILD CARE facility and capacity
expansion.
2. Business strategy and operations
support and training.
3. increasing or enhancing early
learning and CHILD CARE capacity for federally recognized indian tribes,
nations or communities.
D. The department may contract with a
qualified community partner organization in this state to assist in
administering the grant program.
E. The CHILD CARE infrastructure fund
is established consisting of legislative appropriations, grants, gifts,
contributions and devises. the DEPARTMENT shall administer the
fund. on notice from the department, the state treasurer shall
invest and divest monies in the fund as provided by section 35-313, and monies
earned from investment shall be credited to the fund.� Monies in the fund are
CONTINUOUSLY APPROPRIATED and may be used to pay the administrative costs of
implementing this section and to establish the child care grant program
pursuant to this section. Monies may also be used for any of the following:
1. planning and designing high
quality early learning and CHILD CARE infrastructure.
2. acquiring property for high
quality early learning and CHILd CARE infrastructure or CHILD CARE development
projects.
3. Repairing, improving and
renovating early learning and CHILD CARE infrastructure that would expand the
capacity of the infrastructure.
4. CHILD CARE infrastructure
development projects, including direct project management costs.
5. contracting with third parties,
including nonprofit organizations and community development financial
institutions, to assist in the administration of CHILD CARE infrastructure
activities.
6. Child care Infrastructure
construction costs and expenses.
7. CHILD CARE start-up expenses,
including workforce development, licensing, insurance and accreditation.
8. early CHILD CARE infrastructure
adaptations required by a licensing agency in this state.
9. providing support to establish or
expand CHILD CARE provider operations and infrastructure, including training
and technical assistance.
10. Any Other costs that the
department determines to be necessary to carry out early CHILD CARE
infrastructure activities in this state.
f. For the purposes of this section:
1. "child care" has the
same meaning prescribed in section 36-881.
2. "Child care facility"
has the same meaning prescribed in section 36-881.
3. "child care providers"
has the same meaning prescribed in section 46-801.
4. "eligible applicant"
means any of the following:
(
a
) a child
care facility.
(
b
) a child
care provider.
(
c
) a person
that is interested in opening a child care facility or becoming a child care
provider in this state.
(
d
) a person
that is engaged in unlicensed or uncertified child care and that is interested
in becoming a licensed or certified child care provider in this state.
5. "qualified community partner
organization" means an entity with demonstrable experience in either:
(
a
) providing
technical assistance to child care providers in this state.
(
b
) supporting
the establishment or expansion of child care providers in this state.
END_STATUTE
Sec. 2.
Legislative findings
The legislature finds that:
1. Early educational
investments are severely underfunded.
2. There is a shortage of
affordable and accessible child care in this state.
3. Early learning and child
care providers have limited finances to facilitate expansion of robust child
care infrastructure.
4. High
quality early child care investment promotes regional economic growth by
increasing the number of jobs available within the workforce and providing
consistent, accessible and reliable child care that is necessary to allow
parents to participate in the labor force.
5. Quality early learning
and child care facilities are developmentally appropriate, inclusive of
children with disabilities and create a healthy and supportive environment for
a child's brain development are needed for the well-being of children and
early learning and child care staff.
6. Sustained public
investment and technical assistance are necessary to overcome constraints and
to incentivize the development and expansion of early learning and child care
resources in this state.
7. The purpose of this act
is to provide financial assistance to eligible applicants for activities that
promote increased early learning and child care capacity across this state.