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An Act
ENROLLED HOUSE
BILL NO. 1979 By: Ranson, Waldron, Archer,
Pae, Lawson, Provenzano,
Hefner, Schreiber, Munson,
and Dollens of the House
and
Hall of the Senate
An Act relating to children; creating the Early
Childhood Task Force; providing for task force
membership; providing for election of chair and vice
chair; permitting the selection of honorary chair;
directing task force to provide reports; disallowing
certain members from receiving compensation or
reimbursement; permitting certain members to claim
certain expenses; requiring task force to be subject
to the Oklahoma Open Records Act and the Oklahoma
Open Meeting Act; providing that task force documents
and recommendations shall only be considered advice;
providing a vision statement; providing a mission;
providing principles the task force is to be guided
by; providing tasks for the task force; providing for
codification; and providing an effective date.
SUBJECT: Children
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 390 of Title 10, unless there is
created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. There is hereby created the Early Childhood Task Force to
study and make recommendations to improve service access to and
delivery to families and children and increase the quantity of high-
quality early childhood services.
ENR. H. B. NO. 1979 Page 2
B. The task force shall be comprised of eighteen (18) members
to be appointed as follows:
1. The Director of Human Services, or a designee;
2. The State Commissioner of Health, or a designee;
3. The Chief Executive Officer of the Oklahoma Department of
Commerce, or a designee;
4. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, or a designee;
5. The Administrator of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, or
a designee;
6. A representative of a statewide association representing the
business community that is exempt from taxation under Section
501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended,
appointed by the Governor;
7. Two child care providers, each of whom is a member of a
statewide association representing child care providers, appointed
by the Director of Human Services;
8. A representative of an Oklahoma parent-child support
organization, selected by the Director of the Early Childhood
Education Institute of the University of Oklahoma;
9. The Executive Director of Oklahoma Partnership for School
Readiness, or a designee;
10. A representative of a statewide association that advocates
for early childhood education, appointed by the Superintendent of
Public Instruction;
11. A Senator, appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the
Senate;
12. A Representative, appointed by the Speaker of the House of
Representatives;
13. A director of a public school early childhood program,
appointed by the Superintendent of Public Instruction;
ENR. H. B. NO. 1979 Page 3
14. A representative responsible for programs under Part C of
the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), appointed by
the State Commissioner of Health;
15. A representative from Oklahoma State University’s
Department of Human Development and Family Science, appointed by the
Dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences of Oklahoma
State University;
16. A pediatric specialist appointed by the Chair of the
Department of Pediatrics of the University of Oklahoma College of
Medicine; and
17. A representative of a statewide professional association
representing the workforce for infant and early childhood mental
health services, appointed by the Commissioner of Mental Health and
Substance Abuse Services.
C. The Early Childhood Task Force shall elect a chair and vice
chair, or co-chairs, from the task force’s membership, and the chair
or co-chairs shall establish rules for the task force’s meetings and
the conducting of business. Upon the absence or vacancy of the
chair, the vice chair shall serve as chair in an acting capacity.
D. An honorary chair may be selected to serve in a ceremonial
capacity. The honorary chair shall not serve as a voting member of
the task force but may engage with the work of the task force in an
advisory role or in a manner deemed appropriate by the chair or co-
chairs.
E. The task force shall develop and electronically submit an
initial report to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate and the
Speaker of the House of Representatives by November 2027 and a final
report by November 2028.
F. Members shall receive no compensation or reimbursement for
expenses and shall serve voluntarily. Officers or employees of
state agencies who are appointed to the task force as part of their
duties shall be authorized to participate on the task force and may
claim subsistence, allowance, mileage, or associated expenses from
their respective agency budgets as permitted by law.
G. The task force shall be subject to the Oklahoma Open Records
Act and the Oklahoma Open Meeting Act.
ENR. H. B. NO. 1979 Page 4
H. Plans, reports, or recommendations of any nature adopted by
the task force shall be considered advice to the Legislature and
shall not be construed as official policies, positions, or
interpretations of laws, rules, or regulations by any department or
agency of state government, nor shall any such department or agency
be bound in any manner to consider such advice when conducting its
advisory and regulatory affairs.
I. The task force shall be guided by the following vision
statement: Oklahoma children, especially those between zero (0) and
five (5) years of age, deserve healthy childhoods that are supported
by a robust early childhood system which improves outcomes and
effectively provides high-quality early care and education, improves
and enhances school readiness, adapts to the needs of families and
communities, and is equitably accessible to all communities across
the state.
J. The task force shall work toward the mission of creating a
framework for a more efficient and effective governance structure
for early childhood programming, such as a coordinated,
consolidated, or new independent agency.
K. The task force’s work shall be guided by a commitment to the
following principles:
1. Children, family, and community well-being shall be centered
throughout the Early Childhood Task Force’s work;
2. Efforts shall be focused on maximizing efficiencies to
reduce the administrative burdens on families and improve access to
early childhood services through the creation of a new governance
structure;
3. Any possible consolidation of early childhood services shall
be informed by what families and communities say are wanted and
needed;
4. Access to programs and services shall be equitable and
available to all children and families regardless of socioeconomic
status or geographic location;
5. Intentional focus shall be placed on developing strategies
to reach families and young children in health care, early
education, and care deserts or furthest from opportunity and
existing resources;
ENR. H. B. NO. 1979 Page 5
6. Access to affordable and quality health care, nutrition,
early education and care, mental health, home visiting, early
intervention, support for families, early learning, and other
services in the critical prenatal to five-year age period will
decisively impact academic success, economic development
opportunities, and the prosperity of Oklahoma;
7. Efforts shall be made to use data-informed approaches and
explore better ways to develop shared data systems;
8. Work shall focus on strengthening and expanding the early
education and care delivery system already in use in Oklahoma;
9. Alignment across sectors and state agencies shall increase
capacity, maximize funding, and create a more streamlined delivery
of services;
10. The importance of growing a well-educated and well-
supported early childhood workforce shall remain at the forefront
and be informed by the task force’s work;
11. While focusing on advancing the delivery system, work shall
highlight the importance of defining quality care and expanding
capacity and access to create a greater quantity of quality
services;
12. To incentivize innovation and respond to family needs,
communities must be empowered to develop local, community-based
solutions that take a whole-child and whole-family approach in
responding to needs;
13. To ensure holistic childhood well-being and improve health
outcomes, there must be alignment between state efforts to improve
early learning and care and existing prenatal and maternal health
initiatives; and
14. Strengthening early childhood developmental health is vital
to ensuring that children are prepared to achieve academic success
and are prepared for lifelong learning.
L. The task force’s duties shall include:
1. Conducting an analysis of the current early childhood
delivery system in Oklahoma and how it is financed with specific
ENR. H. B. NO. 1979 Page 6
focus on gaps, inefficiencies, and redundancies. This work should
focus on how creating a new governance structure for early childhood
services could overcome these challenges and improve how care is
delivered, accessed, and funded. This analysis must specifically
include:
a. a review of current early childhood programs and
policies dispersed between the Department of Human
Services, State Department of Health, Department of
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, Oklahoma
Department of Commerce, Oklahoma Health Care
Authority, and State Department of Education. The
review should pay special attention to where current
statutory authority over certain operations exists and
where possible areas of redundancy occur,
b. a review of how current funding systems blend and
various funding opportunities, with special attention
as to how funding streams are currently utilized for
early childhood programs that are housed across
departments. This fiscal review should map the routes
all private, public, federal, and state funding
streams take from funding authority to program
application,
c. a review of how Oklahoma might integrate existing
programming into a consolidated delivery system and
what needs might exist for new programming that the
state currently lacks,
d. recommendations on how cross-agency collaboration and
partnerships can be fostered to develop a whole-of-
government approach to strengthening the delivery of
early childhood services, specifically ensuring that
data infrastructure is integrated across agencies,
accounts for both qualitative and quantitative
methods, and can be widely utilized by multiple state
agencies,
e. recommendations on how a new governance structure
might maximize efficiencies for early childhood
providers and their workforce. This work should
determine how licensing, workforce development and
support, and facility review can be improved to
eliminate barriers to entry for providers and
ENR. H. B. NO. 1979 Page 7
professionals. This should also include a review of
current regulatory structures that complicate the
process of entering the early childhood sector,
f. recommendations on how a new governance structure can
strengthen the existing health care workforce to
better support the development of young children and
well-being of mothers through improved access to
comprehensive and preventive care. This should also
include a review of how to secure improved health
outcomes for children, financial sustainability of
delivery models, and robust workforce pipelines, and
g. an analysis of key lessons learned from states already
advancing consolidated systems of early childhood
governance to inform Oklahoma’s own process;
2. Conducting a series of stakeholder engagement opportunities
to elicit feedback on the current early childhood governance
structure and better understand the needs of parents, families,
providers, and businesses;
3. Following the engagement of stakeholders, conducting a
review that synthesizes feedback received from families, providers,
community leaders, and the business sector. This review shall
include recommendations on how the state delivery system and
governance model can be improved to respond to family and community
needs. It shall also include recommendations for how the state can
better engage with parents, families, and communities on a regular
basis to ensure family voice is centered in the work of state
agencies;
4. Drafting a proposed transition plan to ensure the continuous
operation of state services upon the creation of a new governance
structure for early childhood. This plan shall:
a. include detailed recommendations for what programs and
services should remain in their current place or
transition into a new governance structure. Each
recommendation shall consider the challenges and
benefits of moving programs,
b. focus on movement between agencies and how
collaboration can be strengthened with nonexecutive
ENR. H. B. NO. 1979 Page 8
agencies. It shall also include recommendations for
any necessary interagency agreements,
c. include a review of what additional funding, if any,
and resources, if any, might be needed to transition
to a new governance structure effectively and
efficiently, and
d. provide recommended goals and metrics for the new
entity to strive toward once operational; and
5. Drafting proposed legislation that creates a new governance
structure that oversees Oklahoma’s early childhood education and
care programs.
SECTION 2. This act shall become effective November 1, 2026.
ENR. H. B. NO. 1979 Page 9
Passed the House of Representatives the 4th day of May, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the House
of Representatives
Passed the Senate the 28th day of April, 2026.
Presiding Officer of the Senate
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
Received by the Office of the Governor this ____________________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________
Approved by the Governor of the State of Oklahoma this _________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
_________________________________
Governor of the State of Oklahoma
OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE
Received by the Office of the Secretary of State this __________
day of ___________________, 20_______, at _______ o'clock _______ M.
By: _________________________________