SB 1

Payments to child care programs

This bill authorizes the Department of Children and Families to establish a

program for making monthly payments and monthly per-child payments to certified

child care providers, licensed child care centers, and child care programs established

or contracted for by a school board. This new payment program is in addition to the

current law system for providing child care payments under Wisconsin Shares. The

bill allows DCF to promulgate rules to implement the program, including

establishing eligibility requirements and payment amounts and setting

requirements for how recipients may use the payments. The bill funds the program

through a new appropriation and by allocating federal moneys, including child care

development funds and moneys received under the Temporary Assistance for Needy

Families block grant program.

Child care partnership grant program

This bill authorizes DCF to establish a grant program to award funding to

businesses that provide or wish to provide child care services for their employees.

The bill allows such a grant to be used to reserve child care placements for local

business employees, pay child care tuition, and other costs related to child care.

Under the bill, a grant recipient must provide at least 25 percent matching funds.

The bill allows DCF to promulgate rules to administer the grant program, including

to determine eligibility for a grant.

Family and medical leave expansion

Under the current family and medical leave law, an employer that employs at

least 50 individuals on a permanent basis must permit an employee who has been

employed by the employer for more than 52 consecutive weeks and who has worked

for the employer for at least 1,000 hours during the preceding 52 weeks to take family

leave to care for the employee's child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent who has

a serious health condition. Employers covered under the law must also permit an

employee covered under the law to take up to two weeks of medical leave in a

12-month period when that employee has a serious health condition. An employee

may file a complaint with the Department of Workforce Development regarding an

alleged violation of the family and medical leave law within 30 days after either the

violation occurs or the employee should reasonably have known that the violation

occurred, whichever is later.

This bill makes the following changes to the family and medical leave law:

1. Requires employers covered under the law to permit employees covered

under the law to take family leave to provide for a grandparent, grandchild, or sibling

who has a serious health condition.

2. Decreases the number of hours an employee is required to work before

qualifying for family and medical leave to 680 hours during the preceding 52 weeks.

3. Increases the amount of weeks an employee is able to take in family and