LB137 LB137
2021 2021
LEGISLATURE OF NEBRASKA
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH LEGISLATURE
FIRST SESSION
LEGISLATIVE BILL 137
Introduced by Vargas, 7.
Read first time January 07, 2021
Committee: Education
1 A BILL FOR AN ACT relating to the Step Up to Quality Child Care Act; to
2 amend section 71-1962, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2020;
3 to change reporting requirements for the Nebraska Early Childhood
4 Professional Record System; and to repeal the original section.
5 Be it enacted by the people of the State of Nebraska,
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1 Section 1. Section 71-1962, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement,
2 2020, is amended to read:
3 71-1962 (1) Not later than March 1, 2014, the State Department of
4 Education shall create and operate the Nebraska Early Childhood
5 Professional Record System. The system shall be designed in order to:
6 (a) Establish a data base of Nebraska's early childhood education
7 workforce;
8 (b) Verify educational degrees and professional credentials held and
9 relevant training completed by employees of participating applicable
10 child care and early childhood education programs; and
11 (c) Provide such information to the Department of Health and Human
12 Services for use in evaluating applications to be rated at a step above
13 step one under section 71-1959.
14 (2) When an applicable child care or early childhood education
15 program participating in the quality rating and improvement system
16 developed pursuant to section 71-1955 applies under section 71-1959 to be
17 rated at a step above step one, the child care or early childhood
18 education program shall report the educational degrees and professional
19 credentials held and relevant training completed by its child care and
20 early childhood education employees to the Nebraska Early Childhood
21 Professional Record System for the program to be eligible for a quality
22 scale rating above step one.
23 (3)(a) (3) Any child care or early childhood education provider
24 residing or working in Nebraska, and not otherwise required to, may
25 report his or her educational degrees and professional credentials held,
26 relevant training completed, and work history to the Nebraska Early
27 Childhood Professional Record System.
28 (b) Beginning September 1, 2022, each employee of a program as
29 defined in section 71-1910 shall report his or her educational degrees
30 and professional credentials held, relevant training completed, and work
31 history to the Nebraska Early Childhood Professional Record System.
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1 (4) The State Department of Education shall develop a classification
2 system for all eligible staff members as defined in section 77-3603 who
3 are employees of or who are self-employed individuals providing services
4 for applicable child care and early childhood education programs listed
5 in the Nebraska Early Childhood Professional Record System. The
6 classification system shall be based on the eligible staff members'
7 educational degrees and professional credentials held, relevant training
8 completed, and work history and shall be made up of four levels, with
9 level one being the least qualified and level four being the most
10 qualified. The minimum qualification for an eligible staff member to be
11 classified as level one shall be a Child Development Associate Credential
12 or a one-year certificate or diploma in early childhood education or
13 child development. The classification system shall be used for purposes
14 of the tax credit granted in section 77-3605.
15 Sec. 2. Original section 71-1962, Revised Statutes Cumulative
16 Supplement, 2020, is repealed.
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Statutes affected:
Introduced: 71-1962