What's happening
This bill exempts tax-exempt, federally registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit child care providers from the $25 statewide child abuse registry clearance fee.
Why it matters
Reduces financial burden on nonprofit child care providers. Exempting 501(c)(3) organizations from the $25 clearance fee helps these providers allocate more resources directly to child care services rather than administrative costs.
Could increase access to child care jobs. By removing this fee, nonprofit providers may be more able to afford the required background checks for new hires, potentially speeding up the hiring process and reducing barriers for prospective employees.
Supports the sustainability of nonprofit child care. Nonprofit providers, which often operate on tight margins, will benefit from lower compliance costs, helping them remain operational and possibly expand their services in communities with high need.
May encourage more child care providers to seek nonprofit status. The exemption could incentivize some providers to pursue 501(c)(3) status, thus increasing the number of organizations eligible for this and other public benefits.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Waive Fees for Nonprofits
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to children and families
- Referred to children and families
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
602
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE (Prefiled)
January 9, 2019
Introduced by Sen. GALLIVAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to providing relief on statewide central register clearance fees for tax exempt organizations
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Paragraph (f) of subdivision 1 of section 424-a of the social services law, as amended by section 1 of part R of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is amended to read as follows:
(f) The office of children and family services shall charge a fee of twenty-five dollars when it conducts a search of its records within the statewide central register for child abuse or maltreatment in accordance with this section or regulations of the office to determine whether an applicant for employment is the subject of an indicated child abuse or maltreatment report including an applicant to be a child day care provider and a request made pursuant to subdivision six of this section. The fee of twenty-five dollars shall not apply to tax-exempt not-forprofit child care providers registered as a federal 501 c(3) charitable organization. Such fees shall be deposited in a special revenue - other account and shall be made available to the office for costs incurred in the implementation of this section.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02717-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the social services law, in relation to providing relief on statewide central register clearance fees for tax exempt organiza- tions
Purpose
To remove an unfunded state mandate on tax-exempt not-for-profit child- care providers by exempting those fees charged for State Central Regis- try clearances of facility staff.
Summary of provisions
Paragraph (f) of Subdivision 1 of section 424-a of the social services law, as amended by section 1 of part R of chapter 58 of the laws of 2011, is amended to exempt not-for-profit child care providers from having to pay fees of $25 per person for state required clearance checks with the State Central Registry (SCR).
Justification
Childcare providers classified as federal 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organizations most often serve low income families, providing child care services that permit parents to be employed. Under state law, all employees of childcare facilities must be cleared through the State Central Registry (SCR) to determine if the employee is the subject of an indicated report of child abuse or maltreatment. Prior to 2011, facili- ties were not charged for such clearances but in 2011 a fee of $25 for each employee clearance was imposed.
Imposing the clearance fees on not-for-profit providers represents an unfunded burden on providers and reduces the amount of funds spent on the provision of services, Also, at a time when non-for-profit service providers are being told they must hold their administrative costs and overhead to less than 15% of total costs, state mandates that drive up administrative costs make it increasingly more difficult for providers to manage their budgets.
Legislative history
2017-18: S.2127/A.2161 Reported to Finance/Referred to Children and Families 2015-16: S.544/A.3058 Passed Senate/Referred to Children and Families 2013-14: S.110/A.4969 Committed to Finance/Referred to Children and Families 2011-12: S.6828/A.9947 Referred to Children and Families
Fiscal implications
Marginal loss of fee revenue to the Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS).
Effective date
This act shall take effect immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.