Amend the bill in section 1 by striking out all of subsection 3 (page 1, lines 4 to 26 in L.D.) and inserting the following:
‘3. Quality differential. To the extent permitted by federal law, the department shall pay a differential rate for child care services that meet or that make substantial progress toward meeting nationally recognized quality standards, such as those standards required by the Head Start program or required for accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, and shall do so from the Child Care Development Fund 25% Quality Set-aside funds or by other acceptable federal practices. Rules adopted pursuant to this subsection are routine technical rules as defined by Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A 2-A. The rules must limit payment of the differential for substantial progress to a period of one year establish a 4-step child care quality rating system and must provide for graduated quality differential rates for step 2, step 3 and step 4 child care services. The rules must provide differential rates for substantial progress and must define substantial progress as:
A. Having submitted program descriptions and awaiting a scheduled visit from an accrediting body approved by the department; or
B. For family child care, having submitted a portfolio for a child development associate and awaiting a scheduled observation.
Nothing in this subsection requires the department to pay a quality differential rate for child care services provided through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families block grant.