There is established a Child Care Commission composed of members who shall be culturally, economically, and geographically diverse and who shall be representative of the following: four persons appointed by the Governor shall be qualified electors of the state and representatives of the following statewide child day care advocacy associations, FOCAL, Alabama Association of Licensed Child Care, Alliance for Alabama Child Care, and Alabama Association for Young Children; nine persons shall be owners or operators, or both, of child day care facilities as follows: a representative of the Alabama Head Start Association, a representative of the Alabama Christian Education Association, two licensed family day care home providers, two licensed for-profit small business center based day care operators, and two licensed private nonprofit community based agencies, and one licensed multi-center operator, five of whom shall be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Alabama and four of whom shall be appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Alabama; two persons, appointed by the Speaker Pro Tem of the House of Representatives, shall be parents of children who are enrolled in a religious exempt child day care program; two persons, appointed by the President Pro Tem of the Alabama Senate, shall be parents of children who are enrolled in a licensed child day care program; two representatives of child care management agencies selected by the directors of the agencies; one person appointed by the Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources; and one person selected by the Alabama Association of County Directors of Human Resources. Vacancies shall be filled by the appointing authority.

Members of the commission shall meet at least quarterly, and at other times the chair of the commission deems appropriate. Members shall serve without compensation, but shall be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the course of their duties. The commission expenses shall not exceed the sum of $10,000 annually. The expenses, including all expenses for publishing the annual report, shall be paid from the Quality Enhancement Federal Funds allocated to the Department of Human Resources. A chair of the commission shall be elected by the membership at the first meeting of the commission. Members shall be appointed for two-year terms and may be eligible to succeed themselves for one additional term. Members shall be appointed to the commission by June 2, 1993. Any member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings or at least one half of all commission meetings held during the calendar year shall be deemed to have resigned. Clerical and administrative assistance to the commission shall be provided by the Department of Human Resources.

The commission shall have the following responsibilities:

(a) Develop a proposal for a statewide child day care plan for development and planning for the industry for professional growth and to keep pace with the growing need for affordable and available child care for working families in the state.

(b) Develop a proposal to identify projected needs of the subsidized child care program and to identify all federal and state revenue sources available for child day care in the State of Alabama.

(c) Review and recommend improvements and strengthening of the Child Care Act of 1971 and Alabama's Minimum Standards for Child Care as prescribed by the Department of Human Resources, and be represented on any committee assigned the responsibility of revising the act or minimum standards.

(d) Develop and assimilate information on employer, company, and corporate support for child day care which includes options, costs, and benefits of that support.

(e) Review and recommend financial incentives to encourage employer, company, and corporate support of child day care.

(f) Review the availability of public or private no or low interest loans for capital investment in child day care.

(g) Review the feasibility and affordability of liability insurance for child day care providers.

(h) Recommend to the Department of Human Resources the procedures to be used in notifying licensees, approved operators, and registrants regarding regulatory changes.

(i) Appoint a resource person as liaison with the Department of Public Health, the Department of Education, the State Fire Marshal's Office, and other departments and agencies of government to receive suggestions and information, recommend solutions to avoid duplicate or conflicting requirements, or both, upon operators subject to regulations by the State of Alabama, achieve collaboration among these agencies, and help ensure that federal and state funds are being used in the most efficient manner to help protect the health and safety of children being cared for in child day care programs.

(j) Recommend methods for improving the quality of nonresidential child care and increasing the safety of children in child day care programs.

The commission may publicize and hold public hearings and review suggestions from parents of children utilizing child care services, providers of the services, and other interested parties, including representatives of nongovernmental entities, child development specialists, and professionals in child care related fields. The commission shall make an annual written report to the Legislative Council, the Governor, and the Department of Human Resources of its findings and recommendations in regard to issues affecting licensed child day care. The report shall be made available to the public upon the payment of reasonable costs for providing a copy thereof.