A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT authorizing a joint legislative study commission on AFTER-SCHOOL CHILD CARE and related programs and appropriating funds for that purpose.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  There is created the Joint Legislative Study Commission on After- School Child Care and Related Programs (Commission).  The Commission shall consist of 12 members appointed as follows:
(1)	Six members appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, to include:
a.	Two members of the Senate.
b.	One member of the general public.
c.	One after-school care provider.
d.	One representative from the Division of Child Development.
e.	One representative from the Department of Public Instruction.
(2)	Six members appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to include:
a.	Two members of the House of Representatives.
b.	One member of the general public.
c.	One after-school care provider.
d.	One representative from the Division of Child Development.
e.	One representative from the Department of Public Instruction.
SECTION 1.(b)  The President Pro Tempore of the Senate and Speaker of the House of Representatives shall each appoint a cochair for the Commission. The Commission may contract for consultant services as provided by G.S. 120‑32.02. Upon approval of the Legislative Services Commission, the Legislative Services Officer shall assign professional and clerical staff to assist in the work of the Commission. Clerical staff shall be furnished to the Commission through the offices of the Senate and House of Representatives Directors of Legislative Assistants. The Commission may meet in the Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building upon the approval of the Legislative Services Commission. Members of the Commission shall receive per diem, subsistence, and travel allowances at the rate established in G.S. 120‑3.1. The appointing authority shall fill vacancies. The Commission, while in the discharge of its official duties, may exercise all the powers provided under the provisions of G.S. 120‑19 through G.S. 120‑19.4, including the power to request all officers, agents, agencies, and departments of the State to provide any information, data, or documents within their possession, ascertainable from their records, or otherwise available to them and the power to subpoena witnesses.
SECTION 2.  The Commission shall study after-school child care and related programs. In conducting the study, the Commission shall:
(1)	Assess the shortfalls and benefits of the various after-school child care and related programs.
(2)	Consider needed adjustments, possible program consolidations, and the necessary reprioritization of funds to realize the maximum benefit to the State's children and families.
(3)	Consider how after-school child care and related programs affect economic development today and in the future.
(4)	Review any other matter that the Commission finds relevant to its charge.
SECTION 3.  The Commission shall report to the 2010 Regular Session of the 2009 General Assembly. The report shall include findings, recommendations, and legislative proposals. The Commission shall terminate upon filing its final report.
SECTION 4.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the General Assembly the sum of twenty‑five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the 2009‑2010 fiscal year to fund the work of the Commission created by this act.
SECTION 5.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2009.