II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2866

To provide for early learning programs, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JULY 13, 2000

Mr. STEVENS (for himself, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. DODD, Mr.

DOMENICI, Mr. KERRY, Mr. BOND, Mr. VOINOVICH, Mr. LAUTENBERG,

Mr. COCHRAN, Mrs. MURRAY, Mr. SMITH of Oregon, Mr. BINGAMAN, Mr.

L. CHAFEE, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. MURKOWSKI, Mr. ROBERTS, Mr. ROBB,

Mr. ROCKEFELLER, Mr. WELLSTONE, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Ms. MIKULSKI,

Ms. SNOWE, Mrs. BOXER, Mr. KERREY, and Mr. WARNER) introduced

the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee

on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

A BILL

To provide for early learning programs, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Early Learning Opportunities Act’’.

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

7 (1) medical research demonstrates that ade8 quate stimulation of a young child’s brain between
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1 birth and age 5 is critical to the physical develop2 ment of the young child’s brain;

3 (2) parents are the most significant and effec4 tive teachers of their children, and they alone are re5 sponsible for choosing the best early learning oppor6 tunities for their child;

7 (3) parent education and parent involvement

8 are critical to the success of any early learning pro9 gram or activity;

10 (4) the more intensively parents are involved in

11 their child’s early learning, the greater the cognitive

12 and noncognitive benefits to their children;

13 (5) many parents have difficulty finding the in14 formation and support the parents seek to help their

15 children grow to their full potential;

16 (6) each day approximately 13,000,000 young

17 children, including 6,000,000 infants or toddlers,

18 spend some or all of their day being cared for by

19 someone other than their parents;

20 (7) quality early learning programs, including

21 those designed to promote effective parenting, can

22 increase the literacy rate, the secondary school grad23 uation rate, the employment rate, and the college en24 rollment rate for children who have participated in

25 voluntary early learning programs and activities;
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1 (8) early childhood interventions can yield sub2 stantial advantages to participants in terms of emo3 tional and cognitive development, education, eco4 nomic well-being, and health, with the latter 2 ad5 vantages applying to the children’s families as well;

6 (9) participation in quality early learning pro7 grams, including those designed to promote effective

8 parenting, can decrease the future incidence of teen9 age pregnancy, welfare dependency, at-risk behav10 iors, and juvenile delinquency for children;

11 (10) several cost-benefit analysis studies indi12 cate that for each $1 invested in quality early learn13 ing programs, the Federal Government can save over

14 $5 by reducing the number of children and families

15 who participate in Federal Government programs

16 like special education and welfare;

17 (11) for children placed in the care of others

18 during the workday, the low salaries paid to the

19 child care staff, the lack of career progression for

20 the staff, and the lack of child development special21 ists involved in early learning and child care pro22 grams, make it difficult to attract and retain the

23 quality of staff necessary for a positive early learn24 ing experience;
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1 (12) Federal Government support for early

2 learning has primarily focused on out-of-home care

3 programs like those established under the Head

4 Start Act, the Child Care and Development Block

5 Grant of 1990, and part C of the Individuals with

6 Disabilities Education Act, and these programs—

7 (A) serve far fewer than half of all eligible

8 children;

9 (B) are not primarily designed to provide

10 support for parents who care for their young

11 children in the home; and

12 (C) lack a means of coordinating early

13 learning opportunities in each community; and

14 (13) by helping communities increase, expand,

15 and better coordinate early learning opportunities

16 for children and their families, the productivity and

17 creativity of future generations will be improved, and

18 the Nation will be prepared for continued leadership

19 in the 21st century.

20 SEC. 2. PURPOSES.

21 The purposes of this Act are—

22 (1) to increase the availability of voluntary pro23 grams, services, and activities that support early

24 childhood development, increase parent effectiveness,

25 and promote the learning readiness of young chil-
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1 dren so that young children enter school ready to

2 learn;

3 (2) to support parents, child care providers, and

4 caregivers who want to incorporate early learning ac5 tivities into the daily lives of young children;

6 (3) to remove barriers to the provision of an ac7 cessible system of early childhood learning programs

8 in communities throughout the United States;

9 (4) to increase the availability and affordability

10 of professional development activities and compensa11 tion for caregivers and child care providers; and

12 (5) to facilitate the development of community13 based systems of collaborative service delivery mod14 els characterized by resource sharing, linkages be15 tween appropriate supports, and local planning for

16 services.

17 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

18 In this Act:

19 (1) CAREGIVER.—The term ‘‘caregiver’’ means

20 an individual, including a relative, neighbor, or fam21 ily friend, who regularly or frequently provides care,

22 with or without compensation, for a child for whom

23 the individual is not the parent.

24 (2) CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The term ‘‘child

25 care provider’’ means a provider of non-residential
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1 child care services (including center-based, family2 based, and in-home child care services) for com3 pensation who or that is legally operating under

4 State law, and complies with applicable State and

5 local requirements for the provision of child care

6 services.

7 (3) EARLY LEARNING.—The term ‘‘early learn8 ing’’, used with respect to a program or activity,

9 means learning designed to facilitate the develop10 ment of cognitive, language, motor, and social-emo11 tional skills for, and to promote learning readiness

12 in, young children.

13 (4) EARLY LEARNING PROGRAM.—The term

14 ‘‘early learning program’’ means—

15 (A) a program of services or activities that

16 helps parents, caregivers, and child care pro17 viders incorporate early learning into the daily

18 lives of young children; or

19 (B) a program that directly provides early

20 learning to young children.

21 (5) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian tribe’’

22 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the

23 Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance

24 Act (25 U.S.C. 450b).
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1 (6) LOCAL COUNCIL.—The term ‘‘Local Coun2 cil’’ means a Local Council established or designated

3 under section 14(a) that serves one or more local4 ities.

5 (7) LOCALITY.—The term ‘‘locality’’ means a

6 city, county, borough, township, or area served by

7 another general purpose unit of local government, an

8 Indian tribe, a Regional Corporation, or a Native

9 Hawaiian entity.

10 (8) PARENT.—The term ‘‘parent’’ means a bio11 logical parent, an adoptive parent, a stepparent, a

12 foster parent, or a legal guardian of, or a person

13 standing in loco parentis to, a child.

14 (9) POVERTY LINE.—The term ‘‘poverty line’’

15 means the poverty line (as defined by the Office of

16 Management and Budget, and revised annually in

17 accordance with section 673(2) of the Community

18 Services Block Grant Act (42 U.S.C. 9902(2))) ap19 plicable to a family of the size involved.

20 (10) REGIONAL CORPORATION.—The term ‘‘Re21 gional Corporation’’ has the meaning given the term

22 in section 3 of the Alaskan Native Claims Settle23 ment Act (43 U.S.C. 1602).

24 (11) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’

25 means the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
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1 (12) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of

2 the several States of the United States, the District

3 of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

4 (13) TRAINING.—The term ‘‘training’’ means

5 instruction in early learning that—

6 (A) is required for certification under

7 State and local laws, regulations, and policies;

8 (B) is required to receive a nationally or

9 State recognized credential or its equivalent;

10 (C) is received in a postsecondary edu11 cation program focused on early learning or

12 early childhood development in which the indi13 vidual is enrolled; or

14 (D) is provided, certified, or sponsored by

15 an organization that is recognized for its exper16 tise in promoting early learning or early child17 hood development.

18 (14) YOUNG CHILD.—The term ‘‘young child’’

19 means any child from birth to the age of mandatory

20 school attendance in the State where the child re21 sides.

22 SEC. 4. PROHIBITIONS.

23 (a) PARTICIPATION NOT REQUIRED.—No person, in24 cluding a parent, shall be required to participate in any

25 program of early childhood education, early learning, par-
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1 ent education, or developmental screening pursuant to the

2 provisions of this Act.

3 (b) RIGHTS OF PARENTS.—Nothing in this Act shall

4 be construed to affect the rights of parents otherwise es5 tablished in Federal, State, or local law.

6 (c) PARTICULAR METHODS OR SETTINGS.—No entity

7 that receives funds under this Act shall be required to pro8 vide services under this Act through a particular instruc9 tional method or in a particular instructional setting to

10 comply with this Act.

11 SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION AND APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS.

12 There are authorized to be appropriated to the De13 partment of Health and Human Services to carry out this

14 Act—

15 (1) $750,000,000 for fiscal year 2001;

16 (2) $1,000,000,000 for fiscal year 2002; and

17 (3) $1,500,000,000 for fiscal year 2003.

18 SEC. 6. COORDINATION OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS.

19 (a) COORDINATION.—The Secretary and the Sec20 retary of Education shall develop mechanisms to resolve

21 administrative and programmatic conflicts between Fed22 eral programs that would be a barrier to parents, care23 givers, service providers, or children related to the coordi24 nation of services and funding for early learning pro25 grams.
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1 (b) USE OF EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES.—In the case

2 of a collaborative activity funded under this Act and an3 other provision of law providing for Federal child care or

4 early learning programs, the use of equipment and

5 nonconsumable supplies purchased with funds made avail6 able under this Act or such provision shall not be re7 stricted to children enrolled or otherwise participating in

8 the program carried out under this Act or such provision,

9 during a period in which the activity is predominately

10 funded under this Act or such provision.

11 SEC. 7. PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.

12 (a) GRANTS.—From amounts appropriated under

13 section 5 the Secretary shall award grants to States to

14 enable the States to award grants to Local Councils to

15 pay the Federal share of the cost of carrying out early

16 learning programs in the locality served by the Local

17 Council.

18 (b) FEDERAL SHARE.—

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of the

20 cost described in subsection (a) shall be 85 percent

21 for the first and second years of the grant, 80 per22 cent for the third and fourth years of the grant, and

23 75 percent for the fifth and subsequent years of the

24 grant.
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1 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—The non-Federal

2 share of the cost described in subsection (a) may be

3 contributed in cash or in kind, fairly evaluated, in4 cluding facilities, equipment, or services, which may

5 be provided from State or local public sources, or

6 through donations from private entities. For the

7 purposes of this paragraph the term ‘‘facilities’’ in8 cludes the use of facilities, but the term ‘‘equip9 ment’’ means donated equipment and not the use of

10 equipment.

11 (c) MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.—The Secretary shall

12 not award a grant under this Act to any State unless the

13 Secretary first determines that the total expenditures by

14 the State and its political subdivisions to support early

15 learning programs (other than funds used to pay the non16 Federal share under subsection (b)(2)) for the fiscal year

17 for which the determination is made is equal to or greater

18 than such expenditures for the preceding fiscal year.

19 (d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts re20 ceived under this Act shall be used to supplement and not

21 supplant other Federal, State, and local public funds ex22 pended to promote early learning.

23 SEC. 8. USES OF FUNDS.

24 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to section 10, grant funds

25 under this Act shall be used to pay for developing, oper-
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1 ating, or enhancing voluntary early learning programs

2 that are likely to produce sustained gains in early learn3 ing.

4 (b) LIMITED USES.—Subject to section 10, Lead

5 State Agencies and Local Councils shall ensure that funds

6 made available under this Act to the agencies and Local

7 Councils are used for 3 or more of the following activities:

8 (1) Helping parents, caregivers, child care pro9 viders, and educators increase their capacity to fa10 cilitate the development of cognitive, language com11 prehension, expressive language, social-emotional,

12 and motor skills, and promote learning readiness.

13 (2) Promoting effective parenting.

14 (3) Enhancing early childhood literacy.

15 (4) Developing linkages among early learning

16 programs within a community and between early

17 learning programs and health care services for

18 young children.

19 (5) Increasing access to early learning opportu20 nities for young children with special needs, includ21 ing developmental delays, by facilitating coordination

22 with other programs serving such young children.

23 (6) Increasing access to existing early learning

24 programs by expanding the days or times that the

25 young children are served, by expanding the number
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1 of young children served, or by improving the afford2 ability of the programs for low-income families.

3 (7) Improving the quality of early learning pro4 grams through professional development and train5 ing activities, increased compensation, and recruit6 ment and retention incentives, for early learning

7 providers.

8 (8) Removing ancillary barriers to early learn9 ing, including transportation difficulties and absence

10 of programs during nontraditional work times.

11 (c) REQUIREMENTS.—Each Lead State Agency des12 ignated under section 10(c) and Local Councils receiving

13 a grant under this Act shall ensure—

14 (1) that Local Councils described in section 14

15 work with local educational agencies to identify cog16 nitive, social, emotional, and motor developmental

17 abilities which are necessary to support children’s

18 readiness for school;

19 (2) that the programs, services, and activities

20 assisted under this Act will represent develop21 mentally appropriate steps toward the acquisition of

22 those abilities; and

23 (3) that the programs, services, and activities

24 assisted under this Act collectively provide benefits
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1 for children cared for in their own homes as well as

2 children placed in the care of others.

3 (d) SLIDING SCALE PAYMENTS.—States and Local

4 Councils receiving assistance under this Act shall ensure

5 that programs, services, and activities assisted under this

6 Act which customarily require a payment for such pro7 grams, services, or activities, adjust the cost of such pro8 grams, services, and activities provided to the individual

9 or the individual’s child based on the individual’s ability

10 to pay.

11 SEC. 9. RESERVATIONS AND ALLOTMENTS.

12 (a) RESERVATION FOR INDIAN TRIBES, ALASKA NA13 TIVES, AND NATIVE HAWAIIANS.—The Secretary shall re14 serve 1 percent of the total amount appropriated under

15 section 5 for each fiscal year, to be allotted to Indian

16 tribes, Regional Corporations, and Native Hawaiian enti17 ties, of which—

18 (1) 0.5 percent shall be available to Indian

19 tribes; and

20 (2) 0.5 percent shall be available to Regional

21 Corporations and Native Hawaiian entities.

22 (b) ALLOTMENTS.—From the funds appropriated

23 under this Act for each fiscal year that are not reserved

24 under subsection (a), the Secretary shall allot to each

25 State the sum of—
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1 (1) an amount that bears the same ratio to 50

2 percent of such funds as the number of children 4

3 years of age and younger in the State bears to the

4 number of such children in all States; and

5 (2) an amount that bears the same ratio to 50

6 percent of such funds as the number of children 4

7 years of age and younger living in families with in8 comes below the poverty line in the State bears to

9 the number of such children in all States.

10 (c) MINIMUM ALLOTMENT.—No State shall receive

11 an allotment under subsection (b) for a fiscal year in an

12 amount that is less than .40 percent of the total amount

13 appropriated for the fiscal year under this Act.

14 (d) AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS.—Any portion of the al15 lotment to a State that is not expended for activities under

16 this Act in the fiscal year for which the allotment is made

17 shall remain available to the State for 2 additional years,

18 after which any unexpended funds shall be returned to the

19 Secretary. The Secretary shall use the returned funds to

20 carry out a discretionary grant program for research21 based early learning demonstration projects.

22 (e) DATA.—The Secretary shall make allotments

23 under this Act on the basis of the most recent data avail24 able to the Secretary.
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1 SEC. 10. GRANT ADMINISTRATION.

2 (a) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Sec3 retary may use not more than 3 percent of the amount

4 appropriated under section 5 for a fiscal year to pay for

5 the administrative costs of carrying out this Act, including

6 the monitoring and evaluation of State and local efforts.

7 (b) STATE ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—A State that

8 receives a grant under this Act may use—

9 (1) not more than 2 percent of the funds made

10 available through the grant to carry out activities

11 designed to coordinate early learning programs on

12 the State level, including programs funded or oper13 ated by the State educational agency, health, chil14 dren and family, and human service agencies, and

15 any State-level collaboration or coordination council

16 involving early learning and education, such as the

17 entities funded under section 640(a)(5) of the Head

18 Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9835 (a)(5));

19 (2) not more than 2 percent of the funds made

20 available through the grant for the administrative

21 costs of carrying out the grant program and the

22 costs of reporting State and local efforts to the Sec23 retary; and

24 (3) not more than 3 percent of the funds made

25 available through the grant for training, technical
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1 assistance, and wage incentives provided by the

2 State to Local Councils.

3 (c) LEAD STATE AGENCY.—

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive an

5 allotment under this Act, the Governor of a State

6 shall appoint, after consultation with the leadership

7 of the State legislature, a Lead State Agency to

8 carry out the functions described in paragraph (2).

9 (2) LEAD STATE AGENCY.—

10 (A) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—The Lead

11 State Agency described in paragraph (1) shall

12 allocate funds to Local Councils as described in

13 section 12.

14 (B) FUNCTIONS OF AGENCY.—In addition

15 to allocating funds pursuant to subparagraph

16 (A), the Lead State Agency shall—

17 (i) advise and assist Local Councils in

18 the performance of their duties under this

19 Act;

20 (ii) develop and submit the State ap21 plication;

22 (iii) evaluate and approve applications

23 submitted by Local Councils under section

24 13;
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1 (iv) ensure collaboration with respect

2 to assistance provided under this Act be3 tween the State agency responsible for

4 education and the State agency responsible

5 for children and family services;

6 (v) prepare and submit to the Sec7 retary, an annual report on the activities

8 carried out in the State under this Act,

9 which shall include a statement describing

10 how all funds received under this Act are

11 expended and documentation of the effects

12 that resources under this Act have had

13 on—

14 (I) parental capacity to improve

15 learning readiness in their young chil16 dren;

17 (II) early childhood literacy;

18 (III) linkages among early learn19 ing programs;

20 (IV) linkages between early

21 learning programs and health care

22 services for young children;

23 (V) access to early learning ac24 tivities for young children with special

25 needs;
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1 (VI) access to existing early

2 learning programs through expansion

3 of the days or times that children are

4 served;

5 (VII) access to existing early

6 learning programs through expansion

7 of the number of young children

8 served;

9 (VIII) access to and affordability

10 of existing early learning programs for

11 low-income families;

12 (IX) the quality of early learning

13 programs resulting from professional

14 development, and recruitment and re15 tention incentives for caregivers; and

16 (X) removal of ancillary barriers

17 to early learning, including transpor18 tation difficulties and absence of pro19 grams during nontraditional work

20 times; and

21 (vi) ensure that training and research

22 is made available to Local Councils and

23 that such training and research reflects the

24 latest available brain development and
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1 early childhood development research re2 lated to early learning.

3 SEC. 11. STATE REQUIREMENTS.

4 (a) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under

5 this Act, a State shall—

6 (1) ensure that funds received by the State

7 under this Act shall be subject to appropriation by

8 the State legislature, consistent with the terms and

9 conditions required under State law;

10 (2) designate a Lead State Agency under sec11 tion 10(c) to administer and monitor the grant and

12 ensure State-level coordination of early learning pro13 grams;

14 (3) submit to the Secretary an application at

15 such time, in such manner, and accompanied by

16 such information as the Secretary may require;

17 (4) ensure that funds made available under this

18 Act are distributed on a competitive basis through19 out the State to Local Councils serving rural, urban,

20 and suburban areas of the State; and

21 (5) assist the Secretary in developing mecha22 nisms to ensure that Local Councils receiving funds

23 under this Act comply with the requirements of this

24 Act.
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1 (b) STATE PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants to

2 Local Councils under this Act, the State, to the maximum

3 extent possible, shall ensure that a broad variety of early

4 learning programs that provide a continuity of services

5 across the age spectrum assisted under this Act are fund6 ed under this Act, and shall give preference to

7 supporting—

8 (1) a Local Council that meets criteria, that are

9 specified by the State and approved by the Sec10 retary, for qualifying as serving an area of greatest

11 need for early learning programs; and

12 (2) a Local Council that demonstrates, in the

13 application submitted under section 13, the Local

14 Council’s potential to increase collaboration as a

15 means of maximizing use of resources provided

16 under this Act with other resources available for

17 early learning programs.

18 (c) LOCAL PREFERENCE.—In awarding grants under

19 this Act, Local Councils shall give preference to

20 supporting—

21 (1) projects that demonstrate their potential to

22 collaborate as a means of maximizing use of re23 sources provided under this Act with other resources

24 available for early learning programs;
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1 (2) programs that provide a continuity of serv2 ices for young children across the age spectrum, in3 dividually, or through community-based networks or

4 cooperative agreements; and

5 (3) programs that help parents and other care6 givers promote early learning with their young chil7 dren.

8 (d) PERFORMANCE GOALS.—

9 (1) ASSESSMENTS.—Based on information and

10 data received from Local Councils, and information

11 and data available through State resources, the

12 State shall biennially assess the needs and available

13 resources related to the provision of early learning

14 programs within the State.

15 (2) PERFORMANCE GOALS.—Based on the anal16 ysis of information described in paragraph (1), the

17 State shall establish measurable performance goals

18 to be achieved through activities assisted under this

19 Act.

20 (3) REQUIREMENT.—The State shall award

21 grants to Local Councils only for purposes that are

22 consistent with the performance goals established

23 under paragraph (2).

24 (4) REPORT.—The State shall report to the

25 Secretary annually regarding the State’s progress to-
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1 ward achieving the performance goals established in

2 paragraph (2) and any necessary modifications to

3 those goals, including the rationale for the modifica4 tions.

5 SEC. 12. LOCAL ALLOCATIONS.

6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Lead State Agency shall allo7 cate to Local Councils in the State not less than 93 per8 cent of the funds provided to the State under this Act

9 for a fiscal year.

10 (b) LIMITATION.—The Lead State Agency shall allo11 cate funds provided under this Act on the basis of the

12 population of the locality served by the Local Council.

13 SEC. 13. LOCAL APPLICATIONS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive assistance

15 under this Act, the Local Council shall submit an applica16 tion to the Lead State Agency at such time, in such man17 ner, and containing such information as the Lead State

18 Agency may require.

19 (b) CONTENTS.—Each application submitted pursu20 ant to subsection (a) shall include a statement ensuring

21 that the local government entity, Indian tribe, Regional

22 Corporation, or Native Hawaiian entity has established or

23 designated a Local Council under section 14, and the

24 Local Council has developed a local plan for carrying out

25 early learning programs under this Act that includes—
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1 (1) a needs and resources assessment con2 cerning early learning services and a statement de3 scribing how early learning programs will be funded

4 consistent with the assessment;

5 (2) a statement of how the Local Council will

6 ensure that early learning programs will meet the

7 performance goals reported by the Lead State Agen8 cy under this Act; and

9 (3) a description of how the Local Council will

10 form collaboratives among local youth, social service,

11 and educational providers to maximize resources and

12 concentrate efforts on areas of greatest need.

13 SEC. 14. LOCAL ADMINISTRATION.

14 (a) LOCAL COUNCIL.—

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive

16 funds under this Act, a local government entity, In17 dian tribe, Regional Corporation, or Native Hawai18 ian entity, as appropriate, shall establish or des19 ignate a Local Council, which shall be composed

20 of—

21 (A) representatives of local agencies di22 rectly affected by early learning programs as23 sisted under this Act;

24 (B) parents;
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1 (C) other individuals concerned with early

2 learning issues in the locality, such as rep3 resentative entities providing elementary edu4 cation, child care resource and referral services,

5 early learning opportunities, child care, and

6 health services; and

7 (D) other key community leaders.

8 (2) DESIGNATING EXISTING ENTITY.—If a local

9 government entity, Indian tribe, Regional Corpora10 tion, or Native Hawaiian entity has, before the date

11 of enactment of the Early Learning Opportunities

12 Act, a Local Council or a regional entity that is

13 comparable to the Local Council described in para14 graph (1), the entity, tribe or corporation may des15 ignate the council or entity as a Local Council under

16 this Act, and shall be considered to have established

17 a Local Council in compliance with this subsection.

18 (3) FUNCTIONS.—The Local Council shall be

19 responsible for preparing and submitting the appli20 cation described in section 13.

21 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—

22 (1) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—Not more than 3

23 percent of the funds received by a Local Council

24 under this Act shall be used to pay for the adminis-
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1 trative costs of the Local Council in carrying out

2 this Act.

3 (2) FISCAL AGENT.—A Local Council may des4 ignate any entity, with a demonstrated capacity for

5 administering grants, that is affected by, or con6 cerned with, early learning issues, including the

7 State, to serve as fiscal agent for the administration

8 of grant funds received by the Local Council under

9 this Act.

Æ