[ Text of section added by 2020, 124, Sec. 8, eff. July 24, 2020.]
Section 2IIIII. (a) There shall be an Early Education and Care Public-Private Trust Fund. The fund shall be administered by the commissioner of early education and care, in consultation with the secretary of housing and economic development.
(b) There shall be credited to the fund: (i) revenue from appropriations or other money authorized by the general court and specifically designated to be credited to the fund; (ii) interest earned on such revenues; and (iii) funds from public and private sources, including, but not limited to, gifts, grants and donations, to support state, philanthropic and private partnership efforts supporting Massachusetts childcare providers. Amounts credit to the fund that are unexpended at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the General Fund.
(c) Amounts credited to the fund may be expended, without further appropriation, by the commissioner for the following purposes:
(i) to assist the needs of providers in the early education and care mixed deli very system during the reopening and recovery period due to the outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, by leveraging funding through state, philanthropic and private partnerships;
(ii) for the development of an infrastructure to facilitate state, private and philanthropic efforts in support of crisis-related childcare and childcare business considerations, including providing technical, business and legal assistance for childcare businesses licensed by the department of early education and care; and
(iii) for state collaboration with philanthropic organizations and businesses to assist with recovery by maintaining an infrastructure for providing ongoing technical assistance and long-term business sustainability and business training for the early education and care field.
(d) Amounts received from private sources shall be approved by the commissioner of early education and care and subject to review before being deposited in the fund to ensure that pledged funds are not accompanied by conditions, explicit or implicit, on the implementation of early education and care policy and planning. The review shall be made publicly available.
(e) Annually, not later than October 1, the commissioner of early education and care shall report to the clerks of the house of representatives and senate, the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on education on the fund's activity. The report shall include, but shall not be limited to: (i) the source and amount of funds received; (ii) the amounts distributed and the purpose of expenditures from the fund, including, but not limited to, funds expended to assist early education and care providers; (iii) any grants provided to early education and care programs, philanthropic organizations or other stakeholder organizations; and (iv) anticipated revenue and expenditure projections for the next year.