Proposed child care subsidy program, school districts will not receive major funding

A proposed child care subsidy program that would help Minnesota’s middle class is unlikely to get significant funding this legislative session.

The Great Start Child Care Affordability Program, which has been a priority for child care advocates and some DFL lawmakers this session, would cost the state around $500 million. If fully funded, the program would cap child care costs at 7% of household income for all families making less than 150% of the state median.

Minnesotans currently pay more than almost any other state for child care. 

The bill’s lead authors, Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn (DFL-49B, Eden Prairie) and Sen. Grant Hauschild (DFL-3, Hermantown) have emphasized that the program can be scaled up or down depending on available funding. 

DFL leaders decided to spend less than $60 million on children and families programs this session. That means the Great Start program is unlikely to receive even a fraction of its authors’ $500 million target — if the bill passes at all.

Democrats spoke in support of the program at a Senate Education Funding Committee meeting Thursday, and the bill was laid over for possible inclusion in other legislation. However, lawmakers did not discuss specific funding levels, which could still be determined later.

Committee Chair Sen. Mary Kunesh (DFL-39, New Brighton) said after the committee hearing that the program is important but expensive.

Parents and child care providers who spoke at the hearing said the program could alleviate the massive burden of child care expenses, especially for single parents and parents with multiple children under the age of 5. 

Laura Delventhal, a parent of three children — ages 8, 5 and 5 months — spoke in support of the legislation. She left her full-time job due in large part to the cost of child care.

“The reality is that the middle class cannot comfortably afford their lives,” Delventhal said.

School districts request additional funding but are unlikely to get it

Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, authored a pair of bills that would change the state education funding formula to increase school district funding. One (SF3449/HF3544) would raise the 2025 basic formula allowance — the amount per pupil each school receives — by around 2%, or nearly $150 per student. 

Matt Grose, superintendent for Independent School District 318 in Grand Rapids, said he will have cut 75 jobs, including 40 teachers, in the last five years by the end of this budget year. 

“I have students in eighth grade sitting in study halls for two hours a day because we can’t afford elective classes,” Grose said.

That 2% increase in the basic formula would cost the state around $150 million, Kunesh said — and the committee is working with a $43 million budget for K-12 education, according to Democrats’ budget agreement. 

Gustafson also brought forward a bill that would raise another component of the education funding formula called “local optional revenue,” a combination of optional property tax revenue and a state equalization component to help out districts with smaller tax bases. 

The local optional revenue portion of the formula has remained stagnant for the past decade, said Jeff Holberg, superintendent of Centennial School District 12 in Anoka County.

Both bills remain with the Senate Education Finance Committee.

Bill would prioritize foster children for school-based child care

Sen. Erin Maye Quade (DFL-56, Apple Valley) authored a bill (SF4192/HF) that would prioritize foster kids for programs that provide child care before and after school. 

“This bill will ensure that foster parents are able to access school-aged care for their children and provide them with stability,” Maye Quade said. 

Foster families would receive priority above all groups for school-offered child care, and could have their fee waived or decreased depending on the family’s income.

Editor’s note: The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell. 

Madison McVan and Aketzally Murillo wrote this story, which originally appeared in the Minnesota Reformer on April 4.