Idaho House Will Soon Consider Approving Child Care Grants

By Kelcie Moseley-Morris, Idaho Capital Sun

May 4, 2021

Approximately $70 million in funding for child care stabilization grants passed out of the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Tuesday morning, but it’s unclear if the funding will garner enough votes to pass the full House of Representatives.

The stabilization funds would sustain $5,000 monthly grants for licensed child care providers and provide wage enhancements for child care center staffers, along with money that would assist more families with tuition payments and help with administrative costs.

Rep. Caroline Nilsson Troy, R-Genesee, spoke in favor of the grants and said the state can’t afford to lose any more child care centers.

“One of the things that we struggled with, with this group of day care providers, is that they do not have a single voice,” Troy said. “They don’t have an association. They do not have a lobbyist. They don’t have anyone to really represent them here in the building. Yet perhaps they are struggling more than any business in the state as it has been a slow return to work for those folks who rely on their services.”

The committee also approved $26 million in child care development block grants to be used for children between the ages of 5 and 13 for programs such as the Boys and Girls Club and 4-H.

As the Legislature looks to adjourn today or tomorrow until at least September – when they plan to convene again to review the full release of U.S. Census data – both bills could be considered on the House floor this afternoon, for a total of $96 million.

The Department of Health and Welfare told a legislative committee that since summer 2020, 836 child care providers have been receiving monthly grants depending on the size of the center. Of those, 487 providers qualify for the $5,000 grants as child care centers. The wage enhancement provides $2 to $3 more per hour for workers, who child care center directors have said are increasingly difficult to attract to the low-wage jobs.

Fearing the Legislature would adjourn without approving the funds, child care providers across the Treasure Valley closed their centers on Monday to demonstrate outside the Idaho Capitol building and call attention to how many people it would affect if more child care centers are forced to close.

The Idaho Capital Sun, the Gem State’s newest nonprofit news organization, delivers accountability reporting on state government, politics and policy.