One of the policy proposals from a recent child care task force is going to the governor’s desk. The bill makes certain child care employees eligible for the state’s existing child care assistance program for low-income families. The adjustment looks to address the lack of child care options by retaining the necessary workforce.
Republican Senator Tim Reed of Brookings was one of the bill’s prime sponsors and chair of the task force. He told lawmakers adequate staffing is the main challenge for child care businesses, but low wages mean child care employees can’t afford the service they provide.
“There’s cases that we know here in South Dakota where a child care worker is working away, blessed to have a child, and they want to come back but they can’t because it doesn’t make financial sense," Reed said on the senate floor. "That’s what this bill does. It helps the communities that have worked really hard on this, and it helps those that love kids and want to get back into the workforce—that they can do it.”
Reed said one child care employee can open capacity for ten children or more at a given facility.
The bill passed the senate on a 20 to 14 vote. It awaits the governor’s signature before becoming law.
