FRANKFORT — Multi-pronged legislation designed to improve Kentucky’s child care landscape advanced Tuesday during a meeting of the Senate Families and Children Committee.
House Bill 6 would lay a foundation for building a stronger and more sustainable private child care network, which includes 2,000 small businesses, nonprofits and faith-based organizations throughout the state, among several other measures, bill sponsor Rep. Samara Heavrin (R-Leitchfield) testified.
“More efforts will be needed in the future, but this is going to initiate work that should have happened years ago, including the modernization of All STARS, data reforms and financial transparency,” she said.
HB 6 would establish clear legal intent for the Kentucky All STARS program to become an outcome-driven program based on quality research, and for the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services to align the program with legislative goals, Heavrin said.
The bill would also authorize a new type of child care licensure known as microcenters to help ease regulatory challenges, encourage innovation, and reestablish the certified child care community program to encourage local problem-solving and address barriers, she said.
Other provisions in SB 6 seek to improve child care data, create more financial transparency in publicly funded child care programs, reform the provider payment formula, codify the state’s free child care for child care workers’ program, and support children with special needs in child care.
Heavrin also highlighted another section that would create a two-year pilot program that streamlines issues related to the certification and regulation of child care operated by military families exclusively for military children.
“House Bill 6 is legislation that reflects more than 18 months of conversations and consensus-building on key measures to help strengthen access to affordable, quality child care to support workforce development and working Kentucky families,” Heavrin said.
More than 40 stakeholders with different opinions and ideologies came up with eight key priorities. They are: resources, regulations, quality, innovation, working family focus, employer participation, community engagement and data analysis, she said.
“It focuses on working families and affordability. Median child care costs are passing $12,000 per year in Kentucky counties. Care is out of reach for too many families. This legislation aims to improve affordability by strengthening the state’s low-income subsidy programs and reforming the employee child care assistance partnership,” Heavrin said.
Also, during the meeting, the committee unanimously advanced related legislation – House Joint Resolution 50 – which would require the state auditor of public accounts to commission an independent study of child care regulations in Kentucky.
Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer (R-Alexandria) voted against HB 6 and for HJR 50. She thanked Heavrin and others for working to improve child care, but expressed concern about taxpayers funding child care for other people’s children.
“I think we’re not actually getting to the root cause of the issue here. We have created so much friction on the administrative side, and a great business can reduce the costs,” she said.
Sen. Matthew Deneen (R-Elizabethtown) said his focus is on the last portion of the bill that relates to child care for military families. He asked about the differences between state and federal regulation in those situations.
Heavrin said the federal regulation is much more stringent than Kentucky’s regulation, and those in military leadership at Fort Campbell are very interested in seeing the legislation move forward.
Senate Minority Caucus Chair Reginald L. Thomas (D-Lexington) asked Sarah Vanover, policy and advocacy director for Kentucky Youth Advocates, what is the greatest strength of HB 6.
“I think the biggest strength is that we’re looking at an infrastructure package. Together, with all these different components, we have a foundation of ways that the community is involved, ways that parents benefit and ways that the child care programs can sustain,” she said.
Sen. Robin L. Webb (R-Grayson) and Sen. Gex Williams (R-Verona) both expressed concern regarding the costs associated with HB 6.
Heavrin said requests of about $53 million have been made for each year in the budget, conversations are continuing, and the bill requests more financial data to determine true child care costs.
After both pieces of legislation were passed, Committee Chair Sen. Danny Carroll (R-Paducah) said improvement of child care in Kentucky is vital.
“We keep kicking this can down the road, and we’re reluctant to invest to make changes. This is about our kids. This is about workforce. This is about our economy. This touches every segment of what we do as a state,” he said. “Yet we’re reluctant to invest in it, and for the life of me, I don’t understand that. And until we do that, we’re going to keep falling behind.”
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“Capitol Update” is a non-partisan publication of the Legislative Research Commission
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