Holcomb amendment to H.248 would shift private pre-K payments to child-care subsidy fund; lawmakers debate trade-offs

Rep. Anne Holcomb told the House Human Services Committee that her amendment to H.248 would keep public pre-K funding in the state's Education Fund while shifting payment for pre-kindergarten offered in private child-care settings to the state's child-care subsidy program. Holcomb said the change aims to reduce the pressure on the Education Fund and blunt property-tax increases.

"If this can change and bring down property taxes even by a bit, even as it doesn't really change the experience of families, why wouldn't we do that?" Holcomb said during her presentation.

Holcomb described the proposal as a funding-structure change rather than a regulatory change: school-based pre-K would remain the responsibility of school districts and the Education Fund, while families who enroll a child in private pre-K would have the state's child-care subsidy (CCFAP/CCFAP-like funding) pay tuition for that setting. She and committee members said the amendment does not alter regulatory standards or minimum quality requirements for…