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Subcommittee briefed on SB 189 implementation, childcare grants and staffing gaps in public assistance
Summary
The Department of Health said it added $6 million to implement Senate Bill 189 childcare tax credits, will distribute a prior $7.5 million childcare grant award in weeks, and reported a 21.9% vacancy rate in the Division of Public Assistance.
Members of the House Finance Department of Health subcommittee reviewed implementation steps for childcare supports created by last year's legislation and staffing levels in the Division of Public Assistance.
Commissioner Heidi Hedberg and Assistant Commissioner Pam Halloran told the panel the FY26 governor’s budget includes a $6,000,000 increment to fund childcare tax credits authorized in Senate Bill 189. Pam Halloran said the bill creates three program elements: a sliding fee schedule that establishes client co‑pay rates, increased income eligibility criteria, and two new full‑time positions in the Division of Public Assistance to administer the program.
Halloran also reported that a previously appropriated $7,500,000 childcare grant program is moving toward awards: applications closed with a roughly 90% application rate, “and those monies will go out in the next couple weeks,” she said.
On staffing, Commissioner Hedberg reported the Division of Public Assistance had a 21.9% vacancy rate for FY25 and described steps the department has taken to improve recruitment, shorten training and stabilize staffing. Hedberg said the division has applied business process redesign and adult‑learning training models to speed onboarding, but acknowledged turnover and a career‑ladder structure for eligibility technicians can leave an average gap of about 11 months when positions turn over.
Representative Gray and others asked whether the reductions shown in the FY26 management plan would jeopardize progress; department leaders said much of the apparent drop in the division’s FY26 budget reflects the expiration of ARPA and other one‑time or multiyear appropriations rather than a permanent operating cut.
Committee members requested followup on specific questions including whether infant learning program screening and intervention funding could be restored; the department said it would follow up during the senior and disability services division presentation.
No formal votes were taken at the meeting.
