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Sponsor outlines $500 million‑a‑year plan to cap family childcare costs; chairs call it aspirational
Summary
House File 1383 would create a Great Start Affordability Program to subsidize childcare on a sliding scale, with prospective payments to providers designed to reduce family out‑of‑pocket costs and move families closer to a federal 7%‑of‑income benchmark.
Chair Katiza Wettoun presented House File 1383 (Great Start Affordability Program), proposing a sliding‑scale subsidy that would deliver payments to providers on behalf of families to reduce out‑of‑pocket childcare costs. The sponsor framed the proposal around a federal benchmark that suggests families should pay no more than 7% of income for childcare and said many Minnesota families currently fall well above that threshold.
Wettoun described the program as modeled on the existing early‑learning scholarship infrastructure and estimated the scale of the proposal at about $500 million annually to reach up to 85% of families with children under five. She told the committee the design would funnel prospective monthly payments to providers so families receive a lower invoice rather than a post‑facto tax credit.
Several parent testifiers described childcare costs consuming a large share of household income; advocates and members praised the goals but described the proposal as expensive. Members discussed melding this approach with other programs and emphasized the need to weigh regulatory changes that lower costs against fiscal options. The committee laid the bill over for possible inclusion and further budget review.
