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Senate committee advances Child Care Expansion Act to retrofit state space for employee childcare; passes 4–1

Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Standing Committee · February 13, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Lawmakers advanced SB 248, a public-private partnership to retrofit a state-owned warehouse into childcare capacity reserved in part for state employees. DFCM estimated retrofit costs of about $2.5 million–$4.2 million and the bill passed the committee 4–1.

Senators on the Senate Economic Development and Workforce Services Standing Committee voted to advance Senate Bill 248, the Child Care Expansion Act, after adopting a technical amendment. The measure sets up a public-private partnership to retrofit vacant state-owned space and reserve half the childcare seats at the site for state employees.

Sponsor Senator Escamilla told the committee the bill grew from three years of work and is intended to reduce a barrier that forces state workers — and their employers — to compete for limited childcare options. The plan identifies a vacant portion of the Tax Commission warehouse at…

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