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Lawmaker says states should fund daycare, federal role should focus on defense
Summary
A lawmaker argued that daycare should be handled and funded by states, suggesting state tax increases to pay for it and a modest reduction in federal taxes; the speaker said Medicare, Medicaid and similar programs can be managed at the state level and that the federal government's primary duty is military protection.
A lawmaker told attendees that daycare should be financed and administered by state governments rather than the federal government, saying, "You got to let a state take care of daycare, and they should pay for it, too."
The speaker argued the United States' size and the existence of 50 states make a uniform federal daycare program impractical, and proposed shifting responsibility and cost to states. "They should pay. They have to raise their taxes, but they should pay for it," the lawmaker said, and added that federal taxes could be lowered "a little bit" to compensate for the change.
The lawmaker also cited other programs while describing what could be managed at the state level, stating, "Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things, they can do it on a state basis." The remarks framed those programs as evidence that many social-service responsibilities are better handled by states.
In closing, the speaker emphasized a narrower conception of federal duties: "You can't do it on a federal. We have to take care of one thing, military protection." The speaker presented defense as the principal federal responsibility and used that distinction to argue against expanding federal involvement in daycare.
The speaker did not specify which states would lead changes, provide funding amounts, or outline legislative or administrative steps to implement the shift. No formal motion, vote or formal proposal was recorded in the transcript.
