After outcry from child care providers, Idaho lawmakers approve federal relief funding

Child care providers, parents and children filled Idaho’s Capitol Rotunda on Monday and sat in on Tuesday’s Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee meeting.

Their presence was impossible to ignore, and on Wednesday, lawmakers took favorable action on more than $100 million in COVID-19 relief funds that Idaho Gov. Brad Little recommended go toward support of the state’s hard-hit child care industry. That money comes out of the nearly $1.2 billion in American Rescue Plan Act money that Idaho received from the federal government after ARPA was signed in March.

House Bills 369, 395 and 400 are now headed to the governor’s desk after passing easily in the Senate on Wednesday evening. HB 369 passed by a vote of 30-5, HB 395 by a vote of 32-3 and HB 400 by a vote of 33-2.

“It is wonderful to know the Legislature listened to us and understands the importance of passing (these bills),” said Melissa Buck, owner of Vista Montessori School in Boise. “The child care industry provides a service essential to our economy. Early childhood education is often overlooked in Idaho. This is a huge step in the right direction.”

JFAC advanced HB 400 and HB 395 on Tuesday morning, and by late afternoon, both bills cleared the House, by votes of 50-15 and 38-27, respectively. The vote on HB 369 in the House also was 38-27.

Rep. Colin Nash, D-Boise, said the funding is critical moving forward. The relief funds from ARPA provided by HB 395 and 400 are for fiscal year 2022.

“I just can’t overstate the need for this,” Nash said during a JFAC meeting Tuesday morning. “We already had a child care crisis before COVID hit. ... I don’t think our economy can sustain losing another 200 providers in this state.”

As of June 2020, about 7,918 families in Idaho received some form of child care assistance, according to data provided by the Idaho Legislative Service Office’s Budget & Policy Analysis Division. There are nearly 900 licensed child care providers in Idaho, and 220 were forced to close over the past year.

Rep. Caroline Nilsson Troy, R-Genesee, said that without child care providers, working families are put in the difficult position of choosing between employment and taking care of children at home.

“We just can’t afford to lose any more day care,” Troy said. “Not everybody can afford to have somebody come to their home and take care of their children. Not everybody can afford to stay home.”

Troy said lawmakers intend to focus the $36 million set aside for development grants on children between the ages of 5-13 and on ways to provide in-person learning through community organizations, such as the Boys and Girls Club or 4-H. That bill, HB 400, exceeded the governor’s original recommendation of $26 million for these grants.

“I think of those citizens in Idaho who have struggled the most with the shutdowns during COVID, it’s been our children,” Troy said.

The $70 million in federal relief funding earmarked for child care stabilization grants (HB 395) can be used by providers to pay personnel costs for any employee; rent or payment on a mortgage obligation; utilities, facility maintenance or improvements, or insurance; for personal protective equipment, cleaning/sanitization supplies/services, or training related to health and safety practices; purchases of or updates to equipment and supplies to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency; purchases of goods and services necessary to maintain or resume child care services; and mental health supports of children and employees.

“I hope this means we are now valued and that Idaho recognizes the important role we play on a daily basis,” said Robin Findl, owner of Kids Choice child care centers in Boise and Meridian. “We look forward to focusing on what’s most important — the children and partnering with families through quality care.”

In another win for the industry, Senate Bill 1212 passed by a vote of 26-7 on Monday and includes $3,125,000 for an increase to the child care entitlement to the state in its welfare division. The bill passed the House on Tuesday by a vote of 41-24 and now heads to the governor.

House Bill 369 appropriates $33,763,900 for child care, but those funds run out on Dec. 31, 2021. That money was part of the federal relief package passed last year, as was the SB 1212 funding.