Iowa Senate Democrats’ plan would lower childcare costs, raise childcare worker wages

Iowa Senate Democrats release a slate of bills aimed at solving Iowa’s childcare crisis. It aims to tackle the rising cost of child care across Iowa while addressing the accessibility issues facing families.

Gov. Kim Reynolds lauded the state for adding 27,000 child care slots in the past four years during her January Condition of the State address. But that is not keeping pace with the need. 

The number of childcare centers has dropped by more than 60% over the past 10 years, according to the Iowa Women’s Foundation. The foundation estimates that between 118,000 and 242,000 more childcare slots are needed to meet current demand. 

Senate Democrats launched a package of bills this week aimed at supporting programs already working in the state and expanding access to supports for families. The package, led by Sens. Janet Petersen of Des Moines and Cindy Winckler of Davenport, has four pieces:

1. A bill to expand state assistance eligibility to include more working families.
2. A bill to increase childcare worker wages through doubled investment in the Child Care Solutions Fund pilot program.
3. A bill that would automatically qualify teenage parents (under 18) for state childcare assistance.
4. A bill that automatically qualifies siblings for childcare assistance to maintain assistance as families grow

Democrats say there is a $92 million surplus in the state’s Child Care Assistance Program. Petersen criticized the status quo of letting those funds go unspent, noting that these funds were specifically intended to expand childcare options for Iowa families and were instead sitting in state coffers. 

“Senate Democrats believe young Iowa families deserve more child-friendly policies in Iowa, and we are releasing legislation to help hundreds more Iowa families with their childcare bills,” Petersen said.

Reynolds has proposed a system of regional “childcare solution funds” that would allow private donors to contribute to funds that would increase the wages of child care workers, an idea aimed at decreasing the high rates of turnover within the profession. She has also supported expansions in the same Child Care Solutions Fund pilot program.