Current:Home > NewsIndiana legislators send bill addressing childcare costs to governor -RiskWatch
Indiana legislators send bill addressing childcare costs to governor
View
Date:2025-04-15 03:07:15
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana lawmakers voted Wednesday to send legislation to the governor’s desk aimed at making childcare more affordable as part of their promise to address the issue this legislative session.
Indiana is among a growing number of Republican-led states proposing legislative solutions to tackle the availability and affordability of child care, with a few measures rolling back regulations on the industry nearing passage in the the Republican-controlled General Assembly.
GOP leaders including Gov. Eric Holcomb listed improving access and affordability as a top priority for this session. However, lawmakers’ options were limited in a non-budget year. Many Democrats have repeatedly said lawmakers must return to the issue next year when legislators will be charged with creating the state’s biannual budget.
State Senators gave final approval almost unanimously Wednesday to a bill expanding eligibility for a child care subsidy program for employees in the field with kids of their own. The bill would also lower the minimum age of child care workers to 18 and, in some instances, to 16.
Child care organizations and other business groups support the proposal. Holcomb does as well, and has included parts of it in his own annual agenda.
Supporters say the lack of affordable child care in Indiana keeps people out of all corners of the workforce.
Several other pieces of childcare legislation were proposed this year.
A Republican-backed House bill would make a facility license good for three years, up from two, and allow certain child care programs in schools to be exempt from licensure. It also would let child care centers in residential homes increase their hours and serve up to eight children, instead of six. That bill has been sent to a conference committee after state Senators made changes to the bill. Lawmakers have until Friday, when leaders say they want to adjourn, to work out the differences.
Republican leaders have said undoing some operational requirements eases burdens on the businesses.
A separate measure that would have provided property tax exemptions to for-profit centers and companies that establish onsite child care for their employees died earlier this session after failing to move past a second committee hearing.
veryGood! (11)
Related
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- Kim Kardashian Proves She's a Rare Gem With Blinding Diamond Look
- There’s too much guesswork in renting an Airbnb. The short-term rental giant is trying to fix that
- Supreme Court justice sues over Ohio law requiring certain judicial candidates to use party labels
- Could your smelly farts help science?
- Vatican says it’s permissible for transgender Catholics to be baptized
- Bond. World's oldest living bond.
- UN convoy stretching 9 kilometers ends harrowing trip in Mali that saw 37 peacekeepers hurt by IEDs
- Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
- Commercial fishing groups sue 13 US tire makers over rubber preservative that’s deadly to salmon
Ranking
- Trump's 'stop
- Democrats see abortion wins as a springboard for 2024 as GOP struggles to find a winning message
- US launches airstrike on site in Syria in response to attacks by Iranian-backed militias
- Brian Cox thought '007: Road to a Million' was his Bond movie. It's actually a game show
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Where to watch 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving': 'Peanuts' movie only on streaming this year
- College Football Playoff rankings: Ohio State, Oklahoma among winners and losers
- 'The Golden Bachelor', 'Selling Sunset' and grieving on TV
Recommendation
San Francisco names street for Associated Press photographer who captured the iconic Iwo Jima photo
Kosovo says it is setting up an institute to document Serbia’s crimes in the 1998-1999 war
California DMV suspends permits for Cruise driverless robotaxis
Author Luis Mateo Díez wins Cervantes Prize, the Spanish-speaking world's top literary honor
'Most Whopper
Watch Bachelor in Paradise's Eliza Isichei Approach Aaron Bryant About His Ex-Girlfriend Drama
1 month after Hamas' attack on Israel, a desperate father's plea: At least let the children go.
Jeff Bezos' new home 'Billionaire Bunker' island outside Miami has a rich history ‒ literally