A proposal to expand low-income families’ eligibility for child care scholarships has advanced in the Montana House of Representatives. The state health department has helped Montana families pay for child care through the Best Beginnings scholarship for three decades.
Rep. Alice Buckley, a Democrat from Bozeman, says the program needs tweaking to keep up with the need in Montana for available and affordable child care.
“The way our Best Beginnings scholarship program is working today does not make sense, and the math does not add up for families,” Buckley said.
Buckley’s House Bill 648 would increase the scholarship amounts, expand the income cap for parents to qualify and make scholarship payments easier for providers to manage. For a single parent of one child, the proposed limit would equate to about $36,000 a year or less.
On average, parents pay about $9,500 dollars a year for infant care.
The bill passed an initial vote in the House by a slim 10-vote margin. Some Republicans spoke in opposition, including Rep. Jerry Schillinger of Circle, saying it’s not an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars.
“I just think that the work we’ve done in the Legislature so far to ease the tax burden, ease the cost of doing business – that this is just a step backward,” Schillinger said.
The proposal is expected to cost the state $9 million a year.
The bill must pass one more vote in the House before it can move onto the state Senate for consideration.
