Two bills to expand a scholarship to help low-income families pay for child care are advancing at the Montana Legislature.
Cheyenne Mikkelsen, a Livingston mom of two, told lawmakers she cares for her youngest at home, but hopes to re-enter the workforce soon. Her husband works full-time in law enforcement. However, she’s unsure if going back to work is financially feasible.
“If both of our children were in daycare five days a week, we could be paying most of our income to child care. And obviously we cannot afford to do that,” Mikkelsen says.
Mikkelsen spoke in support of House Bill 457, which would expand eligibility for the state’s existing Best Beginnings scholarship. It would set the program’s income threshold at 85% of the state’s median income – or about $68,000 for a family of three. The scholarship would become available to an estimated 2,500 additional children. Eligibility was previously expanded during the 2023 session.
According to data from Montana Kids Count, licensed child care providers in Montana had capacity to meet roughly half the demand for out of home care in 2024. The state Department of Labor and Industry says about 66,000 parents are not able to fully participate in Montana’s workforce due to the lack of care.
Democratic Rep. Jonathan Karlen, the bill’s sponsor, says the current income cap for the scholarship is leaving out families who need it.
“We’ve sort of created a benefits cliff here where families who might want to take a raise at work, might want to pick up more hours, might want to work more, can’t do that because then they’re going to lose their child care scholarship and then they’re not going to be able to work at all,” says Karlen.
The House Human Services committee advanced the bill on a 12-9 vote. Some Republicans say the $17 million price tag is too high.
Karlen is carrying another proposal, House Bill 456, to make child care workers automatically eligible for the Best Beginnings scholarship for their own children The state labor department says low pay for the child care workforce is largely responsible for the lack of care in Montana.
The House Business and Labor Committee endorsed that bill on a 13-7 vote without debate.
