Rep. Wood: Child care bill back on deck in veto session

June 20, 2023 | By Theresa Wood

By the time this article is in your inbox or your mailbox the legislature will have convened for what is called a “veto session.”  During this time, the House and Senate reconsider bills that the governor has vetoed.  This year, among those bills is a critical child care bill – H.217.

My committee, House Human Services, has been working on this issue for several years and this is the third in a series of bills aimed at improving accessibility and affordability of child care in Vermont.  Our work was informed by studies on how the system should be governed and funded and feedback from hundreds of Vermonters across the state.  I believe that the legislature will override the governor’s veto on this important piece of legislation that is beneficial for Vermont’s youngest children, families, the early care and learning workforce, employers and Vermont’s economy.  Here is a summary of what the bill does.

• Act 166 created a universal pre-kindergarten program through a “mixed delivery system.” That means that families are supposed to be able to access 10 hours per week of pre-kindergarten either through a public school or a private provider.  However, it is not universal. Many children have no access and others have access to full-day, full-week pre-k.  H.217 sets up a process to provide full time pre-k for all 4-year-olds by July 2026.

• The bill substantially increases the child care subsidy for families to access child care and after-school/summer programming.  The program expands from the current 350% of the federal poverty limit up to 575%.  Families earning up to 175% of the federal poverty limit will not have a copayment.  This provides support for middle-income families to work and for women to return to the workforce if they want to.

• The amount paid to child care providers will increase by 35%. For family home care providers, an additional increase above the 35% will happen.

• Includes increases for the early care and learning workforce to encourage people to enter the workforce and to retain those currently working in child care.

• Requires both the Agency of Human Services and the Agency of Education to elevate the status of early care and learning in state government and to submit a plan to the legislature to do so.

• Recognizing that employers and workers would benefit most from the system’s expansion and improvement, the bill puts in place a new payroll tax, beginning July 1, 2024, called the Child Care Contribution. The contribution rate will be 0.44%, with employers paying 0.33% and employees pay 0.11%. For an employee earning $50,000, the employee would pay $55 and the employer would pay $165 for the year.  A family with two children will save approximately $22,000 per year.

In Vermont, an estimated 8,752 children under 5 who are likely to need care do not have access to early care and learning programs. If families can find child care, high-quality programs are too expensive for many, and a serious financial strain for most.  This bill makes a significant public investment in our families and our economy.

Chair of the House Human Services Committee, Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, represents the Washington-Chittenden legislative district that covers Waterbury, Bolton, Huntington and Buel’s Gore. Email: twood@leg.state.vt.us. The '“veto session” convenes today, June 20.