Childcare is scarce and spendy. Here’s what Montana lawmakers are doing about it
“Ensuring Montana families have access to quality, affordable childcare means our economy can thrive — and so can our communities and kids,” bill sponsor Rep. Alice Buckley, D-Bozeman, said in the statement. “I am so proud we have finally taken action to address our state’s childcare crisis.”
The Legislature passed the Best Beginnings bill, House Bill 648, April 28, but it was only transmitted to the governor for his signature this week after spending more than a month waiting on an administrative signature from Senate President Jason Ellsworth, R-Hamilton.
Childcare is both a major cost-of-living issue for Montana families and a significant economic challenge as the cost and availability of care limits how much many parents, women especially, can work at a time when the state is facing a tight labor market.
Research by the Montana Department of Labor & Industry estimates the state has licensed childcare capacity for only 43% of kids who need care. Labor department economists also say childcare for kids under 5 costs Montana families $16,269 on average in 2022 — a figure equivalent to a quarter of the state’s median household income and well above the 7%-of-income figure used as an affordability benchmark by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
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The Best Beginnings bill makes the program available to slightly higher-income families, shifting its eligibility cutoff from 150% to 185% of the federal poverty line. At the 185% level, a family of four would qualify for the program at an income of $55,000 a year and a single parent with one child would qualify with an annual income of $36,000.
The bill caps how much participating families pay, limiting their childcare expenses to 9% of their income. It also shifts the program’s reimbursement policy so that payments are no longer tied to attendance requirements — a policy that proponents say can put parents and providers in a bind if kids have too many sick days.