Louisiana House committee removes $52 million for childcare assistance on Early Ed Day
Early childhood care and education advocates gathered at the state capitol Monday for Early Ed Day at the Capitol – the same day that the House Appropriations Committee decided to remove nearly $52 million from the proposed budget for the Child Care Assistance Program.
Rep. Jerome “Zee” Zeringue, a Republican from Houma and the chair of the House Appropriations Committee proposed an amendment to the budget proposal that would remove $51.6 million from CCAP, which is a program that helps low-income families access childcare while they work or go to school.
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Zeringue said removing the $51.6 million does not result in a cut in state spending on the program, but it does eliminate funds that would cover part of the federal dollars the program is losing. He said the reduction would “align the budget with the actual needs of the program.”
Libbie Sonnier, the executive director for the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, said the CCAP faces a $200-million hole in its budget due to federal COVID money expiring. She said that the budget shortfall represents around 16,000 students that would not be able to receive assistance for childcare.
“That $51.67 million that was taken out of the budget in the amendment …allows us not to be able to serve 4,000 of these 16,000 children,” Sonnier said to the committee.
Multiple childcare providers also voiced opposition to the proposed change, including Megan Garretson, the owner of Young Scholars Academy in Baton Rouge. She told the committee that many childcare providers have waitlists into 2024.
Zeringue told Garretson that there was still around $36.2 million in the budget for CCAP and that there is around $150 million in the fund.
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“It’s still not enough based on the numbers that we know are still waiting to be served,” Garretson said.
Some of the advocates argued that the legislature should view CCAP as a workforce issue, with the program allowing parents to go to work or school, potentially helping with staff shortages statewide.
“It’s a workforce of today and tomorrow issue,” Sonnier said. “This is a critical infrastructure issue.”
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This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana House committee cuts $52 million for childcare from budget
