Two new bills would ease qualification requirements for child care professionals and give parents drop-off and pickup flexibility in an effort to address rising child care costs and staff shortages across the state.
Minnesota lawmakers considered HF 1247 and HF 628 earlier this week in the House Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee.
HF 1247, which would provide flexibility for drop-off and pickup time at child care centers, is on its way to the House floor after quickly moving through the committee. Sponsored by Rep. Danny Nadeau, R-Rogers, the bill extends an existing law that was set to expire this year.
If passed, the bill would extend a pilot program allowing aides who meet the criteria, in addition to assistant teachers, to substitute for a teacher during a child care center’s arrival and departure times.
Jen Orth, owner of Hypointe Child Care facilities in Lakeville and Rosemount, said the legislation has had an impact on both her business and her family. She said seeing her children off to school in the morning and welcoming them home in the afternoon was not possible before the 2023 legislation went into effect.
On a professional level, Orth said the legislation has been transformative for her facilities.
“With this flexibility, I have been able to schedule teachers more strategically, ensuring that they are present when their expertise is much more needed, rather than requiring them to cover the early mornings and late nights,” she said. “This has significantly reduced the need for overtime, which is crucial in preventing burnout and keeping the cost of child care low.”
HF 628 was met with some resistance and tabled for later consideration.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Paul Torkelson, R-Hanska, would ease some regulations that limit the number of people eligible to work in child care facilities.
For example, an assistant teacher in a child care setting must be 18, have a high school diploma and have at least 2,080 hours of experience in education. If HF 628 passes, an assistant teacher would need to be 16 and complete the required training as currently prescribed under state law.
Maria Harms, owner and operator of Snug as a Bug Childcare in Redwood Falls, said she is concerned about the “mountain of regulations” she is required to integrate into her business model.
“Human error in this field will always exist,” she said. “Licensed care personnel are there to identify those operations that need extra attention, guidance and correction. We are currently experiencing staff shortages, exacerbated by regulation, which creates capacity issues and directly affects sustainability.”
Rep. Samantha Spencer-Mura, DFL-Minneapolis, asked Harms how easing regulations would lower child care costs.
“In order to have teachers, assistant teachers and aides within the classroom, they have to be qualified,” Harms said. “So they have to get an education. They have to do so many hours in the classroom, which in turn requires us to pay them more. If we have to pay our staff higher, we have to charge families more.”
Spencer-Mura responded by saying that child care workers should be paid more.
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“If the affordability in this bill comes from paying the people that are doing the most important work of caring for children less, I just fundamentally don’t think that’s the solution,” she said.
Rep. Nathan Coulter, DFL-Bloomington, also expressed concern about quality of care.
“Child care is education, and I get a little bit anxious when we act as though it’s not,” he said. “It’s arguably more important education than kids will receive at any other time in their lives. We are not only doing a disservice to the industry by ignoring the very real issues, the very real economic issues that make child care a broken system … but more importantly, doing the disservice to the kids.”
Rep. Nolan West, R-Blaine, chair of the Children and Families Committee, said he expects he will soon be spending his entire legislative salary on day care and said they can’t rule out these kinds of changes.
West made what he called a “hyperbolic” example of parents who may not meet every current state requirement for child care workers.
“To say that we cannot look at this or that any reduction in qualifications is completely unacceptable, it basically says that any parent with their first child isn’t fit to raise their child,” he said. “Children don’t necessarily need that kind of regimented education. Some parents might want that path, some parents might not.”
The House advanced another child care bill last week, HF633, which would establish a 50% market value exclusion for in-home family day care or group family day care providers.
The bills come as child care costs in Minnesota are up to an estimated $16,000 per child per year, according to a 2023 study from the Minnesota Department of Human Services. The number places Minnesota fourth in the nation for highest child care costs, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
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