The House approved three child care bills Wednesday, including measures to lift a yearlong freeze on enrollment in a state child care scholarship program for as many as 3,700 families on a 5,000-family waitlist.
Some Republicans pushed back on the bills, arguing that it would be better to offer families tax credits to allow them to choose their own child care rather than depending on assistance from the government.
But Democrats said it’s the state’s obligation to help all Marylanders, especially low-income residents.
“One of the things that is most unaffordable for Marylanders is child care,” said Del. Ben Barnes (D-Prince George’s and Anne Arundel), who chairs the Appropriations Committee. “One of the things that keeps people out of work in Maryland, by and large, is child care, particularly women.”
Barnes said that House Bill 849 (approved by a vote of 123-13) and House Bill 1321 (approved 130-6) represent companion bills that aim to offer more people access to the scholarship and other early childhood programs.
Part of HB 1321, sponsored by Del. Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Montgomery), would implement a partial scholarship system that would increase copayments for some families based on income. Total payments would be capped at 7% of a household income. In addition, the bill would require the state Department of Education to provide information for families on the scholarship waitlist on prekindergarten, Head Start or Early Start programs that may be available in a jurisdiction where they reside.
Portions of HB 849 sponsored by Del. Bernice Mireku-North (D-Montgomery) include codifying the department’s current scholarship exceptions based on certain income guidelines and other eligibility requirements, such as families receiving temporary cash assistance (TCA), Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or having a sibling already enrolled in the program. The bill also added scholarship eligibility for “a child who is homeless.”
Barnes said HB 849 may cost the state $1 million, but HB 1321 would bring in $16 million to strictly fund the scholarship. “Between the two bills, it would save the state $15 million,” he said.
That’s the main reason why House Minority Leader Jason Buckel (R-Allegany) voted in favor of both measures.
“We actually raise the co-pay for a certain group of people who are already participating in this program…. They have some more ability to contribute to their own child care needs,” Buckel said during the roughly 20 minutes of debate on HB 849.
“I view that, frankly, as a conservative suggestion,” he said. “I think it’s making people who have the means to pay, pay more, reduce the subsidization of the taxpayer and use those funds to increase the benefit for the most needy among us.”
State education officials would reopen enrollment if the number enrolled fell to about 40,000. At the end of 2025 more than 41,000 children in 27,000 families were receiving child care scholarships, double the enrollment of 2022, a surge that led to the state to impose a freeze on new enrollments last year.
Both HB 849 and HB 1321 now head to the Senate, where neither has a crossfiled companion bill.
The third bill, approved by a vote of 104-32, was House Bill 561, also sponsored by Palakovich Carr and Del. Aletheia McCaskill (D-Baltimore County). It would require the governor to extend the state’s child care credential program by almost $5.7 million starting in fiscal 2028, which reflects the fiscal 2024 appropriation. The program helps child care workers participate in professional development activities, educational training and tuition assistance at a college or university.
A hearing on the Senate version of that bill, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Nancy King (D-Montgomery), was held Wednesday before the Budget and Taxation Committee.
After the House adjourned after nearly 3 1/2 hours, Palakovich Carr said providing child care for her then 5-year-old son during the COVID-19 pandemic represented one of the main reasons she and her husband decided to close their start-up business.
“It’s tough,” she said about families seeking child care. “I think we’re doing the right thing with making sure that more kids, more families can participate in the program and at least get some help. It really does make such a difference to families to have access to child care and to child care they can actually afford.”