Massachusetts lawmakers seek to slash high cost of child care in Massachusetts with larger subsidies for working families – MassLive
By Alison Kuznitz
Young families in Massachusetts could be forced to leave the commonwealth — or at least, move from rural regions to more urban hubs — if lawmakers falter at their last-minute attempt to make child care cheaper and more accessible before formal sessions wrap up at the end of the month.
The Massachusetts Senate on Thursday is poised to pass a bill enabling more middle-income Bay Staters to qualify for child care subsidies, with a phased scale designed to move the current eligibility threshold from 50% of state median income to 125%, or from $65,626 to $164,065 for a household of four. The timeline for that rollout is an open question.
Early education professionals, who for now make 35% less than their counterparts in public elementary schools, could expect to see pay adjustments and clearer career pathways for earning promotions or advanced degrees.
Despite the compact timeline to strike a deal with the House of Representatives and see Gov. Charlie Baker sign the pending bill into law, state Sen. Susan Moran emphasized the legislation is rooted in strong support from both chambers and championed by Senate President Karen Spilka.
“This is an economic development bill at the exact time that we need it the most,” Moran, a Senate appointee to the Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission, told MassLive Wednesday. “It’s an equity bill — No 1. for women, and No. 2 for everyone. And I don’t think there’ll be any more important time for either of those two things than right now.”