Bill to permanently expand eligibility for child care subsidies sees bipartisan support in Nebraska legislature

About 100 people gathered in the Nebraska Capitol building’s rotunda on Thursday to support a proposal to permanently expand the income eligibility guidelines for child care subsidies.

The proposal, Legislative Bill 304, was introduced by Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha. She named it her priority bill for the session.

“If we fail to pass LB304, we will fail working families,” DeBoer said. “We will fail businesses that need workers, and the child care crisis will be even worse than the one we face now.”

Nebraska passed a law to temporarily increase household income eligibility for the subsidies in 2021, which raised the eligibility threshold from 130% of the federal poverty level to 185%. For a family of four, that equates to raising the cap from about $42,000 per year to $59,000 per year.

Without legislative intervention, that increase is set to expire on Oct. 1. Sen. Bob Hallstrom of Syracuse said LB304 is about “protecting the investment Nebraska has already made” and maintaining stability for families.

“That stability matters to working families, employers and child care providers alike, and it ensures our economy can keep moving forward,” he said. “When parents lose access to reliable child care, they are often forced to step away from work, and businesses lose needed employees.”

Child care subsidies are largely funded through the federal Child Care and Development Block Grant Act, but states have broad discretion to set eligibility thresholds. According to advocacy group First Five Nebraska, the 130% cap that Nebraska would revert to without legislative action would be one of the most restrictive in the country.

Thousands of families would become ineligible for the subsidies in October if LB304 or another extension does not pass. According to a fiscal note submitted to the Legislature in March, more than 4,800 families have become eligible for the subsidy since eligibility was expanded in 2021.