Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan visited Fergus Falls on Mar. 10, to meet with area stakeholders in healthcare, government and those who run child care facilities.
The day began with a roundtable discussion at the Fergus Falls Public Library between healthcare providers, business leaders and parents to discuss proposals within the One Minnesota Budget to address the child care crisis in the state and ways they were looking to address it.
Those attending the roundtable included Samantha VanWechel-Meyer with West Central Initiative, Marketing and Development Director of PioneerCare Steve Guttormson, City of Fergus Falls Community Development Manager Klara Beck, former candidate for State Senate District 9 Nancy Jost, Community Development Director Amy Baldwin and Justine Anderson and Maggie Fresonke of Perham Health.
The roundtable featured many stories of how the cities of Fergus Falls and Perham were addressing their child care with innovative approaches and help from the municipalities themselves.
Guttormson said they looked into getting the daycare after speaking with their employees starting in 2017: “Right now most of the kids in this program are children of employees, but there are some from Lake Region Healthcare. We’re all in healthcare together and need to support each other."
Also at the roundtable Flanagan said it is finally time to start a serious discussion about childcare.
“We have a historic opportunity to make child care more affordable and accessible for Minnesotans across the state,” said Flanagan. “The child care needs in Greater Minnesota and Otter Tail County are unique from the needs in our urban areas and I am proud that we address the entire spectrum of need in our child care plan and One Minnesota Budget. We have a responsibility to lower the burden of child care costs on our workforce while also supporting the providers that care for our youngest Minnesotans every day. I look forward to continuing these important conversations around the state and fighting to make Minnesota the best state in the country to raise a family.”
The proposed initiative would increase child care access and affordability and provide middle class families with up to $10,500 to help pay for child care with the Child and Dependent Care Credit for families.
As for how the proposals would help attract more child care providers in Greater Minnesota, Flanagan said that a lot will come from grant funding.
“We have specific grants that will help with local childcare providers as well as those that want to get in the field. I think that is one of the most powerful things I took away from today is just the need to make sure we are growing new providers, just making sure this is an opportunity for them. That funding will also be available for technical assistance for folks if people want to grow or expand childcare and through child care development block grants is where most of that funding will come from. I would also say that the child care assistance program, the increasing of the reimbursement rates will help a lot of providers," said Flanagan.
The proposal would include $539 million in tax credits in 2024-25 and a $547 million in tax credits in 2026-27 to expand the Child and Dependent Care Credit, reducing costs for 100,000 Minnesota households. The child care plan will allow families making under $200,000 with one child to receive up to $4,000 a year for child care costs. Families with two children could receive up to $8,000 and families with three children could receive up to $10,500. They also want to address the state’s child care shortage by increasing staff compensation and supporting providers starting child care businesses.
The administration also proposes expanding public pre-K seats for nearly 25,000 eligible children, investing in early learning scholarships and improving child care access for Minnesota families by increasing child care assistance payment rates.
While in Fergus Falls, Flanagan also visited the children and staff at Pioneer Kids child care center.
Following the visit to the Pioneer Kids, Flanagan and Mayor Ben Schierer toured the Downtown Riverfront Project and concluded her visit at city hall.
