LAKE ELMO, Minn. — Governor Tim Walz greeted kids at the Time for Me Learning Center in Lake Elmo Monday afternoon as part of a statewide tour to promote his childcare plan.
The governor has made previous stops in Ely, Saint Cloud and Moorhead to raise awareness of his childcare plan and to drum up support from local lawmakers.
“This industry is really fragile right now,” Walz says.
The governor says his plan would help more than 100,000 Minnesota households pay for childcare.
The plan includes a tax credit that would give parents with a single child $4,000 a year.
Parents with two children would receive $8,000 and parents with additional children would be eligible to receive a maximum of $10,500 a year.
To receive these credits Minnesota families would need to earn less than $200,000 a year.
The governor’s office says these credits would cost Minnesota taxpayers $539 million for 2024-2025 and an additional $547 million in 2026-2027.
“Investing in early childhood education and you’re not only investing in those children’s wellbeing, you’re also investing in the state’s wellbeing,” Walz says.
The governor’s plan also includes funding and support for childcare providers.
The governor’s office says their plan would increase staff compensation at childcare centers and would also provide support for providers who want to start a new childcare business in Minnesota.
The plan would also create a new office at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development that would be charged with creating additional childcare options for parents.
The new ‘Office of Child Care and Community Partnerships’ would receive $18 million in funding over the next four years to support childcare and economic development, specifically in Greater Minnesota where parents have fewer childcare options.
Ruth Stark is the owner of the Time for Me Leaning Center in Lake Elmo.
She says inflation and the worker shortage are two big problems for childcare providers.
"The past three years has become extremely difficult to retain and hire staff,” Stark says.
"Because of this I am constantly turning away parents who are desperately looking for openings."
Senate Republicans agree with Governor Walz that it’s expensive to be a parent these days, but they disagree on the type of support that parents should be receiving from the state.
In statement sent to KARE-11, Republican Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said:
“Raising a family in Minnesota is challenging and we must find ways to support our Minnesota friends and neighbors for building stronger communities and a better state. That’s why Senate Republicans are focused so intensely on solutions that build this state stronger. So, rather than carving out tax credits just for child care, we prefer to give parents a bigger, permanent tax break to spend how they best see fit, whether that's a child care center, an at-home provider, or even staying home with their children.”