Committee advances bill to expand employer tax credits for taking on child care costs

Child care-related turnover and absenteeism causes a significant impact on Hoosier employers, according to the Indiana Chamber of Commerce. A Senate committee passed a bill this week to expand a tax credit for employers who take on child care costs.

Among other things, Senate Bill 463 would set limits on staff-to-child ratios and group sizes in licensed child care facilities and add a representative of an out-of-school-time program to the membership of the early learning advisory committee. It would also expand Indiana’s Micro Facility Pilot Program. This program is an initiative under a law passed last year designed to streamline regulations and reduce start-up costs for child care facilities.

YMCA of Greater Indianapolis’s Mistie Timmons said the current licensing process for each YMCA location has been a time consuming and a tedious process. She said she believes this bill could help with that.

“By consolidating some of these licenses under one entity, we will be able to streamline our operations, reduce some redundancy in paperwork and allocate some additional resources to support families and our children that we are serving,“ Timmons said.

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Timmons said the bill would help nonprofits with greater flexibility in managing and growing their child care programs.

Sam Snideman is with United Way of Central Indiana and is another supporter of the bill. He said the bill would help the state toward building a child care system that is accessible and affordable.

“This bill contains many helpful provisions for families who rely on care, the providers who make care possible in the employer and government sectors that play an increasingly important role in supporting the growth of the care environment,” Snideman said.

The bill now moves to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Timoria is our labor and employment reporter. Contact her at [email protected].