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ST. PAUL 鈥� The Minnesota House Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee recently heard a bill that aims to reduce the cost of child care for Minnesotans.

The bill, , would establish a scholarship program for families needing child care for young children and aims to prevent Minnesotans from spending more than 7% of their annual income on child care.

The scholarship, referred to as the great start affordability scholarship program, would apply to care for children from birth to kindergarten entry, according to the bill draft.

Bill author Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, DFL-Eden Prairie, said the goal of the scholarship is to try to ensure that families in Minnesota do not pay more than 7% of their annual income for child care, an affordability benchmark set by the Department of Health and Human Services in 2016.

Contributed / Minnesota Legislature

The benchmark doesn't accurately reflect current costs, according to Alaina Skoglund, a mother of two children and a child care teacher at Minnesota State University Moorhead.

鈥淲e pay $1,200 every month for child care for Dean, and we also pay $1,200 every month for child care for Harvey,鈥� Skoglund testified to the committee on Wednesday, April 2, identifying her two children by name. 鈥淭hat's almost $30,000 a year. It's my entire paycheck, plus some of my husband's paycheck to pay for our child care.鈥�

The average percentage of family income spent on child care in Minnesota is 18.8%, . EPI data as of February 2025 identified Minnesota child care 鈥� reportedly averaging $22,569 per year 鈥� as the third most expensive in the United States. Massachusetts child care averages $26,709 per year, and Washington D.C., child care is estimated at $28,356 annually, according to EPI.

Scholarship money would be allocated to day care providers, and eligible families would then receive discounts on their monthly payments. The bill states that children who receive the scholarship must continue to receive the scholarship each year until the child is eligible for kindergarten.

To be eligible for the scholarship, families would need to make 鈥渓ess than 150% of the state median income.鈥� Eligible families would receive a minimum of $100 per month, according to the bill.

Kotyza-Witthuhn said, based on how many Minnesotans it would apply to, the bill would cost around $500 million per year.

鈥淭his is a very expansive bill, in that we would be attempting to provide somewhat of a subsidy to 85% of the children and families in the state of Minnesota,鈥� she said.

Kotyza-Witthuhn said she sees the bill as an investment in Minnesota's child care system.

鈥淭his program is not about throwing money at a problem, but it is a series of precise policy changes and fiscal investments to reform early care and learning in Minnesota,鈥� she said.

Scholarships would be awarded over a 12-month period and require annual renewal.

If passed, scholarship payments would start no later than July 1, 2026.