Latest news with #TimReed
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
South Dakota cannot afford to ignore the child care crisis
(Photo by Lourdes Balduque, via Getty Images) Child care is not just a family issue. It is a business development issue. The ability of South Dakota families to access quality, affordable child care directly impacts workforce participation, economic productivity and long-term growth. As the CEO of the Economic Development Professionals of South Dakota, I see firsthand the challenges businesses face in attracting and retaining workers due to the child care crisis. Across the state, we have seen communities bring together business leaders, community stakeholders, child care providers and parents to work toward viable solutions. I have had the privilege to work on this issue over the past two years as a member of the Statewide Childcare Task Force, led by Sen. Tim Reed, R-Brookings. The task force worked tirelessly with businesses and individuals across the state. This effort yielded an in-depth report that led to the introduction of legislation this past session. One bill, HB 1132, passed the House and Senate but was vetoed by the governor. While we disagree with the governor's reasoning, we look forward to partnering with the administration in the future and will engage over the summer with all stakeholders. State House fails to override child care subsidy veto from governor Child care is an essential support system for families, allowing parents to pursue careers, education and financial stability while ensuring their children are cared for in a safe, enriching environment. Without access to reliable child care, families are forced to make difficult choices — many parents, particularly mothers, must scale back work hours or leave the workforce, straining household incomes and limiting career growth. This also places stress on extended family members who may step in to provide care, often at the cost of their own employment and well-being. For working families, child care is a pathway to financial independence. A lack of accessible child care can lead to lost wages, decreased career mobility and increased reliance on public assistance programs. Ensuring all families have access to affordable, high-quality child care strengthens our workforce and promotes economic resilience. Beyond the economic implications, high-quality, state-licensed child care environments provide significant benefits for children. Research shows that children who participate in structured early learning programs experience better cognitive, social and emotional outcomes. These programs provide young children with opportunities to develop critical thinking skills, build relationships and establish early literacy and numeracy foundations that prepare them for success. Quality child care environments also contribute to healthier emotional development by providing consistency, positive social interactions and nurturing relationships. Children in these programs learn essential skills such as problem-solving, communication and collaboration. Studies have demonstrated that children who receive early education are more likely to graduate from high school, pursue higher education and achieve higher earnings in adulthood. South Dakota is home to nearly 70,000 children age 5 and under, and 72% of them have all parents in the workforce, underscoring the need for reliable child care. Yet the state faces a 35% shortfall in licensed child care capacity, leaving thousands of families scrambling. This child care deficit costs the state an estimated $329 million annually in lost productivity and economic growth. Employers across the state recognize this as a barrier to workforce participation. This, in turn, contributes to labor shortages, increased turnover and reduced economic output. In an era where talent attraction is key to economic growth, South Dakota cannot afford to ignore the child care crisis. Child care is an essential part of the workforce infrastructure. Just as roads and broadband facilitate commerce, a strong child care system enables parents to work, employers to operate efficiently and communities to thrive. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has identified child care as a critical economic driver, emphasizing that industries across the board suffer when child care is unavailable or unaffordable. Just as roads and broadband facilitate commerce, a strong child care system enables parents to work, employers to operate efficiently and communities to thrive. Moreover, investments in early childhood yield significant returns. Studies show that every dollar spent on high-quality early childhood programs generates a return of $4 to $9 through improved educational outcomes, increased earnings and reduced social services costs. The Heckman Equation, a leading economic model on early childhood investment, demonstrates that early interventions lead to higher productivity and a more skilled workforce. The child care sector in South Dakota operates on a broken business model. The cost of providing quality care exceeds what many families can afford to pay, leading to chronic underfunding and high staff turnover. Early educators earn an average of $12.67 per hour, below the state's living wage of $19.58. This wage disparity makes it difficult to attract and retain qualified child care professionals, further exacerbating the shortage of available care. Additionally, nearly 44% of South Dakota's population resides in rural communities, where access to licensed child care is even more limited. Families in these areas often rely on informal care arrangements, which can be inconsistent and lack the developmental benefits of formal early childhood programs. South Dakota's future depends on strong families and a stable workforce, and neither of these work well without affordable and amazing child care. We can no longer afford to treat child care as a secondary issue. It is a fundamental component of economic development, workforce participation and long-term prosperity for families. While we were not successful in our legislative efforts this year, we will continue to search for legislative and non-legislative solutions to solve the child care crisis in South Dakota. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Child care workers with kids could get more help
PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — A proposal to expand South Dakota's child-care subsidies, so that they would cover more of the child-care workers whose children need the care, too, has cleared the Legislature. State senators voted 20-14 on Tuesday for House Bill 1132. That came after the House had approved it 39-31. With only two lawmakers, Democratic Rep. Erin Healy and Republican Sen. Tim Reed, as its sponsors, HB 1132 now goes to Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden for a decision whether to sign it into law. Myah Selland speaks out against anti-trans legislation Therein might be its problem. The only opponent at the House hearing was Brenda Tidball-Zeltinger. She is deputy secretary for the state Department of Social Services. The only opponent at its Senate committee hearing was state Social Services Secretary Matt Althoff. The deputy secretary answers to the secretary. And the secretary directly answers to the governor. They wouldn't have opposed such a high-profile bill, unless they were expected to do so. That's because legislation directly affects federal funding that the South Dakota Department of Social Services receives and distributes through its child care assistance program. HB 1132 adds a new section that calls for the department to expand child-care benefits specifically for people who work in child care. The new section tells the department to exclude all earned and unearned household income of an applicant to the program, if the income is less than 300% of the federal poverty level, and if the applicant works in child care at least 30 hours per week, specifically at any of three types of child care organizations or businesses: A before and after school day care program, licensed by the department; A day care center or group family day care home, licensed by the department; or A family day care home, registered by the department. The Healy-Reed bill also would change the name of the child care services program to the child care assistance program. Nearly a year ago, the Governor's Office of Economic Development announced that more than $3.7 million was being awarded to 13 recipients representing more than 40 organization. The news release said that the funding would retain more than 595 current child-care slots and allow for more than 2,460 new slots in Brookings, Burke, Highmore, Rapid City, Redfield, Madison, McIntosh, Mobridge, Murdo, Pierre, Platte, Sioux Falls and Vermillion. This came after Secretary Althoff announced in December 2023 that his department would be changing how child-care assistance was provided, so that providers would on January 1, 2024, start receiving full authorized payments regardless of temporary changes in child attendance. In September 2023, the Governor's Office of Economic Development and the Department of Social Services jointly announced establishment of a community-based child care grant program. of up to $15,000 apiece for planning child care services. It was part of then-Gov. Kristi Noem's federally funded Investment Plan for Child Care. The news release noted, 'The grant is provided through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) providing South Dakota with additional funds designed to create a stronger child care system and industry allowing parents equal access to high quality child care.' In January 2023, the Noem administration announced that the governor was releasing $12.5 million of federal funding for child care services. The governor was quoted in the announcement: 'Over the past several months, we have held listening sessions to receive feedback from parents, child care providers, and communities to hear where state investments can be best utilized. Our joint goal is to increase the options available to parents across the state,' Noem said. She continued, 'We can do this by expanding our state's capacity of high-quality, flexible child care options. And we are looking at opportunities to streamline child care regulations to increase access, as well.' This came after her January 2023 State of the State speech to the Legislature, in which she said her administration would be overhauling child care regulations and rules, and releasing nearly $40 million in federal grants to child care providers. During the Senate debate on Tuesday, Reed said he chaired an ad hoc group on child care last year and staffing surfaced as the top need for child care providers. 'Many child care facilities have empty rooms simply because they cannot find enough workers,' Reed said, and low pay was one of the barriers. 'What they earn is often not even enough to cover the cost of child care while they're at work.' The current child-care services program provides assistance to parents who earn less than 209% of the federal poverty level. HB 1132 would raise that to 300% for families where at least one parent works 30 or more hours per week in child care. Reed said adding one more child care worker would lead to at least 10 more child care slots. 'The fact of the matter is that the child care work force supports all other work forces,' Reed said. Republican Sen. Kevin Jensen explained why he opposed the bill at its Senate committee hearing. 'It's not that I don't have a place in my heart for people who can't afford their child care. But this is a carve-out,' Jensen said. He said teachers should have been included, too. Jensen spoke from his experience as a former school board member. 'I know for a fact that we lose teachers, good quality teachers, every year because they can't afford child care,' he said. Democratic Sen. Jamie Smith defended the bill. 'What it does, it puts more people to take care of kids,' Smith said. 'In my district, we have a crisis, and yours probably too, in child care.' 'I have people who want to work but cannot afford to. This helps — this helps. There's also people who can afford to work but need a place to put their kids. We need places.' Smith acknowledged that other people might need to be included. 'That's not what we're debating right now. We're debating about child care,' he said. Republican Sen. Carl Perry likewise spoke for the bill. He said the YMCA in Aberdeen could add 30 or 40 kids if they had three or four more. 'I'm in favor of it because I really think we need to take care of our kids,' he said. Republican Sen. Paul Miskimins said child care workers earn an average of $12.73 per hour. 'And you try to live on twelve dollars an hour,' he said. 'Normally this is something I would not be favor in,' Republican Sen. Tamara Grove said. But testimony convinced her of its potential. 'So when you can have space for ten to sixteen children, that's a lot of families that will be impacted.' Republican Sen. Taffy Howard spoke against it. 'This bill does not provide any additional funding,' she said. The funding to expand it would come at the cost of the state general fund or the payments to low-income families would be smaller, she warned. 'This is shifting. Someone's going to have to cover the cost here, unless we want to put more money in,' Howard said. Republican Sen. Sue Peterson asked Reed a series of questions. One was who opposed the bill. Reed said the Department of Social Services. 'They're not wanting to change. They don't want to be part of the solution,' Reed said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
City of Galt moving to five election districts
Feb. 20—Galt residents will not be selecting a mayor in future elections. The Galt City Council on Tuesday directed staff and consulting firm Redistricting Partners to draft maps with five election districts and present the final renderings at the March 4 meeting. The maps are part of answer to a letter the city received in August claiming Galt's current at-large system of voting dilutes the ability of Latino voters to elect candidates of their choice or to otherwise influence the outcome of an election. The letter, drafted by the Shenkman & Hughes law firm on behalf of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project, also claimed the at-large elections violate the California Voting Rights Act, which became law in 2003 and attempts to prevent the disenfranchisement of protected classes. A protected class, staff said, is comprised of voters who are members of a race, color, or language minority group. City staff said the letter was a prerequisite to having a lawsuit filed against it, and something no other agency has successfully defended. To avoid a lawsuit, the council in October voted to transition from at-large elections to district elections by April 8. The council had been given the option to move to four districts with an elected at-large mayor, or five districts with a rotating mayor. Councilmembers Mathew Pratton, Tim Reed and Bonnie Rodriguez favored a five-district election, stating that because Galt was still a relatively small town, there was no need to elect an at-large mayor. Pratton feared that opening the city to an elected mayor could produce a victor who ran for power more than for the good of the people. "It's hard to get people to run in this town," he said. "It's a lot of work and most people don't want to do it. To get them to run for mayor is going to be even harder. And I think it narrows us down to folks possibly with ulterior motives." Although Reed favored a five-district council, he thought the division would actually encourage more people to seek office. Resident Paul Salinas favored breaking the council into four districts and electing a mayor who would ultimately have the final decision on issues during meetings. "The buck stops with one person," he said. "We are familiar with a system — if you look at the federal and state elections — we vote for president. We vote for governor. If you look at your staff there's always a senior person in charge. Someone has to take responsibility. Someone has to take the lead." At previous meetings, Chris Brossman favored splitting the council into five districts. But at Tuesday's meeting, he began leaning toward four districts and a mayor, again expressing concern if someone did not run for a particular seat. "The other side to that is, you guys aren't exactly paid handsomely, so maybe we should look at the mayor's salary and increase it over double, because his time is going to be more encompassing," he said. Vice Mayor Paul Sandhu also favored four districts and a mayor, but said he would go along with what the majority of the council decided. "We have the opportunity to give more power to the residents," he said of electing a mayor. "And then in the districts, everybody can be their own district. With you running for just one district, someone with a problem will call you, and you can say 'that's my problem and I can solve it.'" Once a final map is selected, council seats in districts 1, 3 and 5 will be up for election in 2026. Seats for districts 2 and 4 will be up for election in 2028. The council will assign district numbers specific areas at a future meeting.
