Senate lawmakers in Maine unanimously voted Tuesday to advance a resolve increasing salary supplements for child care providers willing to look after babies. This measure also seeks to establish a grant program for facilities offering overnight care.
All 34 senators present for Tuesday’s vote expressed support for the proposal. One Republican lawmaker was excused.
This measure, LD 1414, was originally introduced as a concept draft by Senate President Mattie Daughtry (D-Cumberland).
The language shared by Senate President Daughtry in January was eventually supplanted by committee members with a resolve providing the same kind of targeted benefits beginning on January 1, 2027.
Under this resolve, the Maine Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is directed to give child care providers and early childhood educators who look after babies receiving salary supplements a 20 percent boost over the base rate.
For the purposes of this measure, babies are defined as children between 6 weeks and 36 months old.
DHHS would also need to establish a grant program to help facilitate the offering of child care between the hours of 6pm and 6am.
Funds obtained through this program could be used to “hire experts or consultants or dedicated staff to develop a plan for how a provider could and would provide child care services” during this window of time.
Awards would be given on a one-time basis and could be valued at up to $10,000. The combined amount of all awards given through this program could total no more than $500,000 in the 2027-2028 fiscal year.
All told, these initiatives are expected to require the state to cover an additional $3 million worth of expenses in the current biennial budget, as the January 1, 2027 implementation date falls within the 2026-27 fiscal year.
Click Here for More Information on LD 1414
Discussions surrounding salary supplements and state-level financial support for child care providers have been ongoing in recent months.
Last spring, child care workers from across the state gathered in Augusta to protest proposed cuts to Maine’s existing child care salary supplements, arguing that the stipends are essential to their ability to keep their doors open.
This program, first launched in 2021, provides a monthly stipend to workers in the child care industry. In the beginning, this benefit was valued at $200 per month and was funded using federal pandemic assistance.
The Salary Supplement program continued to be funded into 2022, with benefits being increased to between $275 and $625 — depending upon the caregiver’s education and experience — in early 2024.
[RELATED: Maine Child Care Workers Gather to Protest $30M in Proposed Cuts to Salary Supplement Program]
Due to high demand on the program, lawmakers quickly reduced the benefit amount over the summer to from $240 to $540.
Gov. Janet Mills’ (D) proposed biennial budget at the time had recommended reducing funding to 2022 levels in an effort to address the state’s budget shortfalls, but the HHS Committee ultimately voted 10-3 in favor of removing these reductions from the budget proposal, preserving the increased benefit amount for the next two years.
Despite unanimous support on the floor of the Senate, lawmakers on the HHS Committee were divided over LD 1414’s proposed salary supplement expansion and new grant program, with four Republican members of the committee voting Ought Not to Pass.
The majority’s Ought to Pass as Amended report was accepted by all Senate lawmakers present during Tuesday’s vote and will be subject to a second reading during the next legislative meeting.
House lawmakers will then be given the opportunity to vote on this resolve as well.
