Child Care: Deal Means Funding Not Dead

Despite appearances, funding for the Working Connections child care program may not suffer a $30 million cut after all, according to a state representative who has withdrawn a budget amendment that would have restored funding for the program.

The House’s approved budget doesn’t include the $30 million, but as budget writers from the two legislative bodies sit down and hash out their differences this week, the Senate’s version does — it even offers to “increase availability of child care services” by taking away money from jobs and employment-search programs.

Rep. Mary Helen Roberts says the House Ways and Means Committee chair, Rep. Kelli Linville, promised her she would hew to the Senate’s version during the budget reconciliation process. That’s no guarantee, says Roberts, but she says she’s “confident” that a cut on the order of magnitude she was trying to fight — $30 million — won’t go through. Rep. Linville did not return a phone call seeking comment.