Republican Sen. Danny Carroll is expected to unveil his relief package for Kentucky child care on Tuesday. (LRC Public Information)
Republican state Sen. Danny Carroll has announced his anticipated child care legislation will come with a $300 million price tag.
The ambitious proposal, called the Horizons Act, would have Kentucky spend far more than the $52 million approved by the House for the child care sector and the $141 million that Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear proposed . Child care advocates have said both proposals fall short of what is needed with the end of pandemic-era federal aid that has been sustaining child care in Kentucky.
Without help from General Assembly, Kentucky child care industry facing ‘scary’ 2024
The Horizons Act would spend $150 million per year of the two-year budget cycle to “help the industry sustain operations and create more opportunities for working Kentucky families and children,” says a media advisory from the Senate Majority Caucus. It will address “Kentucky’s early childhood education crisis, particularly as federal pandemic-era funding dries up.”