February 28, 2022 10:30 a.m. 

Responding to the growing need for more affordable child care, on Monday the Oregon House passed House Bill 4005 B, to stabilize child care workforce and infrastructure in order to support working families across the state.

Representative Karin Power, a Democrat from Milwaukie said, “As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, we must continue to build a system where every family can find care so our children can have joyous, reliable and meaningful early childhood experiences”. A release from Oregon House Democrats said Power was the chief sponsor of the bill and chair of the House Committee on Early Childhood. Power said, “We can only reach this goal if child care providers and workers are paid well for their essential and difficult work. This is an important step towards that goal”.

The release said the legislation will increase the amount of money providers who accept Employment Related Day Care subsidies receive per child, getting to more equitable compensation rates. This will also increase purchasing power for parents who utilize ERDC.

The legislation comes in response to a child care provider shortage, driven in large part by “inadequate wages and compensation for this workforce” according to Democrats. The release said the shortage has also impacted working families’ and especially mom’s, ability to find reliable and accessible child care.

The bill passed 52-7 and now heads to the Senate for consideration.