Child care providers and eligible parents whose children meet kindergarten readiness standards would get a $2,000 bonus under legislation that passed a House committee vote Thursday, bringing it another step closer to final passage.
Senate Bill 191 would create a pilot program estimated to cost $1.8 million to incentivize parents and child care centers to get Kentucky children ready for schools, says sponsor Sen. Danny Carroll. He said that even parents who don’t have access to child care could benefit from the program.
“You all know the waiting list in child care centers today,” said the Republican from Paducah. “The idea is for [parents] to have assets available to them to help them instruct their child and prepare that child for kindergarten, and then the direct payment or the tax credit would go directly to the parent.”
The measure has already passed the Senate with bipartisan support and is now making headway in the House, which has passed its own package to incentivize and lower barriers for private child care providers in the state. Carroll was the president and CEO of West Kentucky Easterseals, which provided child care and adult care services. His 2026 financial disclosures indicate he retired last year.
Rep. Samara Heavrin, a Republican from Leitchfield who chairs the committee, says she feels SB 191 compliments the work she’s doing to increase the availability and affordability of child care in Kentucky.
“Child care is such a big issue that we've got to figure out,” Heavrin said. “There are more than one way to skin a cat, and I feel like we are trying to figure out the best way to do that.”
Child care deserts in many of Kentucky’s rural counties and long-wait lists across the state have become a pain point in the state. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has pushed hard for expanded state-funded pre-K, but Republican leadership said they have no intention of moving forward with a plan that would create new long-term obligations for state funds.
Under SB 191, researchers at the University of Kentucky would start establishing the new pilot program in August this year and begin the study by August 2027. They would be tasked with determining the best way to provide the incentives so that early childhood educators, child care providers and low-income parents can benefit.
“We don't want you to close. We want you to stay open,” said Colin Shepley, the chair of the early childhood education program at the University of Kentucky. “This is funding to help you do that. Essentially, keep doing what you are doing.”
The participants would have to represent “geographically and socioeconomically diverse” parts of the state and design a collection of resources for parents who want to make sure their children are ready to start kindergarten.
Some members of the Kentucky General Assembly, especially members of the liberty wing of the GOP, have expressed reservations about the government getting involved in private business, like child care.
Carroll said Thursday he feels expanding the awards to also benefit low-income parents, who must fit the eligibility criteria for existing child care subsidies, addressed those concerns.
“I know there are members that struggle with subsidizing private businesses, and we wanted to expand this to make sure that low income families have the availability to this,” Carroll said.
Democratic Rep Tina Bojanowski of Louisville said she was excited to see how the researchers decided to measure kindergarten readiness, saying she worried about test prepping for existing assessments.
“We don't want to make that the case. We need true kindergarten readiness. And so I'm really looking forward to understanding what kind of measure you come up with,” said Bojanowski, a special education teacher.
