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Early education providers and teachers from the Iron Range piled on a bus headed south on Monday morning, shuttering their child care centers for the day so they could lobby lawmakers at the state Capitol in the final week of the legislative session.

Lawmakers have all but crushed the hopes of child care advocates with a minimalist session, but advocates continue to push for increased spending as part of the Day Without Child Care, a national campaign coordinated by the progressive organization .

鈥淲e鈥檙e closer to closing our centers permanently than people think,鈥� said Amanda Reed, the director of two child care centers in Virginia, Minn.

As independent child care providers struggle to make ends meet, Minnesota families are paying some of the 鈥斅燼nd early education staff make far . Across the state, there is a shortage of child care slots and a need for new providers to enter the industry.

The coalition鈥檚 highest priority this session was a bill to establish the Great Start Child Care Affordability Program, which would have subsidized child care costs for families making less than 150% of the state鈥檚 median income. If fully funded 鈥� the bill鈥檚 authors estimate it would cost 鈥斅爄t would cap qualifying families鈥� child care expenses at 7% of their household income and stabilize income for child care providers.

The bill received hearings in both chambers but due to the cost.

With tighter budgets looming on the horizon, DFL leadership 鈥斅爄ncluding Gov. Tim Walz 鈥攈ave taken a more cautious approach to spending this year; of the $540 million supplemental , around $59 million was earmarked for spending on children and families.

Which means neither parents nor child care workers can expect much help in the foreseeable future.

Cody Lupich, a school-age teacher and classroom lead at Iron Range Tykes in Mountain Iron, said his $16 an hour wage is above average for the industry and region 鈥� but he鈥檚 about to start a third job in order to save up for a down payment on a home.

鈥淚鈥檓 here today because this is a job I want to stay in for a long time,鈥� Lupich said.

Last year, the DFL-controlled Legislature spent including about $575 million to continue a federal COVID-era program that boosted teacher pay.

鈥淭丑别 have been fantastic. We needed the funding. We still need the funding,鈥� said Pat Ives, director of Kiddy Karousel child care center in Hibbing.

Ives listed off institutions that receive public funding: the Minnesota Zoo, the Science Museum of Minnesota, public schools and community colleges.

鈥淲hy isn鈥檛 child care on that list?鈥� she asked.

(Child care does receive significant public spending, but not nearly enough to ensure families aren鈥檛 paying more than 7% of their income on child care, which is a goal set by the federal government.)

At a rally in the Capitol rotunda, Rep. Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, DFL-Eden Prairie, promised the child care workers and advocates that she would continue pushing for the Great Start Child Care Affordability Program.

Many advocates wore purple shirts 鈥� representing the mixing of red and blue 鈥� calling not for 鈥渓iving wages鈥� but 鈥渢hriving wages鈥� for child care workers.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: [email protected]. Follow Minnesota Reformer on and .

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