LINCOLN — Calling affordable child care vital to Nebraska’s workforce, business leaders joined other advocates Thursday in championing a proposed state law to extend current income eligibility levels for a child care subsidy.

Hunter Traynor, executive vice president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry was among dozens gathered at the State Capitol in support of Legislative Bill 304, which would make permanent the income eligibility caps enacted into law in 2021.

Now set to expire in October, income eligibility for the state child care subsidy program was raised from 130% to 185% of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, that meant household earnings could be $59,000 instead of $42,000.

State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha, who was part of a bipartisan group of about 20 lawmakers supporting the bill, said she has named LB 304 her priority legislation for the 2026 session.

The bill stalled last year in a committee, as state officials estimated the annual financial impact at about $14 million in general funds. The state’s latest shortfall is estimated at $471 million. DeBoer said Thursday she was working with the Department of Health and Human Services to find the additional funding to support the bill.

“While there is a cost to this child care assistance, the cost to the state of doing nothing is much larger,” she said. “So we will find a fiscal solution.”

Said Traynor: “Passing this legislation would help nearly 3,000 families remain eligible for child care assistance and help employers remain fully staffed in an extremely tight labor market.”

Child care providers and advocacy agencies said that was a conservative number.

Lost Business Output

Traynor pointed to a recent report estimating the annual state impact of inadequate child care at $1.7 billion in lost business output and $1.6 billion in lost labor income, including both direct and multiplier effects. He said that leads to a loss of nearly $64 million in state income tax revenue and 6,843 jobs.

The report was prepared for the Nebraska Chamber Foundation in partnership with First Five Nebraska and the Bureau of Business Research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. It says that the median annual cost for child care services ranges between $9,000 and $15,000 per child for center-based care.

DeBoer said the state was at a “crisis point” in 2021 when it changed the child care subsidy eligibility levels to help parents remain in the workplace. She said assistance came in other ways as well, including streamlining the process for background checks of child care workers.

“The work isn’t done,” she said.

If the bill does not pass, child care representatives said Nebraska would fall to No. 48 in the nation for access to child care subsidies based on income eligibility. Currently, Nebraska ranks at 38, said First Five Nebraska, a child care advocacy agency.

Nebraska’s child care assistance program is funded by a mix of federal and state funds for a total of about $110 million a year, First Five said.

Former Nebraska football player Derek Branch also spoke, urging former Husker defensive back Gov. Jim Pillen to stand by “working families and their children” by supporting the bill.

“Now is not the time to drop the ball,” Branch said.

‘My Lifeline’

Haley Overman, a widowed mom of three children, said she would be among the families that would lose a child care subsidy if the eligibility income levels were to return to previous levels in October.

“It’s basically my lifeline,” she said, noting that she lost a second income when her husband died.

Overman, who works in the medical billing industry, said she has a house and car payment and is uncertain of how her family life would change further if she lost the child care subsidy. She said she might have to sell their home.

State Sen. Bob Hallstrom of Syracuse, also among the speakers, also turned to Nebraska’s workforce concerns in voicing support for the bill.

“This is a practical, Nebraska-focused investment, one that supports work, strengthens families and keeps businesses competitive in both rural and urban communities,” he said.

This story was published by Nebraska Examiner, an editorially independent newsroom providing a hard-hitting, daily flow of news. Read the original article: https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/01/08/business-state-lawmaker-groups-c...