The Legislature has been in session for just over a week, and so far two bills addressing child care in Iowa have made it through a subcommittee. Child care remains a priority for lawmakers this session as they work to address the state’s workforce shortage. The bills that have advanced through the House Human Services Subcommittee are:

• House Study Bill 511, which increases the number of children a child care provider can have in their care. An individual provider can have no more than six 2-year-olds and eight 3-year-olds in their care. The bill adds two additional children to those ratios. That means an individual child care provider could care for up to eight 2-year-olds and 10 3-year-olds.
• House Study Bill 510, which allows child care centers to voluntarily ask families who receive child care assistance to pay the difference between what they pay and the market rate.