By: Donovan W. Mann – [email protected]
Dakota City, IA – U.S. Senator Joni Ernst looks to local leaders for suggestions on how to better improve childcare during her visit to Humboldt County.
On Wednesday, April 7, the senator made a trip to the county to visit with some of the local leaders in the community. Director of the Humboldt County Development Association Alissa O’Connor says most of her visit was spent on how to address issues facing the childcare industry as a whole.
Senator Ernst received a tour of Kiddie Cats Child Care in Dakota City. She then held a general brainstorming session with the local leaders.
O’Connor suggested the development of an apprenticeship like program that is utilized in other professions to increase the work force. She says the can introduce new workers into the field and develop the skills needed for top quality childcare providers.
Humboldt’s City Administrator Travis Goedken was among those meeting with Ernst and gave two suggestions. The first is address the caps on the tax deduction parents receive for their childcare expenses. He questions why it is capped and says they could raise the cap, eliminate it or change it from a “deduction” to a “credit.”
The second suggestion made by Goedken was make adjustment to Dependent Flex Spending accounts. These accounts allow parents to use “pre-taxed dollars” to spend on child care but are capped. The city administrator again questions why it is capped and suggests the removal of the cap or an increase.
O’Connor says the meeting with Senator Ernst was very general and not Humboldt specific. Still she labels it a “great visit.”