EXCERPT: “In 2019, the Legislature passed a slate of laws to reduce fraud in Minnesota’s largest child care subsidy. Now, state lawmakers are considering whether to give new money to the program and raise tuition reimbursement rates for low-income families to meet federal standards. State Sen. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, said changes to the Child Care Assistance Program have opened the door for possible new funding, signaling a different strategy for a Republican-led Senate that tried to abolish the program last year. Yet finding money in a legislative session with several competing priorities will be the largest obstacle to spending on CCAP, not fraud concerns, said Abeler, who chairs the Senate’s Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee . . . The issue has quickly become a focus in St. Paul, as lawmakers debate the best way to handle a $1.3 billion projected surplus.” FULL STORY: https://fluence-media.co/37wc56O
