Melissa Whithorn knew she needed to get out of her marriage. She had endured emotional and verbal abuse for years, but the fear of what awaited her outside the relationship was paralyzing.
When Whithorn would think about what it might look like to leave her life and home in Alabama, she was flooded with anxiety about life as a single mom to her young son and stress about making it on her own. Three years ago, it finally became too much, and she took the first job she could find out of state and didn’t ask many questions.
It brought Whithorn to Montana, where she eventually transitioned into early childhood education and, last year, bought Einsteins Learning Center in Livingston. The career gave Whithorn a path to financial freedom and the confidence to step out of her abusive marriage.
According to federal estimates, about 90% of the national child care workforce is made up of women.Some are in situations like Whithorn once was.
But it’s becoming harder for people to make a living in the field. Montana child care workers make a median wage of $13 per hour, and most go without benefits like health insurance or paid time off. Whithorn said it’s seen as a “dead-end job,” so much so that she can’t hire enough employees to operate at full capacity.
Often, one of the only perks daycare owners can offer to sweeten the pot is waiving tuition for employees who have daycare-aged kids of their own; however, that means businesses barely scraping by have to foot the bill.
House Bill 456 from Rep. Jonathan Karlen, D-Missoula, would expand the existing child care subsidy program to parents who work in the industry.
With its $5.5 million annual price tag, HB 456 would routestate dollars to providers to pay for employees' children. Right now, many foot the bill themselves. In turn, providers would be able to both retain day care workers and get some financial breathing room to avoid closure, which they say will have a positive economic ripple effect across entire communities.
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“I have nurses. I have carpenters. I have policemen,” Whithorn said, describing the parents whose kids are enrolled at Einsteins. “I have teachers, plumbers, hairdressers and contractors. Those are the people relying on me. Those are the businesses that will not be able to function if I don’t stay open.”
HB 456 passed 27-22 last week, and now heads to the governor’s desk.
Best Beginnings is an existing child care scholarship based on income. Families that make up to 185% of the federal poverty income level — about $49,302 for a household of three — are eligible.
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Using a combination of state and federal money, the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services partially covers tuition costs so families pay no more than 9% of their income on day care; the exact amount of help a family receives is based on a sliding scale.
Many early education professionals make too much to be eligible for the program but not enough to afford the cost of child care — an average of $11,700 per year at a center, or $9,100 in a home-based option.
HB 456 would help to close that gap. Child care workers from a household whose total income is less than two times the state median earnings — which would be around $100,000 for a family of three — would be eligible for the benefit.
Some lawmakers were shocked that, under the proposal, a family could be earning six figures and be eligible for government benefits.
One Billings Republican posited these families didn’t need the help. The money would just go toward buying a new snowmobile or jet ski, he said. A GOP senator from Kalispell suggested that child care is an “entry-level profession” that’s never meant to result in a “capstone career” unless a person starts their own facility.
Child care workers told the Montana State News Bureau they’ve been dismayed and disappointed listening to some of the conversations in the Capitol about their career.
“Part of me feels frustrated because I feel like people who have not been in child care are making these decisions,” said Katie Adams, co-founder of Choteau Youth Alliance. “ If they had, we would be having very different conversations.”
Democrats, who billed child care as one of their top priorities heading into the 2025 legislative session, tried to defend early education professionals and emphasize the economic multiplier effect of investing in this industry.
“Think virtual bridges and roads,” said Sen. Christopher Pope, a Bozeman Democrat. “This is infrastructure for our economy.”
Described by providers as a “game changer” and “lifeline” for their businesses, HB 456 took some cajoling to make its way through the Legislature.
Karlen first presented the bill in February, alongside a second $17-million-a-year proposal that would have made more households eligible for Best Beginnings based on income. HB 456 survived the House floor with bipartisan support; the larger package did not.
The bill then made its way over to the Senate side, where it was tabled by the Public Health, Welfare and Safety Committee after a hearing that left some early education professionals feeling like some lawmakers didn’t understand the industry’s dire straits.
At multiple points, a couple lawmakers suggested child care businesses should be able to pick up the tab for their workers — just raise tuition to cover those costs.
“That made me realize that he doesn’t understand how razor-thin the margin is,” said Marmot Snetsinger, owner of Little Twigs in Missoula. “It’s not about turning a profit. It’s about making it.”
Little Twigs employs 25 people, a mix of entry-level and more qualified professionals. Those just starting out still qualify for Best Beginnings based on income (they make between $14 and $15 per hour) but once they get more experience, Snetsinger pays more, and eventually many clear the income threshold.
Because Snetsinger wants to retain qualified and experienced child care providers, she pays for children’s tuition, an amount that ranges from a small copay left over after the Best Beginnings subsidy to $1,300 each month for an employee who is no longer eligible for the program.
If she raises prices to cover their costs, families won’t be able to afford Little Twigs. Instead, Snetsinger hustles to fundraise private donations to make it work.
“If they can’t bring their kids, I don’t know if I can stay open,” Snetsinger told the Montana States News Bureau. She added that every employee she loses is equivalent to four infants or eight toddlers in the community she can’t offer spots to.
Though the Republican-led committee tabled HB 456, Democrats partnered with the nine Republicans who have become allies on shared priorities this session to use a ‘blast motion’ to give the bill a full vote on the Senate floor. This procedural maneuver allows a simple majority of the chamber to overrule a committee’s decision to halt a bill’s march through the Legislature.
It remains to be seen if Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte will sign the bill, which was not a part of his original budget proposal.
HB 456 is one of a handful of child care proposals considered by the Montana State Legislature this session.
“This is the one that counts,” Snetsinger said. “It’s practical. It’s economical. This has been the most important child care bill in this legislative session.”
