The motion prevailed.
Senator McMorrow’s statement is as follows:
I rise in strong support of Senate Bill No. 310, and I want to take just a moment to tell you why this vote matters so much to me and why I believe it matters to every Michigan family. Childcare is the infrastructure that enables the rest of our economy to run—parents can’t go to work without it, businesses can’t retain their workforce without it, and children can’t get the early foundation they need without it. Right now, though, that infrastructure is broken.
The average Michigan family spends a staggering share of their household income on childcare—costs that have forced parents, particularly mothers, out of the workforce entirely. Here’s just one example. Shortly after my daughter was born, I was talking with another mom in the neighborhood. She told me that she had applied to over 20 childcare programs for her two boys, each with a non-refundable deposit just to get onto the waiting list. The application process alone put her out hundreds of dollars. Even if she had been able to find two openings, she calculated that the cost would amount to almost her entire salary. So after an agonizing search, she reluctantly decided to leave her job and stay home with her kids. It was a loss for her, and for her employer. That’s a policy failure, and today we have a chance to fix it.
Senate Bill No. 310 codifies the Tri-Share Child Care Program into law. Tri-Share is an innovative, proven, and bipartisan solution. The model is simple. The cost for quality, licensed childcare is split three ways equally, among the employer, the employee, and the state of Michigan. Families can reduce their childcare costs by two-thirds, and more employers can afford to offer childcare as a competitive benefit to attract the best workers. It’s a win-win-win.
This isn’t a new experiment. Tri-Share has already demonstrated results across dozens of Michigan counties, with hundreds of employers participating—from manufacturers and health systems to small businesses and nonprofits. We’ve seen the data. We’ve heard the testimony from parents, from childcare providers, and from employers who use it as a recruitment and retention tool. Simply, it works. What this bill does is make it permanent. It gives families, employers, and providers the certainty they need to plan ahead. It says that Michigan is a family-friendly state committed to affordable childcare, not just for now, but for years to come.
As a mom of a young daughter, I don’t have to imagine what Michigan parents are going through. I know. And I know that no parent should have to choose between paying for childcare and keeping the lights on. No employer should watch talented workers walk out the door because they can’t afford to stay. And no child should miss out on quality early care because the system failed them before they even started kindergarten. A vote for Senate Bill No. 310 is a vote for Michigan’s working families; it’s a vote for our economy, and it’s a vote for the next generation of Michiganders. I ask for your support, and I encourage you to vote “yes.”
The following bill was read a third time:
Senate Bill No. 311, entitled
A bill to require the adjustment of reimbursements made to child care providers under the child development and care program for inflation; and to provide for the powers and duties of certain state and local governmental officers and entities.
The question being on the passage of the bill,
The bill was passed, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: