Congress is sending families less help for day care costs. So states are stepping in

Child care has long been expensive for families, hard to find and financially precarious for day care owners and workers. Congress tried to alleviate some of these problems during the pandemic. But as the record $52.5 billion in relief winds down, many states have stepped in. They're expanding free preschool and helping more families pay for child care. Recognizing that a federal solution is unlikely to materialize anytime soon, policymakers have come up with novel ways to pay for their plans. New Mexico, for instance, has tapped into its petroleum revenue, Washington state put a new tax on investment profits, and Kentucky is incentivizing parents to become child care workers.