Prince George’s County, Maryland, is taking what it hopes is a big step to make childcare more affordable and accessible, with a new set of bills that council leaders say could help both families and small business owners across the county.
Council Chair Krystal Oriadha signed off on six different bills focused on childcare Monday, writing her name in pen with one hand while her own son was held in her lap with the other.
Oriadha called the package a landmark moment for the county.
“There are so many families across the county that are struggling to find access to affordable childcare that need a little bit of help to afford it,” Oriadha said.
The bills include the Child Care Expansion Quality Improvement Act, the Child Care Building Blocks Act, the Early Start Child Care Scholarship Program, the Quality of Life Improvement Fund and the Child Care Consumer Contract Protection Act.
According to Oriadha, the package will create a new scholarship program for low-income parents, offer block grants to help small providers start up or expand, and set up a fund to help pay for the programs.
Brianna Meadows, a mother from Capitol Heights who is starting her own family childcare center, said the new scholarship program and grant opportunities could make a real difference for families and providers alike.
“Childcare is more than, or almost as much as, a mortgage,” Meadows said. The scholarships, she added, “are definitely going to benefit those parents who may be looking for quality childcare and just can’t afford it.”
Jasmine Mumtaz, who owns Royal Kids Weekend Childcare in Temple Hills, said she is more confident about reopening her childcare business, which shut down during the pandemic.
“Supporting this bill was important because not only do childcare providers face financial hardships, so do families,” Mumtaz said. “These bills support not only starting, but sustaining childcare services. And not only that, we can add resources and things of that nature. And also get and keep families in our programs, because the scholarships will help them with any type of financial barriers.”
But absent from the ceremony was County Executive Aisha Braveboy, whose signature is needed for the package of bills to become law. Oriadha said it was a scheduling issue.
One of the six bills continues to generate controversy. The legislation, facing an inevitable court challenge, charges only businesses like liquor stores, gun stores, tobacco stores and self-storage units a $5,000 annual fee — a fee that will go up every year — just to open the doors.
Not everyone in Largo is confident it will survive a court challenge. The money generated from the bill would help fund some of these programs. A spokesman for Braveboy wasn’t able to say how the county executive feels about the bill, nor could Oriadha.
“I’m not worried about it,” Oriadha said. “I think obviously the industry is going to make it clear that they want to fight it, and I’ve made it clear that I’m going to fight for the residents of Prince George’s County.”
Regardless of what happens next, Oriadha also said she was working to create a ballot measure that would go to referendum this November. It would essentially give the council more authority to charge such fees, and thus make it harder to overturn measures like the one the council just passed.
“We want to be open to business — for the right types of business,” she said. “And I’m unapologetic about saying I don’t want to be open to business for 20 more 24-hour tobacco stores and more things that don’t benefit the residents of Prince George’s County.”
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