District 12 Senator Amy Sinclair

The 2026 Iowa Legislative session is slowly coming to a close.

Senator for District 12 Amy Sinclair says that in the previous week, the Senate went over House File 2514, which pertains to child care workers. She tells Raccoon Valley Radio this legislation works to get more and high quality childcare workers in the workforce, and why it does so.

“As we look at the issues surrounding child care in Iowa, there are a couple of things that jump out, and one of them is just a lack of providers and a lack of folks working in those facilities. And sometimes the barrier to that is that it is cheaper for them, given the wages, to just stay at home with their own children rather than to be there and have the job of working in a child care center.”

Sinclair mentions that the bill would allow childcare workers and providers to work in a facility and have their children qualify for the benefits that come with the childcare assistance program. She adds that this bill has been signed by Governor Kim Reynolds.