Ernst talks about legislation to help nonprofit child care centers

In a visit to Mt. Pleasant last week, U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said there are a number of legislative bills making their way through Congress to help child care providers, legislation that could help the fledgling child care center that the Mt. Pleasant Chamber Alliance is spearheading.

“We have a lot of efforts in that area, and it’s bipartisan,” Ernst said.

One of those bills would allow nonprofit organizations to apply for Small Business Administration loans. Ernst is sponsoring the legislation with Jacky Rosen, a Democrat from Nevada.

“Currently, nonprofits can’t apply for the Small Business Administration for those types of loans or activities,” Ernst said. “Because we have so many churches that are engaged in day care centers wanting to expand those, I wanted to make sure they also had the opportunity to gain access to capital.”

She said expanding existing child care centers is a way to grow the number of slots available for children at those centers.

The bill, S.2549 called the Small Business Child Care Investment Act, has been referred to the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee.

In the CARES package, federal dollars were allocated for day care centers and providers. For Iowa, that meant $32 million from the initial plan.

“So we are able to keep our children safe, keep some doors open, and essential workers had somewhere to take their children,” the senator said.

Ernst was in Mt. Pleasant as part of her 99-county tour of the state. She met with the organizing committee for the Mt. Pleasant Childcare Center.