A US Senator from Iowa recently visited with several key individuals on Saturday in Dallas County about a nationally-important topic.

Senator Joni Ernst was at the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and held a roundtable discussion focusing on childcare and access to facilities for youth. She started the conversation by asking for solutions from everyone to help with building a new childcare facility, recruiting and retaining staff and making childcare affordable for parents. She pointed out one of the biggest issues facing the childcare industry are wages and benefits for staff. 

As the ranking member on the Small Business Committee in the Senate, Ernst talked about how the childcare issue stretches beyond Iowa’s borders.

“All the states are in a similar situation with what we call our ‘childcare desserts.’ It’s just finding the right solution that works for the right communities. We don’t have a one size fits all solution because we know it won’t work for every community across the United States. What we need to find is a way where they can go through, look at different available programs, and make sure they fit for the communities. But if they’re not fitting for the communities then we need to figure out a way to maybe modify those programs.”        

Some of the ideas that came out of the discussion were using taxes to benefit parents to help pay for childcare, opening the Small Business Association funding bill to non-profits, and having childcare center staff buy into a retirement program.