House committee advances legislation to create a new program to improve childhood literacy and workforce shortages

A key House committee advanced legislation this week that’s designed to address workforce shortages and early childhood literacy in one swoop.Representative Mark White’s, R-Memphis, “Promising Futures” bill intends to make this happen by combining an early childhood literacy program with childcare services for children. The goal is to help parents around the state where unaffordable childcare interferes with the workforce.“As I traveled around the state talking to superintendents, mayors, chairmen of commerce, the biggest issue they always brought up was ‘we just don’t have enough affordable or available childcare.’ Well, I started thinking about that and combined that with working in the education committee, we also have issues with early childhood literacy,” said White. “So, I began to think of ‘what about this concept, what if we were to marry the two?’ We have what is known as the Tennessee Promise which come out of our lottery funds, but on the front end, what if we were to combine the two and call it ‘Promising Futures?’”Promising Futures would be a last dollar scholarship for early learning programs similar to the Tennessee Promise. White is proposing a statewide pilot program lasting four years and funded annually through $5 million in sports betting revenue.Tennessee households with incomes up to 100 percent of the median state income, which is around 88 thousand for a family of four, would be eligible.“One of the big issues: childcare is so expensive when it’s available. They say right now, the average childcare cost could be as much as 35 thousand a year. And so, without affordable, available childcare in our state, it keeps many of our family members out of the workforce which does hurt our workforce,” said White.The Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) would handle the rulemaking and literacy while the Tennessee Department of Human Services (DHS) would handle the childcare under the plan.While the bill ultimately found majority support among committee members, some expressed concern whether undocumented immigrants would be eligible.Representative Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville, additionally expressed reservations that White’s proposal doesn’t have foundation yet to proceed.“I feel like you’re building the plane while it’s in the air. I don’t feel like this is a plan. This is an idea that needs to be a plan before it becomes a bill in my view,” said Johnson.Johnson was one of three committee members, along with Representatives Justin Jones, D-Nashville, and Justin Lafferty, R-Knoxville, to vote against the bill.