Charlane Oliver

Sen. Charlane Oliver

Sen. Charlane Oliver (D-Nashville) is leading a charge to make child care more accessible and affordable for Tennessee families with a slate of bills she said work in tandem to mitigate what she called a “hidden crisis.”

Three bills target the Department of Human Services’ Smart Steps program, which offers child care payment assistance for low income families at participating centers. With Rep. Bob Freeman (D-Nashville), Oliver introduced Senate Bill 2064/House Bill 2233, which would raise the income cap for eligible families from 85 percent to 100 percent of the area median income. Another bill (SB2207/HB2822) brought by Oliver and Rep. Karen Camper (D-Memphis) would eliminate a co-pay required to be part of the program for those making under 150 percent of the federal poverty level and caps fees at 7 percent of household income for families above the federal poverty line.