Gov. Rauner Backs Down On Restrictions For State Child Care Assistance
(CBS) -- Governor Bruce Rauner has backed down on restrictions imposed this summer for state child care assistance. That is easing some—but not all—tensions over the issue, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore.
Tasha Kelly, who provides childcare services in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood, says when Governor Rauner tightened restrictions on child care assistance in July, he created a crisis for working parents.
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"One that has kept 90 percent, that's right 90 percent, of eligible low income families in Chicago and around the state from enrolling in child care assistance program," she said.
A spokesman for the governor says a compromise with lawmakers will relax those restrictions.
State Representative La Shawn Ford applauds the governor but Alderman Roderick Sawyer is not yet ready to give up on a bill that would restore all the governor's child care cuts.
"As it stands right now, the bill that is sitting there before us is our best opportunity to get some relief," he said.
The governor's office still feels that bill would cost too much.
