Utah’s Been Called a Child Care ‘Desert.’ State Lawmakers Look at Ways to Increase Access

2025 is shaping up to be a banner year for child care in the Utah Legislature. Here are some of the bills working their way through the statehouse.

Updating Child Care Programs
Representative Tracy Miller, R-South Jordan, introduced HB410, “Child Care Amendments.” This bill would expand and standardize child care facilities throughout the state of Utah by tweaking existing laws.

If enacted, Miller’s bill will put the following regulations into effect on May 7, 2025:

Permission for child care centers with 16 to 99 children to operate warming kitchens, or kitchens meant just to warm up food, taking away the requirement for them to have full kitchens.
Expansion of the definition of “teaching experience” to include preschool teaching in child care programs.
Permission for housing and transit reinvestment zones to set aside up to 1% of their funds to expand their local child care facilities.

HB410 has not yet advanced to committee for review.
Miller’s bill comes along with a variety of other bills modifying Utah child care facilities. Such changes come as Utah has been labeled a child care “desert”— meaning that statistically, most Utahns don’t have access to day cares that will serve their needs, as the Deseret News previously reported.

Issues finding child care create a revenue loss of around $1.36 billion per year for Utah’s economy, according to an estimate by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Corporate-Owned Daycares
Representative Karon Lisonbee, R-Clearfield, and Representative Jason Thompson, R-River Heights, introduced HB389, or “Child Care Business Tax Credit.” This bill would provide tax incentives to encourage the building of more daycare centers.

If enacted, this bill will put the following into effect on January 1, 2026:

A 20% tax credit for employers who contract with an outside company to provide child care for their employees.
A 50% tax credit for employers who maintain their own child care programs for employees.

HB389 has not yet advanced to committee for review.

More Daycares
Senate Minority Leader Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, introduced SB189, or the Child Care Capacity Expansion Act. This bill would flip unused, state-owned buildings into child care centers.

If passed, the bill will require the following, effective on May 7, 2025:

Retrofitting obsolete state-owned buildings into child care facilities.
Paying for these facilities' maintenance and utility costs with state funds.
Requiring that 40% of spots in each program be reserved for local community members.
Providing discounts to low-income community members.

This bill comes in tandem with HB389 by Representative Lisonbee. Escamilla shared that she and Lisonbee frequently work together on child care legislation.

“Representative Lisonbee and myself, we cochair the (Utah Senate) Women and Economics subcommittee,” Escamilla tells the Deseret News. “So these bills and this concept have been discussed for three years, and they came out of our strategic plan.”

Requirements for Child Care Providers
Escamilla has also advanced SB221, “Child Care Revisions,” which would add regulations for child care providers in Utah.

If passed, the bill will put the following regulations into effect on May 7, 2025:

Requirements for residential child care providers to obtain licenses and certifications when caring for five or more children, down from the current threshold of nine children.
Updates to criminal background check requirements.
Additional restrictions on child care providers caring for children under age three.
Allows for home inspections of certified child care providers by the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.

Escamilla’s bill is set to be reviewed by the Senate Business and Labor Committee, though its hearing date has not yet been specified.

— Source: Deseret News