To amend section 5747.01 and to enact section 5180.23 of the Revised Code to establish the At-Home Infant Care Program in the Department of Children and Youth, to exempt payments received under the program from the state income tax, to name this act the At-Home Infant Care Program Act, and to make an appropriation.
HB782 creates the At-Home Infant Care Program within the Ohio Department of Children and Youth. The program would provide financial assistance to eligible caretaker parents so they can stay home full time to care for a child under age two, subject to available funding and eligibility rules. To qualify, the caretaker parent must generally be at least 18, the child must be under two and not have already received two years of assistance, and the family must meet income limits tied to the state’s publicly funded child care program. The bill also directs the department to adopt rules, publicize the program, and coordinate enrollment with the Help Me Grow program.
The bill sets the assistance amount at 90% of the maximum publicly funded child care amount for comparable full-time care, with adjustments for infant/toddler or special-needs status. It also allows the department to seek federal waivers and, where possible, exclude program payments from consideration for other state assistance programs, so the benefit does not reduce eligibility for other aid. The bill includes a fiscal appropriation for start-up, outreach, and eligibility-determination costs beginning in fiscal year 2027.
HB782 amends Ohio’s income tax law to exempt payments received under the new program from state income tax. It does so by adding a new deduction in the Ohio Revised Code’s definition of adjusted gross income, meaning recipients would not pay Ohio income tax on the assistance. The bill therefore affects both the Department of Children and Youth, which would administer the program, and taxpayers who receive the benefit, while also potentially interacting with other public benefit programs and federal funding rules.
The overall sentiment reflected by the bill itself is supportive of families with very young children and of parents who want to remain at home during infancy. Because the bill was introduced and there is no recorded committee testimony or vote history in the provided materials, there is no documented public debate to gauge broader legislative sentiment. The structure of the proposal suggests a policy emphasis on child care affordability, parental choice, and early-childhood support.
No specific points of contention appear in the available discussion record, but the bill’s text indicates likely policy issues: the cost of the program, whether the 90% subsidy level is sufficient or too generous, how eligibility and income limits should be set, and whether excluding the benefit from other assistance calculations could conflict with federal program rules. Another possible issue is administrative complexity, since the department must coordinate with other agencies, seek waivers where needed, and ensure the program does not jeopardize federal funding.
HB782 would add a new section 5180.23 to the Revised Code establishing a state-run at-home infant care subsidy program and would amend section 5747.01 to exempt program payments from Ohio income tax. It would also require the Department of Children and Youth to promulgate rules, administer applications and eligibility determinations, coordinate with Help Me Grow, and conduct outreach. The bill further makes an appropriation for implementation costs, so it would create a new ongoing state expenditure and a new tax exclusion for recipients.
Based on the bill text alone, the measure is framed as a family-support and child-care policy and appears generally favorable to parents of infants who want to remain at home. However, there are no committee transcripts or votes in the provided record, so there is no documented legislative debate or recorded support/opposition to assess beyond the bill’s introduced status.
The main likely areas of contention are fiscal and administrative rather than ideological: the cost of providing assistance at 90% of the child-care benchmark, the adequacy and fairness of the income eligibility rules, and the extent to which the benefit should be excluded from other public assistance calculations. The bill itself anticipates a possible conflict with federal funding rules and requires consultation and possible waivers, suggesting that interaction with federal benefit programs could be a significant issue. No specific lawmakers or stakeholder groups are identified in the provided materials as opposing or supporting these provisions.