$2.14 billion funding bill aims to boost child welfare, early childhood programs

A proposed $2.14 billion omnibus children and families finance bill would fund a child welfare system IT upgrade, early childhood education scholarships, and food insecurity and other programs.

A delete-all amendment of HF2436, sponsored by Rep. Nolan West (R-Blaine), was reviewed by the House Children and Families Finance and Policy Committee Tuesday. Committee action is scheduled Wednesday.

With a $25 million increase above the February base forecast, the $2.14 billion budget for fiscal years 2026-27 meets the fiscal target set for the committee by House leadership.

[MORE: View the spreadsheet]

The bill would increase the Department of Children, Youth and Families operating budget by nearly $6.18 million over the biennium. It would also appropriate $40 million for an IT modernization project for the child welfare system.

“Thank you very much for your strong commitment to funding the child welfare SSIS modernization,” said Children, Youth and Families Commissioner Tikki Brown. “Only through partnership with the Legislature will the state be able to modernize the system that has become an impediment for child welfare workers to provide children and families with the highest level of service possible. Modernization of SSIS will allow case workers to focus their time on children and families rather than spending hours on data entry.”

The bill would make a one-time appropriation of $6 million for Early Childhood Education Scholarships and $1.5 million for American Indian Food Sovereignty, food shelves, and prepared meals.

“I would be remiss in not offering appreciation for the committee's dedication in supporting important programs that help Minnesotans with low incomes get what they need to thrive, including food shelves, tribal food sovereignty programs, early learning scholarships and the family assets in Minnesota or the FAME program,” Brown said.

The bill would make technical changes related to the administrative transfer of early learning programs from the Department of Education to the Department of Children, Youth, and Families, modify Minnesota Indian Family Preservation Act grant payment timelines and reporting requirements, make changes to the Great Start Compensation Support Payment Program, the TEACH scholarship program for child care providers, and the child care assistance program.

[MORE: Written testimony Part 1, Part 2]

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The following are selected bills that have been incorporated in part or in whole into the omnibus children and families finance bill:

• HF102 (Curran)
• HF655 (Zeleznikar)
• HF656 (Zeleznikar)
• HF776 (Hanson)
• HF1158 (Hicks)
• HF1346 (Nash)
• HF1424 (Hanson)
• HF1604 (Virnig)
• HF1897 (Moller)
• HF1915 (West)
• HF1916 (West)
• HF1918 (Hanson)
• HF2191 (Gillman)
• HF2305 (West)
• HF2617 (Coulter)
• HF2643 (West)