OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 484 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 484’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsors: Reps. White and Roemer
Effective date:
Elizabeth Molnar, Attorney CORRECTED VERSION
SUMMARY
 Requires the Department of Children and Youth to administer, in consultation with the
Department of Development and JobsOhio, a grant program to expand child care
capacity, support the state’s workforce, and aid in business growth and recruitment.
 Appropriates $10 million in FY 2025 for the program’s administration, limits each
recipient’s grant award to not more than $750,000, and requires the recipient to use its
award only for the bill’s purposes.
 Appropriates $250,000 in FY 2025 to the Department of Children and Youth to establish
child care cohorts, create an employer-based child care co-design learning lab, and
develop tools and resources to support efforts to increase Ohio’s child care capacity.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Child care capacity grant program
The bill appropriates $10 million in fiscal year 2025 to the Department of Children and
Youth to administer a grant program to assist employers in the following:
 Retrofitting or equipping their onsite or near-site child care facilities;
 Building new child care facilities;
 Partnering with child care providers, government entities, nonprofit organizations, or
others on initiatives to create child care capacity within their communities to support
the workforce.
 Corrects references to the Department of Children and Youth and Department of Development.
May 7, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
The bill specifies that the program’s aim is to increase the availability of child care in
communities across Ohio and to aid in business growth and recruitment in Ohio. In
administering the program, the Department must consult with the Department of Development
and JobsOhio.1
Grant applications and eligibility
Under the program, any entity may apply for a grant, but the following applicant types
are given priority: employers seeking child care for their employees’ children; government
entities, nonprofit organizations, and other community partnerships seeking to expand child
care capacity for the workforce in the communities they serve; or any combination of these
applicant types.
To be eligible for an award, an applicant must demonstrate that the applicant’s facility
or applicant’s partner provides, or intends to provide, publicly funded child care and
participates, or intends to participate, in Ohio’s tiered quality rating and improvement system
for child care (referred to as Step Up to Quality).2 An applicant also must submit a plan for
ongoing sustainability to support its capacity expanding initiative and must identify the needs
and gaps its initiative would address.
Grant amounts
The bill limits each grant recipient’s award to not more than $750,000 and requires the
recipient to use the award only for the bill’s purposes.
Additional incentives
The bill requires the Department of Development, in coordination with JobsOhio and
the Department of Children and Youth, to create additional incentives for new or existing
businesses to expand child care capacity or child care support for the state’s workforce.
Child care cohort, learning lab, and resources
The bill appropriates an additional $250,000 to the Department of Children and Youth to
contract with an entity to do the following:
 Establish a cohort of child care grant recipients;
 Create an employer-based child care co-design learning lab;
 Develop tools and resources to train and support future child care grant applicants and
other employers, government entities, or nonprofit organizations interested in
expanding child care capacity.3
1 Section 2(A).
2 R.C. 5104.29, not in the bill
3 Section 2(B).
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As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Cohort
The contracting entity must coordinate education and knowledge-sharing among the
cohort’s grant recipients and must provide them with technical assistance. The entity also must
collaborate with recipients to collect and measure data, outcomes, and best practices, all as
prescribed by the Department. The entity is required to prepare a report compiling the data,
outcomes, and best practices and to submit it to the Department, Governor, and members of
the General Assembly. The Department must assist the entity in making the report available on
the Department’s website.
Employer-based child care co-design learning lab program
Under the bill, the aim of the employer-based child care co-design learning lab program
to be established by the contracting entity is twofold:
 To assist employers, including businesses, government entities, and nonprofit
organizations, in learning how to form partnerships and best fund, including by utilizing
tax credits, grants like those available under the bill, and employer contributions and
other opportunities as necessary to create onsite or near-site child care spots or
facilities;
 To identify other innovative strategies to expand child care capacity in Ohio’s
communities.
The program must prioritize rural and underserved areas of Ohio. Each design lab may
be regionally based and provide four to six months of intensive learning to employer
participants. Participants are to learn processes and develop knowledge and competencies to
plan, organize, and find operations partners, to create long-term financial modeling and
business plans, to partner with community stakeholders and organizations, and to apply for
grants, including those awarded by the Department. The program must emphasize the
importance of operations partners, provide participants with sample requests for proposals,
and encourage engagement with community and regional workforce leadership.
Tool kit and other resources
The bill requires the contracting entity to design an employer tool kit and other
resources as determined by the Department of Children and Youth, in consultation with
JobsOhio and the Department of Development. The tool kit and resources may be used to
educate employers on issues impacting, and solutions improving, employee access to child
care.
The required tool kit must include the following:
 Strategies to expand child care capacity;
 Any information, competencies, best practices, and other resources identified in the
co-design lab program;
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As Introduced
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
 Procedures for applying for available child care-related federal, state, and local tax
credits and creating child care-related flexible spending accounts or other employee
benefit supports;
 Any other resources identified by the Department of Children and Youth, in consultation
with JobsOhio and the Department of Development.
The Department of Children and Youth must distribute copies of the tool kit to
businesses, government entities, nonprofit organizations, and other entities, including by
making it available on the Department’s website.
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 04-10-24
ANHB0484IN-CORRECTED-135/ar
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As Introduced