Legislators overseeing next year’s state budget will be in for some difficult choices as they face a projected $200 million shortfall. State-funded programs are bracing for belt-tightening. So it seems that any recommendations for "new" state spending, regardless of how noble the intention, would be laughable. But a report by the Southern Institute on Children and Families – which details the substandard funding of child care services by 16 Southern states and Washington, D.C. – suggests that Louisiana’s woefully underfunded child care subsidy programs undercut the state’s economy.

  The report comes from the Columbia, S.C.-based Southern Institute, a bipartisan think tank. It outlines how improving child care funding to low-income residents can be the most beneficial job-support measure in which state government and the private sector can invest. Increasing child care funding helps get welfare recipients off the rolls and into the working world. It lets parents participate in education and job training, thereby increasing the pool of trained applicants in the workforce. Plus, it boosts the spending power of lower-income families.

  Corporations that offer child care assistance report improved worker productivity, attendance and morale. Children who participate in quality early-childhood programs demonstrate a greater ability to learn and retain information in later life. According to the study, a year of preschool child care is more expensive than a year of public college tuition in all 16 states and the District of Columbia. The study listed Louisiana’s average annual public college tuition as $2,230, while a year of child care in the state costs about $3,264.

  "There’s all kinds of financial aid for college students, and then you look at children," says Christine Hartzigsen, a spokeswoman for the Southern Institute. "The early childhood years – the brain development years – are so crucial, and they don’t have the same financial aid as college students."

  The Southern Institute coordinated a Southern Regional Initiative on Child Care, with representatives from the 16 states and Washington, D.C. forming a task force to mobilize a plan of action to help the South improve child care funding. The task force adopted 10 goals for the Southern states. The first and most crucial: meet 100 percent of need for child care assistance, based on eligibility levels at 85 percent of the state’s median income.

  Louisiana is doing better than some of its neighbors, with its eligibility level of $29,040 per household at 75 percent of the state’s median income, which is $38,713. "Our goal is to work on trying to bring that income number down, so that we can pick up more people," says Gwen Hamilton, the Executive Director of the Children’s Cabinet in the Governor’s Office and a task force member.

  Another concern is that the state isn’t getting the word out to eligible recipients that child care is available. The study shows that just 16 percent of the 219,700 eligible Louisiana children receive child care subsidies, though the state would not be able to afford the payments if every eligible family made claims.

  Other initiatives by the task force include improving outreach programs to educate parents about who is eligible for subsidized child care and how to get it; removing red tape from the process; and giving parents more options regarding availability of programs. But the most crucial step, researchers say, is two-fold. It includes persuading legislators to free up more money for child care subsidies, and encouraging businesses to offer child care assistance to employees.

  Legislative conservatives already hope to repeal the corporate franchise tax and the corporate income tax, measures that Gov. Foster says are impossible given the looming fiscal crunch. We agree. But we do encourage legislators to offer tax incentives to businesses that offer child care assistance to employees. That’s a break that would help everyone – because it would address two problems at once.

  Some are looking at the TOPS scholarship program, which provides tuition waivers at state colleges and universities for students who meet certain academic standards. TOPS is a touchy subject around Baton Rouge these days. Some lawmakers say scholarship requirements are too lax, while others say students from wealthy families don’t deserve free tuition. (TOPS is based solely on merit, not financial need.) Critics propose to cut funding for TOPS, which gave away $66 million last year. Figures from the Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance show that one of seven TOPS recipients comes from a family earning more than $99,999 a year. TOPS backers insist the program is designed to reward students, not their parents, and that it encourages high schoolers to stay in school and make better grades.

  In a state as financially strapped as Louisiana, TOPS may look like a target to some. However, we don’t think it’s wise to cut a program that works. It sends the wrong message: if you succeed, you get cut. Cutting TOPS is especially senseless if, in the same session, lawmakers give Harrah’s casino a $50 million tax break.

  Lawmakers need to set priorities, and they need to put all our children first. .