Alaska News

Anchorage Assemblyman scraps child care subsidy proposal

Anchorage Assemblyman Forrest Dunbar said Tuesday night that he was scrapping a proposal to create a child care subsidy for members of the city's Assembly department amid criticism that the proposal simply translated into a pay boost for sitting officials.

[Proposal calls for city to subsidize child care bills for Anchorage Assembly members and employees]

In a statement on Facebook, Dunbar said he and his co-sponsor, Suzanne LaFrance, hoped the $5,000 subsidy would break down a barrier for single or young working parents when it comes to running for local office in Anchorage.

Dunbar said no one on the Assembly at this time would have qualified for the subsidy, and he was aware of only one person in the broader Assembly department — which includes clerks, ombudsmen and election workers — who would have been eligible.

Even so, Dunbar said many Anchorage residents believed the program was intended as a pay raise for sitting Assembly members.

"That perception is sufficiently harmful that Ms. LaFrance and I made the decision to kill the ordinance," Dunbar wrote.

Dunbar said he still hoped that child care would be universal someday.

Devin Kelly

Devin Kelly was an ADN staff reporter.

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