St. Paul voters early Wednesday were giving a nod to even-year elections but balking at taxpayer-funded child-care subsidies for low-income families in early returns reported after midnight.
St. Paul voters appear split on child care subsidy, even-year elections
Property taxes would increase to offset child care costs for low-income families. But opponents say too few would be helped and that the cost is too high.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
November 6, 2024 at 7:06AM
Margins were wide, but results from three-quarters of city precincts were still to come as of 1 a.m.
The ballot measures were being promoted by supporters as ways to ensure more St. Paulites could fully participate in civic life. They argued the even-year election proposal would boost voter turnout and the child care subsidy would allow more low-income families to fully join the workforce or improve their education.
Election year question
Peter Butler, who promoted the election year change for years, said the city’s odd-year voting resulted in only about a third of St. Paul’s eligible voters going to the polls. More than 80% have regularly turned out in presidential years.
“I certainly think that higher turnout is the gold standard for elections,” Butler said recently.
But City Council President Mitra Jalali, who was among a group of local and state leaders opposed to the plan, said city issues would be lost in the noise of national and statewide races. And City Council candidates, who run under the city’s ranked-choice voting system, would be crowded off a packed ballot, she said.
At an East Side polling location on Tuesday morning, the election-year question appeared to be enjoying broader support than the child care ballot measure.
Child care question
Jalali’s group, which included state Reps. Maria Isa Perez-Vega and Liz Lee, both St. Paul DFLers, urged a no vote as well on the child care proposal. Mayor Melvin Carter also recently urged a “no” vote. Carter has said the child care proposal would help only a few hundred families a year.
“Minnesotans and St. Paul residents deserve real solutions to the child care crisis that build on the historic work underway at the Legislature — not diversion of precious public funds to private companies in a lottery system with no accountability,” Perez-Vega said.
But Council Member Rebecca Noecker, one of several city council members backing the child care proposal, said the aid could make a real difference for some of St. Paul’s neediest families.
“We fill the gaps,” Noecker said of money meant to augment state and federal aid. “The goal here is to be part of the solution, not the only answer.”
What voters said
The proposal divided voters at First Covenant Church on the East Side.
Nic Bade, 45, who has two children, decided to support the measure, despite some hesitation. He said he spends about $22,000 a year on child care.
“It’s a step in the right direction, but I don’t know that it’s a fix either,” he said.
David Lewis-Frazier, 35, opposed the proposal, saying he was worried it could lead to cuts in access to other public resources and perhaps not reach those who need it most.
Staff Writer Jessie Van Berkel contributed to this report.
Betty McCollum will serve a 13th term after defeating Republican May Lor Xiong in a rematch.
