OKLAHOMA CITY – House Bill 2778, introduced by Rep. Suzanne Schreiber (D-Tulsa) and co-authored by Senator Chuck Hall (R-Perry) and Rep. Trey Caldwell (R-Faxon), was overridden by both the Senate and House after being vetoed by the Governor. During the budgeting process, the language of Schreiber’s House Bill 1849 was transferred to HB 2778, a bill designated for the budget.
The new law incentivizes early childhood educators by providing no-cost childcare to them. Oklahoma is currently facing a critical childcare shortage—stemming from both costs and staffing challenges. This bill aims to address part of the problem by helping recruit and retain quality early childhood teachers. Childcare now joins other key industries that receive similar incentives to support workforce stability and economic growth.
“This is a low-cost solution that delivers big results — it supports small businesses throughout Oklahoma and fills our early childhood classrooms with quality teachers to take care of our babies, and allows parents to go to work so our employers can grow our economy,” said Schreiber. “With the average hourly wage between $11 and $12 per hour, it often doesn’t make sense to work in the field if the employee needs their own childcare. And every time we lose a childcare employee, we lose between 4 and 20 spots for our kids.”
Schreiber noted that with waitlists stretching up to a year and over 135 childcare centers having closed—resulting in the loss of more than 4,300 childcare slots in under 12 months—the need for swift action was clear.
“This type of relief for childcare workers seemed so distant, but it finally happened – the legislature made a huge investment in our childcare system. A huge thanks to Representative Suzanne Schreiber for championing this effort. On behalf of all Oklahoma childcare providers, we are forever grateful,” said Rachel Erwin-Proper, Vice President of Child Care Inc.
The program will be monitored for effectiveness and facilitated through the Oklahoma Partnership for School Readiness (OPSR), a statutorily authorized entity that supports public-private partnerships aimed at strengthening early childhood outcomes. Schreiber collaborated closely with OPSR, using evidence-based data to guide the bill.
“Passing HB 2778 is a big win for all of Oklahoma. Our families and our employers need a strong childcare sector for our economy to grow,” Schreiber said. “We heard from businesses across the state about their workforce challenges due to childcare. We heard from families across the state about their challenges in finding and affording childcare. This new law will ease some of those burdens.”
Schreiber also expressed gratitude to all those who made the bill’s passage possible: “While I brought the bill forward, without the help of Speaker Hilbert and his staff, Rep. Mark Lawson, Senator Todd Gollihare, and the House and Senate Appropriations Chairmen Rep. Trey Caldwell and Sen. Chuck Hall, this bill would not have become law. This was truly something we made happen together.”
