By Katie Orr, KQED, June 3, 2020

Child care provider Pat Alexander has hung onto her in-home child care center during the COVID-19 pandemic, but just barely. Alexander was caring for 13 kids in her Elk Grove home in Sacramento County, but now she's down to three. So far, she's survived the hit to her income. But a proposed 10% cut to the amount of money the state gives her to care for children from low-income families would force her to re-evaluate her business.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed the cut as part of his plan to close a $54 billion deficit brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. But Alexander said the rate she gets from the state is already lower than what she charges her other families.

“I've always operated with the subsidy families and low-income families and always worked with them," she said. "And now, if they do this 10% cut, that's a big chunk of money and it adds up. My cost of living didn't change. It didn't go down 10%.”

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