Update: House Passes Bill Allocating Millions Toward Childcare

Updated May 17, 2012:

Illinois lawmakers passed House Bill 6164, Wednesday, after it was attached to Senate Bill 2450, according to State Rep. Anthony DeLuca.

The bill would allocate more than $70 million toward childcare for low-income families all over the state. Out of 116 state representatives, 113 voted in favor of the move.

House Bill 6164 was supported by Gov. Pat Quinn and aimed at .

As of Monday, Bill 6164 had missed all of the deadlines for making it to the floor for a vote and still sat in the rules committee.

"It has not gone through a committee," DeLuca said Friday. "The only way that bill is going to be seen on the floor is if it’s attached to some other vehicle."

DeLuca said the plan to redistribute the funds would need to be included in the language of another bill that is already on its way to the House floor. This would not have been done by the rules committee.

"The real fight for that is going to be within the Human Services Appropriations Committee," DeLuca said, adding that the redistribution has his support if he is able to vote for it.

Many childcare facilities, including , closed their doors for a day Wednesday, to travel to Springfield and support the bill.

But if House Bill 6164 won't reach the floor for the vote, is it worth the trip? DeLuca said he thinks so.

"It is important for each group, that they fight for the protection of their programs," DeLuca said, pointing out that childcare facilities aren't the only ones getting shorted.

"This is not unlike what is happening across the spectrum. We are being inundated with calls from groups marching on Springfield because they are losing funding."

Whether the re-allocation of funds passed as its own bill or attached to another one, many childcare facilities were hoping to avoid going three months without state funding for low-income families.