A new state requirement for background checks of all daycare employees is designed to make daycare centers safer, but it could mean parents will pay more for childcare.

Texas lawmakers okayed the new requirement during the spring session, and Governor Rick Perry signed it into law in June.

But the Legislature didn't budget any money for the centers to conduct the mandatory fingerprint background checks, which cost about $50 per employee.

"It's a wonderful thing to make sure that your staff is qualified and that they're safe to be with your children -- no one is arguing about that point at all," said Janet Blake, director of East Austin's True Light Daycare Center. "But it's also important to find money to help pay for it."

Many Texas childcare providers already conduct background checks on their employees, but the requirement will make it mandatory for all 9,000 licensed childcare centers to do so. The fingerprints will be checked against a national FBI database.

"That picks up a lot more. So, if I lived in another state and something happened, that will be picked up now," said Susan Craven, executive director of Texans Care for Children, a children's advocacy group.

Craven says it's likely the extra cost on childcare centers will be passed on.

"I'm sure that they're gonna pass it on to the parent," she said. "But parents will probably think it's worth it."

Daycare center directors will have to get the FBI fingerprint checks beginning September 1. Background checks employees will begin March 1 of next year.