PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — Lawmakers from both parties are hoping Gov. Jim Justice will give them the composure they need to address numerous child care issues when they convene for a special session later this month. At the top of the list are a glaring lack of child care options and funding problems for the state’s child care program.
Justice, who is running for the U.S. Senate, has focused primarily on his idea of a tax credit for children and dependents, while discuss the upcoming special session.
The Democrats in the House of Representatives held a press conference on Tuesday in the Judge Donald F. Black Courthouse Annex in Parkersburg, where they urged the governor to allow lawmakers to take action on other child care bills, including those already checked from the House Health Committee.
“We really need an open session on childcare when we come together [in Charleston] on September 30,” said Del. Joey Garcia, D-Marion.
West Virginia needs about 20,000 child care spaces for working families. Lawmakers have said businesses will look at the availability of child care spaces in the state when deciding whether to set up a business there.
In the meantime, Benefits from the pandemic erathat helped keep child care facilities afloat have declined. Dozens of state child care facilities have closed this year — losing about 700 spaces — due to funding problems with the state’s Child Care Assistance Program for eligible families.
“It can’t just be this tax credit,” Garcia continued.We have a number of different solutions that we want to work on … I think what we as a caucus are asking for is that this is a collaborative process and that we look at this – however overdue it may be – as an opportunity to still do something really good for West Virginia and solve this problem.”
Lawmakers want child care bills and funding to give children a second chance
Republicans and Democrats began their regular session in January with a focus on child care legislation, saying it would a bipartisan priorityThe House of Representatives has formed a working group on the issue, and lawmakers have said that addressing the state’s child care gap is necessary to improve the state’s chronically low labor force participation rate, particularly among women.
Then, more than halfway through the March session, MPs learned of a possible repayment by the federal government of $465 million due to public schools’ operate of COVID-19 funds.
The package of child care bills, including a law that would have given businesses incentives to open on-site child care facilities, never made it into the House of Representatives for voting.
“We decided together that there are a number of things that we want to wait until the start of the new fiscal year and resolve,” House Speaker Roger Hanshaw (R-Clay) said Tuesday on MetroNews Talkline. “Now we are in this position.”
Del. Evan Worrell (R-Cabell) said he would like to see Justice take a look at the House’s bipartisan child care bills from the regular session and submit them for consideration during the special session.
“I would like the governor to look at some of these items and present them on the special session conference call, but unfortunately there have been no discussions with the governor’s office,” Worrell said.[Justice] has stated that we need to do ‘something’ about child care, but has not presented a plan to do so.”
Hanshaw, a father who represents a rural district, said there are other aspects to consider in addressing the state’s child care gap, such as the impact on remote areas with constrained child care facilities.
“The first of the remaining questions we’re trying to answer is, ‘OK, so what’s the problem in terms of availability in the remote parts of West Virginia where demand seems to be the highest?’ … I want to know what the driving forces are in those communities and how do we address those driving forces first,” he said.
For Democrat Kayla Young of Kanawha, a priority of the special session is to allocate surplus state funds to fund the state’s child care subsidy program.
The Ministry of Human Services used Temporary assistance for needy families to fund the program after a recent change in federal funding rules gave the state at least a deficit of 34 million dollars for the program. About 15,000 children participated in the program last year, which requires parents to work or participate in some form of education.
TANF dollars are not a eternal solutionand health ministry leaders said funds could run out before the end of 2024.
Young said this had led to “instability” among childcare providers, even though more places were needed.
“We serve about 36,000 children in West Virginia through our scholarship or grant program in child care, and there are many more who need care,” she said. “… There are about 25,000 children in West Virginia who are eligible for a grant or scholarship where the state pays for some of the child care that they are not receiving. And beyond that, there are many children outside of those income limits who also absolutely need access to child care.”
Young noted that the pandemic-related cash infusion did not create fresh spaces, but was only aimed at keeping child care facilities open during the pandemic’s impact on the workforce. More spaces need to be created if the state wants to improve its workforce participation rate, she said.
Democrats support Justice’s tax credit
House Democrats said they support Justice’s proposed child tax credit. This would create a state tax credit of 50% of the permissible federal tax allowance for children and dependents.
Families in West Virginia spend $600 to $700 a month on child care, Justice said. Reducing childcare costs has also become a national topic of conversation in the presidential campaign of former Republican President Donald J. Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Let me be clear. Our group is not against this plan at all. We just don’t believe it is sufficient,” Young said.
Hanshaw also told MetroNews Talkline that the House would consider it, but he had not seen the details yet.
Democratic House Minority Leader Sean Hornbuckle called on the Justice Department to work with lawmakers to address widespread child care problems.
“We want to work with the Republican leadership in the House and the Senate and all of those involved. But, Governor, if you’re listening, from one coach to another, we need a better game plan and we need to implement it now,” he said.
