Advocates in West Virginia pushing for childcare tax credits

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. ( DC News Now ) — In the eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, two advocates are on a crusade to get tax credits for Mountain State families to make the costs for childcare more affordable.

Parents like Rhonda Smith knows how important child care is in the workplace.

“Parents could not survive without it,” Smith said “Basically, you can’t survive. You’ve got to work. You’ve got to be able to take care of your children.”

With the West Virginia legislature meeting Monday to consider a child care tax credit for families, Jina Belcher with the New River Gorge Development Authority, is barnstorming the state for the tax credit, a critical tool, she said, to attract employers.

“A lot of the workforce is choosing to stay at home instead of going to work,” Belcher said. “Because it’s not affording them to put their child in child care.”

In Jefferson County, Lucia Valentine is leading a coalition to get the tax credit passed when lawmakers meet next week. Maria Russo is working with Valentine on the front lines to get the childcare tax credit approved.

At $25 an hour, Valentine and Russo said it is unaffordable and is outpacing the rate of inflation.

“We are in the midst of a childcare crisis here in the eastern panhandle and across the state of West Virginia,” Russo said. “We have over 40 percent of kids across the state who cannot access childcare now.”

The chair of the Senate Finance Committee said the starting point for a tax credit is the reform of the funding formula based on the number of children enrolled in each childcare facility.

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