Ideas to fix child care in West Virginia floated for upcoming special session, no concrete plans

Lawmakers are hoping a special session that is scheduled to begin on Sept. 30 will address child care issues in West Virginia. (Getty Images)

West Virginia leadership is grappling with a child care crisis that includes a severe shortage of daycare spots, parents struggling to afford care and a possible state funding shortfall that could force more centers to close.

Gov. Jim Justice has said he’ll call lawmakers into a special session beginning Monday, but no details have been finalized as negotiations continue between the governor and lawmakers. The governor canceled his weekly press briefing on Wednesday.

Justice, lawmakers and others are floating ideas to address multi-pronged problems in child care, including bills that the Legislature failed to take up earlier this year.

Brian Dayton, vice president of policy and advocacy for the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, is hoping that Justice will write the special session call to include a pair of bills that would incentivize businesses to provide child care to employees.

“We are working with legislative leadership to see what’s feasible,” Dayton said. “The challenge we’re facing right now is that [Justice] can very tightly write the call, or he can loosely write the call.”

Justice writing the call about child care in general would permit lawmakers to debate any bills that could address the state’s child care problems.

A recent survey conducted by the West Virginia Chamber revealed that nearly 75% of members view child care as an issue for their businesses as the state has a chronically-low workforce participation rate . The state needs more than 20,000 child care spots for working families.

“With a declining population driven by low birth rates and outmigration, the lack of affordable child care is increasingly becoming a barrier to family planning decisions,” the survey said.

While both Republicans and Democrats emphasized that child care needed to be addressed, their concerns about the state budget paused legislative action on child-care related bills during the session.

One bill, House Bill 5052 , would expand a 50% tax credit for businesses that develop onsite child care that was created in 2022 legislation . The legislation looked to bump that up to 100% and would cost $10,000, according to the bill’s fiscal note.

“Strategically, for West Virginia to continue to be attractive and bring more job creation to the state, child care is absolutely necessary,” said Del. Bob Fehrenbacher, R-Wood, lead sponsor of the bill.

HB 5051 , also sponsored by Fehrenbacher, would provide a tax credit for existing child care facilities, including these operated by employers. Nonprofit businesses, like church-operated daycare centers, would be eligible for a transferable credit where owners could recapture some of those dollars.

Fehrenbacher explained that it was in an effort to help stabilize the childcare industry, which has seen a wave of closures due to financial issues worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic’s workforce disruption. Dozens of state child care providers have closed this year, eliminating an estimated 700 spots for children.

Dayton said that lawmakers are aware that there needs to be some action on child care – sooner rather than later. “This is something that everyone is now paying attention to … Everyone knows it’s a problem. That’s a good thing,” he said.

Justice will push for child care tax credit and new grant program

Justice, who is running for the U.S. Senate, said he’ll introduce bills during the special session to create a Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which would create a state tax credit equal to 50% of the allowable federal child and dependent care credit. He said many families were paying $600 to $700 a month for child care.

He also plans to introduce some type of grant program related to child care but hasn’t released details, only alluding that it would be in conjunction with Workforce West Virginia and performance based.

“You’ll have to wait and see what that’s about,” Justice said Sept. 11 during a press briefing. “We do have a dilemma in this nation in regards to child care, and we’ve got to find a way to help our working families if we can.”

Other lawmakers have called on Justice to fund the state’s child care subsidy program during the special session.

The Department of Human Services is using Temporary Assistance for Needy Families dollars to pay for the program after a recent federal funding rule change left the state with at least a $34 million shortfall for the program. About 15,000 children last year used the program, which requires parents to be working or enrolled in some form of education.

TANF dollars aren’t a permanent solution , and DoHS leaders said that the funds could run out before the end of 2024. Child care providers have also said the subsidy amount hasn’t kept up with operating costs during inflation.

“The governor has mentioned that child care is one of the topics that he would include in a special session, but what are the aspects and how might he approach it?” Fehrenbacher asked.

“To me, it would be ideal for all of [the bills] to be on the agenda. I’m not privy to if he’s going to include all of these aspects of child care,” he continued. “If it’s something, it’s a step forward from where we are now. Let’s just get going and start now so these child care providers can take advantage of it.”

DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST