The governor held a bill signing ceremony for legislation aimed at bolstering childcare in Virginia.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Wednesday held a bill signing ceremony in Richmond at the VCU Health Child Development Center for legislation aimed at addressing the high cost of childcare in Virginia.
Spanberger signed bills House Bill 18 and Senate Bill 3 to create a new Employee Child Care Assistance program, which is meant to encourage companies to help their workers pay for childcare. The program will offer matching state funds to employers that cover childcare expenses for their employees. Funding for the program will prioritize small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, according to the governor’s office.
The new program will be administered by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation. Participating employers will make payments to a childcare provider or third party administrator on behalf of their employees. Then the state will match that contribution to help with the employees’ costs of childcare.
The new program will be administered by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation. Participating employers will make payments to a childcare provider or third party administrator on behalf of their employees. Then the state will match that contribution to help with the employees’ costs of childcare.
A report from The Wall Street Journal last year found that the median cost for five years of child care—from infancy through preschool—is nearly $147,000 in Arlington, the highest in the country. Statewide the average cost of care is $16,796 a year, or $1,400 per month, according to the First Five Years Fund.
Spanberger said the reality for many Virginia families is that the cost of childcare equals or exceeds what they pay for college tuition, car payments, or housing. And that reality has broader implications for the rest of society, she said.
“It is not sustainable,” Spanberger said. “And frankly, not acceptable.”
State Del. Adele McClure (D-Arlington) carried the bill in the House of Delegates for two years in a row before finally getting it signed into law this year.
“Third year’s a charm,” she said at yesterday’s ceremony.
McClure said the new program would help working moms stay in the workforce, especially given that childcare responsibilities disproportionately fall to women.
“ This will finally give folks the opportunity to have those really expensive costs offset,” McClure told Dogwood.
Spanberger also signed legislation greenlighting a deeper analysis of the state of childcare in Virginia.
She signed House Bill 1208 and Senate Bill 134 to make sure the state is accurately tallying and reporting the costs of early childhood care and education services in Virginia. And the governor signed House Bill 211 which directs the state to do a report on Virginia’s Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
