By Riley McCoy
For The Register-Herald
Beaver — State Treasurer Larry Pack toured Stepping Stones Academy and touted a bill that would broaden employer-supported childcare.
The Feb. 19 visit came after lawmakers considered House Bill 4517 and Senate Bill 646, two measures that aimed to widen West Virginia’s employer childcare tax credit beyond on-site, employer-constructed childcare facilities.
Under the proposed measures outlined in the legislation, employers could pay for licensed third-party childcare for their employees through simple payment contract or subsidies and still qualify for the tax credit even if the facility is located offsite.
The bill also reworked key eligibility limits so employer-sponsored care could operate anywhere in West Virginia. Additionally, the resolution would increase credit values to make participation more realistic for small businesses that lack the scale to build their own centers.
“We’re here today to hear some of the specific struggles that they’re having and what can we do back in Charleston to try to help,” Pack said. “Basically, we’re just talking about some of the trials, some of the struggles that childcare centers are having, not just here in Beckley but all all around the state.”
He added that the conversation gave him specific issues to raise with decision-makers. Pack said he came to Stepping Stones to hear directly from providers about the cost pressures and operational constraints that impact childcare access for working families.
“They’re running at about two-thirds capacity here,” Pack said. “They have the capacity to take half as much, but they don’t have the workers.”
Del. Pritt, R-Fayette, outlined where the bill stands in the legislative process and argued the proposal matters for employers and working families throughout the state.
“The bill passed out of the House Health Committee on Feb. 18. It is awaiting a Finance Committee agenda placement,” Pritt said. “Bills like this are incredibly important for working people. We have a huge deficit of childcare opportunities for families in our area [which] hurts employers more than anyone else.”
Pritt further explained the motivation behind the bill.
“We want to attract business to our state, and it is difficult to sell the idea of our area when childcare is such an issue.”
Pack described a situation where providers face a widening gap between rising costs and public support.
“Our costs have just went up tremendously in the last few years but the reimbursement for childcare has not been up,” Pack said. “So, they’re really, really struggling.”
Jina Belcher, executive director of the New River Gorge Regional Development Authority, who was also in attendance Feb. 20, described the visit as a workforce and recruitment issue as much as a family care issue, She said the goal is to connect state leaders with what providers see at the ground level.
“Obviously, childcare is a huge challenge in economic development, business recruitment and retention,” Belcher said.
She explained that organizers asked Pack and local lawmakers to look closely at how policy could widen employer participation.
“We wanted to bring Treasurer Pack down here and our local delegate to really explain to them how we feel the legislature can kind of step in and help support these providers but also help employers receive benefits and tax credits for investing in childcare facilities,” Belcher said.
Del. Carl “Bill” Roop, R-Raleigh, said Stepping Stones served as a strong local example but he argued the state needs sharper focus on childcare if it wants stronger workforce participation.
“We’re not as focused right now on the childcare as I think we need to be and that we can be,” Roop said. He later called the center “a great asset for this area and for Raleigh County.”
He tied access to care to the ability to keep jobs filled and businesses stable.
“It’ll open up businesses. It’ll open up employees,” Roop said.
HB 4517 and SB 646 remain pending as lawmakers continue to work through the legislative session.
Read more from The Register-Herald, here.