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This Session, Texas Legislators Must Address Childcare to Maintain our Economic Strength

This week, the Texas Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development – chaired by Senator Brian Birdwell – met to discuss an crucial interim charge to examine, among other topics, maintaining childcare availability to support our state’s growing workforce. Access to affordable and high-quality childcare has been a top issue for the Texas business community, with a recent U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation study showing that the Texas economy loses over $9 billion every year due to inadequate childcare.

 

This issue not only leads to economic demise – but also prevents the Texas job market from reaching its full potential. The lack of reliable childcare for employees causes employers to lose $7.59 billion annually due to absences and employee turnover and keeps our workforce from reaching its full potential. If Texas falls behind on addressing this issue and doesn’t take steps to enhance access to affordable, high-quality childcare, the long-term economic consequences for our state will be even more severe.

 

That’s why the Texas Association of Business (TAB) has joined forces with the Texas Restaurant Association (TRA), Texas 2036 and Early Matters Texas to form the Employers for Childcare (E4C) Task Force committed to developing strategic public policy solutions for the Texas Legislature to consider in the 89th Regular Legislative Session.

 

I was proud to join TRA President and CEO Dr. Emily Williams Knight in highlighting this issue in the Austin American-Statesman ahead of yesterday’s hearing, pointing out that:

 

“99.8% of Texas’ businesses are small businesses and they are feeling this pain especially. According to one recent survey, 62% of small business owners report unplanned employee absences, 30% experience employee resignations and 39% lose business opportunities due to child care challenges. This crisis hits every Texas community from bustling urban centers to small, rural towns.”

 

To read the full column, click here.

 

The E4C Task Force is a market-driven solution to child care, approaching the issue from a Texas-centric perspective that emphasizes innovation, public-private partnerships and streamlined regulations. The main slate of initiatives include enhanced resources for employers seeking to offer child care benefits, tax incentives for businesses that support employees' child care needs, and start-up funding for providers to address specific workforce requirements, such as non-traditional hours of care.

 

Through these initiatives, E4C shatters the misconception that affordable childcare is out of reach for Texas, demonstrating that the impact of this issue extends far beyond today’s workforce and shapes children’s futures, as Dr. Knight and I wrote:

 

 “Every dollar invested in high-quality child care returns $4 to $9 in benefits from better education, health and community outcomes. In other words, strengthening child care has a strong return on investment for our members and the state, both today and into the future.”

 

In laying out the E4C Task Force’s agenda before the Texas Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development yesterday, our coalition partner and TRA’s Chief Public Affairs Officer Kelsey Erickson Streufert emphasized the impact that a lack of affordable childcare has on Texas employers:

 

“Our lack of affordable, quality childcare in Texas is absolutely undermining our workforce productivity. I think you could ask businesses big and small in just about every industry across the state: ‘do you have enough employees?’ And they would say ‘absolutely not,’ and we know that childcare is a big reason for that.

 

“We know that because Texas only has 80 available workers for every 100 jobs we need to fill, and we also know that because 60 percent of non-working parents say that lack of childcare is a top reason that they are not in the workforce.”




With more than 65 employers joining our coalition, E4C grows stronger every day to bring momentum and change to deliver solutions and a higher quality of life to families and to enact change within the Texas Legislature.

 

To learn more about the Employers for Childcare (E4C) Task Force, click here.

 

To watch yesterday’s full Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Economic Development interim hearing, click here.

 

-       Glenn Hamer, President & CEO, Texas Association of Business

 

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