Businesses, educators and parents urging Texas lawmakers to address childcare crisis this session
Private businesses across the state are coming together to push state lawmakers to address the childcare crisis this legislative session.
The lack of affordable, high-quality childcare options is not only impacting working families, but the economy too.
Fortress, an early childhood education center, serves low-income families in Fort Worth's historic Southside. After more than 20 years in operation, Fortress almost had to shut its doors last month until private donors stepped in to fund the center through the end of the year.
"It's gotten too expensive to rely solely on private and foundation dollars," said Stacy Agee Martin, executive director of Fortress. "So it's got to come from somewhere else, and we're hoping it will come from the state."
Fortress is a lifeline for Camry Hampton, whose one and three-year-old daughters go there when she's working.
"It's been a burden lifted up off of me and my family's shoulders," Hampton said.
Finding childcare in Texas continues to be a struggle, with higher demand and higher costs. There are nearly 100,000 children in Texas on the waitlist for financial help for childcare.
"Childcare right now in most of the state cost more than in-state [college] tuition," said Emily Williams Knight, the president and CEO of the Texas Restaurant Association.
It's forcing parents out of the workforce and costing the state more than $11 billion a year from productivity and revenue losses.
"In order for the economy to grow, we are trying to educate lawmakers that childcare isn't a 'nice to have' - it's an economic imperative for the state," Knight said.
Texas Restaurant Association, in partnership with Early Matters Texas, Texas Association of Business and Texas 2036, launched
the Employers for Childcare Task Force to lobby state lawmakers for change. The coalition has filed a record nine childcare-related bills this session, addressing issues from regulatory rules for home care centers to financial assistance.
"We cannot leave this 89th legislative session having done nothing as a state to support childcare," said Knight.
Advocates say investing in childcare improves so much more than the economy.
"So that our low-income earners can work and get ahead and get out of the cycle and get their kids out of the cycle," Martin said. "It's just better for us now, and in the long term."
High-quality childcare sets young children up for a lifetime of success.
"We're building the future," Hampton said. "It doesn't start when it gets a pre-K. It doesn't start when it gets a public school. It starts here."
Knight is encouraging businesses to join the task force and reach out to state lawmakers.
"We have a long way to go, but a very short amount of time, so momentum right now is really key," Knight said. "And we encourage all businesses to sign on to the group and lend your voice. It's everyone from the largest semiconductor company in the world, down to a single standalone food truck. It really is everyone's issue. It's not small business, big business. It's everyone's issue."
