Child care tax credit advances in WV House of Representatives during special session • West Virginia Watch

A bill to create a state-level child and dependent care tax credit was introduced in the House Finance Committee on Sunday.

The credit is expected to benefit 16,000 West Virginia families who already pay for child care, according to Gov. Jim Justice, who included the bill in his call for the current special session.

Justice, who is running for U.S. Senate, pushed for the tax credit and said he wanted to help families Provide childcare and increase the state’s labor force participation rate. Families pay $600 to $700 a month toward costs, he said.

House Finance Chairman Vernon Criss, R-Wood, said the special session was the right time to vote on the measure after lawmakers were unable to consider it during the regular session due to… the threat a federal clawback tied to schools’ COVID-19 spending dollars. The problem was solved.

“Child care loans are one way to help West Virginia families who earn money in the state,” Criss said. “That’s important so they can use those dollars to pay for their child care.”

While the bill, Senate Bill 2026, During the committee session, some lawmakers expressed concerns about potentially increasing the number of families who could use child care without adding additional day care spaces. West Virginia needs more than 20,000 child care spaces for working families.

“We have a lot of demand and not enough spaces,” Del said. Amy Summers, R-Taylor.

Childcare providers who have the lawmakers asked to address widespread problems to force the closure of daycare centers, the bill says won’t help them.

There is already one Federal version of the child and the tax credit for those in need of care. It’s worth up to $2,000 per child and only goes a long way a small percentage of families.

The bill would create a state tax credit equal to 50% of the allowable federal child and dependent care credit and is available to families who already use the federal version.

For a family earning more than $43,000 a year, the federal tax credit would likely be $300 for one child or $600 for two or more children.

“For child care, they have to make that investment upfront, then they would recoup it when they file their state tax return,” Del said. Bob Fehrenbacher, R-Wood.

The new state-level loan would be non-refundable. Del. Rep. John Williams, D-Monongalia, tried to change the legislation to make it refundable, raising concerns that West Virginia families wouldn’t get enough money back because the tax credit isn’t available to low-income families who aren’t already pay for child care.

Without knowing how a refundable tax credit would affect the cost of the bill, lawmakers chose to reject Williams’ proposal.

The bill must be considered by the Senate and the House of Representatives, where many members have done so has already expressed his support for the measure.

Lawmakers have not yet taken up Justice’s proposed additional 5% income tax cut, one of the governor’s priorities for the special session. The measure has was subjected to careful scrutiny due to the state’s financial situation as Justice nears the end of his term as governor.

justice changed the weekend special session, which added four bills, including one that would provide $5 million for for a pilot program to expand child care.

Child care providers have asked lawmakers to help stabilize their industry Funding the state child care subsidy program for low-income families and support for day care providers who can afford childcare themselves. The state has lost hundreds of child care spots this year, including the Bible Center Preschool in Charleston on Oct. 4 announced It would close its birth-to-two classrooms due to financial instability.

While lawmakers said the solution to the complex problem is a central themeseveral bills focused on childcare never came up for a vote in the House or Senate during the regular session.

Members of the House of Representatives unsuccessfully pushed for several of these bills be included in the special session notice of the judiciary.

The amended special session calls also include bills that would provide $1 million for school safety initiatives 10 million dollars for Drought relief programs.

Another measure would be Create a dedicated charter school median Construction grants. Separately, the House Education Committee agreed an invoice on September 30, this would allow charter schools apply for Funds from the School Construction Authority that can be used for start-up costs and more.