At a recent breakfast to raise funds for an early childhood center, one mother told a heartbreaking story about what it means to have no child care in today’s economy. Through tears, she said the only way she could make a living was to deliver food online with her baby in a car seat. When she finally found quality child care for her baby, she got a better job in the medical field that ultimately changed her life.
As a state legislator representing parts of Newport News, I know that child care remains a top priority for my constituents. I’ve heard it not only from my neighbors, but also from local employers, top military leaders, and even the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, whose experts told me that child care shortages are impeding a return to full employment in our post-pandemic economic recovery.
The military is particularly concerned, and recently held a briefing in Norfolk on “The Early Childhood Economy in Hampton Roads.” Organizers, the Hampton Roads Military Federal Installation Alliance, advocate for more child care options for military families, saying the difficulty of finding child care costs Virginia’s economy $3.1 billion a year. With only 750 slots on base, the military relies on local communities to provide the extra child care facilities families need. Military leaders are calling on lawmakers to think creatively to meet the child care needs of local military families.
Because of this overwhelming need, Democrats have been on a mission in this year’s state legislative session to make child care more accessible and affordable for Virginia families with an unprecedented number of bills and new investments designed to spur economic growth and full employment.
Virginia’s final budget, approved last month, includes historic investments in early childhood care and education, including a $456.7 million increase in the General Fund over two years to support young learners, including increased funding for the Virginia Preschool Initiative to improve kindergarten readiness ($157 million in FY25 and $156 million in FY26).
To increase access to early care and education in Hampton Roads, military leaders in recent briefings proposed solutions including incentives for starting new child care businesses, public investment in software to track child care availability across the state and streamlining local permitting processes for building new child care facilities.
In fact, the Virginia General Assembly is already working on some issues, including streamlining red tape for adding child care facilities. Rep. Atusa Leeser and I passed a bill that would allow zoning exemptions for new child care centers to open in office buildings. Another new law from Rep. David Bulova would create a planning tool for the Department of Education to determine future child care needs in the state so we can understand the child care funding gap and better support the needs of working parents.
Rep. Phil Hernandez, R-Norfolk, has introduced a bill that will make it easier for families to qualify for the Child Care Subsidy Program, which will provide quality early care to 45,000 Virginia children with $265.5 million in next year’s budget. The investment replaces pandemic-era federal funding and makes Virginia one of the first states to replace those funds with state funds to avoid a “child care cliff” that families fear could come soon.
The Virginia General Assembly is clear that we need to aggressively expand child care to support working families’ career advancement and economic growth in the Hampton Roads region. We also know that families can’t wait — they spend 26% of their income on child care and they need help now.
Along with the need for more housing, child care is now a top priority for our families and our region’s leading institutions. Child care is key to overall prosperity, including keeping people in the workforce and ensuring military readiness and retention. Virginia lawmakers are pushing for bold investments because they know parents need affordable child care to advance their careers in our largest employers, including the military, shipbuilding, health care and education systems.
Rep. Shelley Simmons represents the 70th Congressional District, which includes parts of Newport News.
