My name is Laura Herr. I am a career educator, and now parent of two young children. I am writing because in the state of VA, our childcare options are limited and too expensive. The health of our community and economy depends on excellent education workers and healthcare workers (of course, all other sectors, too) being able to afford to work and care for their children. My husband and I were fortunate that when we had our children, we were able to make the choice for me to stop working as a teacher and stay home with the kids while they were babies. However, my school literally needed me back and so I chose to go back before my children were in school full-time. For our middle class family, the finances of this barely break even. I know so many families where their childcare costs are up to 40% of their income. The cost of childcare is keeping qualified, skilled workers out of classrooms and hospitals. It's all connected: Our students need teachers to be able to afford to stay at work in the classroom. Our children need quality and affordable care while we are at work. My children's teachers need to afford to be at school teaching them. I was able to find care for my sons thanks to a new preschool opening in the Shenandoah Valley, called VEER (Valley Early Education Reimagined). They have created an innovative model to launch and operate high-quality, state-licensed childcare centers that are financially sustainable. In this model employers help pay for their workers’ childcare costs. By bringing in private sector funding, VEER is able to pay teachers a living wage, and keep costs low for families. I am pleading with you to turn your attention to this issue. HB 405 and HB 1412 contain provision for enabling more employers and more diverse types of employers to help shoulder the cost of childcare. Respectfully, Laura Herr

Public Comment on HR403 and HR1412: Employer Childcare Tax Credit I have been engaged in working with local leaders and state offices for quality child care for young Virginians since I was a young Presbyterian pastor in Appalachia and Big Stone Gap in the mid-1970s. I have seen the results of such programs in the lives – not only of the children – but of their families and the communities in which they live when parents are free to engage in work and community life without being constantly preoccupied in finding ways to care for their young children in the midst of their very busy lives. Now, 50 years later, I am still engaged with this process as a member of VIA (Valley Interfaith Action). Together with other faith-based and community engaged persons across the Shenandoah Valley, we have established VEER (Valley Early Education Reimagined) to address both challenges to quality child care in Virginia: 1) high cost to parents and 2) low pay to providers. These twin challenges keep parents from fulling engaging in work because often the fees for childcare are greater than their net income from employment AND despite high costs for childcare the intensive staff-to-child ratios keep wages for childcare teachers too low to sustain a career. House Bill 1412 (tax credit) will greatly assist in meeting these two challenges. It provides a mechanism similar to the federal 45F tax credit for those who work in industries not covered by 45F – such as health care and public education. It also provides a way for those who work in the critical agricultural industry in the Valley to assure themselves of a steady, quality workforce freed from constant preoccupation with the care of their precious children. I urge your support of HB1412 as a way to support local families, local industries, and to access additional federal dollars to Virginia while, at the same time, reducing the burden on existing state programs like Subsidy. Thank you for your consideration of our request. Rev. Dr. William T. Reinhold 319 N 1st ST, Apt 110 Bridgewater, VA 22812

My name is Hadley H. Jenner. I helped create Valley Early Education Reimagined, a partnership between Valley Interfaith Action, a broad-based citizens organization, area employers and the public sector. VEER is an innovative model to launch and operate high-quality, state-licensed childcare centers that are financially sustainable. Fixing the crisis of childcare requires increasing access to high-quality, affordable care for families, increasing teacher recruitment and retention, and increasing the financial stability of childcare centers. Tax credit HB405 helps do all three. In the Valley, we see childcare as a workforce development tool. We created Valley Early Education Reimagined, a partnership between Valley Interfaith Action, a broad-based citizens organization, area employers and the public sector. VEER is an innovative model to launch and operate high-quality, state-licensed childcare centers that are financially sustainable. Through VEER, employers help pay for their workers’ childcare costs. By bringing in private sector funding, VEER is able to increase compensation for teachers and lower costs for families. It’s a win-win. But, we need this tax credit in order to expand the pool of employers who can help fund childcare costs and increase overall private sector investment in childcare solutions. This credit would incentivize our area’s largest employers, like Sentara hospital, to help shoulder childcare costs for Virginia families. For employers who are eligible for the federal employer tax credit 45F, this matching tax credit enables employers to cover the true cost of care without increasing costs for families. Overall, this would bring in more federal dollars to Virginia and ease the burden on existing state programs like Subsidy. Bringing in private sector funding is a key pathway to transform childcare in Virginia. HB 405 in particular would have a significant impact because it casts the widest net, enabling more employers and more diverse types of employers to help shoulder the cost of childcare. In the Shenandoah Valley, civic leaders from churches and immigrant associations got together with business leaders to create VEER as an innovative model for early education and childcare that could be a blueprint across the state. Our model increases bricks-and-mortar for a third of the average cost through low-cost retrofits at sites we can lease at-cost. VEER offers increased compensation and career advancement pathways for teachers and centralizes back-end operations so center directors can focus on the development of their staff, families, and students. We can do this and lower costs for families and be financially sustainable by bringing in private sector funding. VEER Employers help pay for their workers’ childcare costs For employers, VEER is a workforce development tool. It’s a win-win. We are on the ground everyday providing desperately needed childcare for families and keeping educators in the classroom doing what they love. This tax credit would be a powerful tool in our work to create high-quality, financially sustainable childcare centers and transform early education and childcare in Virginia. Thank you, Hadley H. Jenner