Gov. Morrisey: If childcare is next, let’s have that discussion

Gov. Patrick Morrisey, we have been paying attention. More importantly, so has the rest of West Virginia. You already told us what you are considering. You publicly said funding for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families was being looked at for School Clothing Vouchers, Family Resource Networks and childcare. Working families should believe you. I certainly do.

First came the uncertainty surrounding Family Resource Networks. Then came the School Clothing Allowance. Next it will be childcare. The pattern is hard to ignore. If history is any indication, we know what will come next. We will hear about “difficult decisions,” “tightening the states belt” and “fiscal responsibility.” 

Before the first proposal is even announced, let me save everyone a little time. If childcare is next on the chopping block, do not expect West Virginians to quietly accept it. Childcare is not just another government program — it is economic infrastructure.

Every morning, thousands of West Virginians go to work because someone else is safely caring for their children — the nurse, correctional officer, teacher, police officer, hospital employee, manufacturer, state worker and small business owner. 

You can cut childcare funding, but you cannot cut the consequences. Parents will not suddenly find another provider. Employers will not suddenly find more workers. Hospitals will not magically fill vacant shifts. Businesses do not become more competitive. They end up posting more “Help Wanted” signs. 

Childcare is not welfare. It is workforce infrastructure. You cannot claim to be pro-business while undermining the businesses that make work possible.

West Virginia does not have a childcare spending problem. It has a workforce shortage. Making it harder for parents to work is not an economic development strategy.

Here is what many people still do not understand: childcare does not just support businesses it is a business. We employ thousands of West Virginians, pay taxes, buy local and make it possible for every other industry to fill its jobs.

No childcare. No workforce. No economic growth.

For years we have heard elected officials talk about recruiting new businesses to West Virginia. That is great, but who is going to care for those workers’ children? You cannot recruit workers to a state where they cannot find childcare.

If classrooms close, the impact will not stop at our doors. Employers across every industry will lose workers, reduce production, shorten hours and struggle even more to fill open positions. That is not fiscal responsibility. It is bad economic policy.

So, Governor, if childcare is next, let’s have that conversation. Let’s have it with the parents who could lose their jobs, the employers who cannot hire without childcare, the hospitals trying to recruit nurses, the manufacturers struggling to fill positions, and the legislators who understand what is at stake.

Because this debate has never really been about childcare. It is about whether West Virginia wants people to work.

You often say West Virginia is open for business. Then stop threatening the one industry that makes every other industry possible.

If childcare is next, do not be surprised when parents, providers, employers, hospitals, manufacturers and members of the Legislature stand together to defend it.

Gov. Morrisey may see childcare as another budget line, but parents see it as the difference between keeping a job and losing one.

Employers see it as the difference between filling a position and leaving it vacant.

Providers see it for what it has always been — the foundation that keeps West Virginia working.

History will remember whether this administration chose to strengthen West Virginia’s workforce or weaken it.

Gov. Morrisey, if childcare is next, we are ready.

SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX.

Courtesy of West Virginia Watch