This week, 128 Texas organizations sent a letter urging the Legislature to approve the $100 million child care investment that is currently in HB 500, the supplemental budget bill.
These funds strengthen the highly-effective program run by the Texas Workforce Commission that provides scholarships to pay for high-quality child care so more low-income Texans can go to work. Unfortunately, there are approximately 95,000 Texas families on the waitlist list for a scholarship.
Approving this funding will take a big step to help more of these families get to work and ensure their children are benefiting from high-quality child care.
The letter was signed by a number of business organizations, such as the Greater Houston Partnership, the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce, Conroe/Lake Conroe Chamber, the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Restaurant Association, the Texas Association of Business, and many others. Several children’s organizations, such as Texans Care for Children and Children at Risk, also signed the letter. Health care groups, including the Texas Hospital Association, the Texas Medical Association, and the Texas Pediatric Society, signed on as well.
We are so grateful to the legislators who worked to include this funding in the bill and pass it through the Texas House. And we are excited to work with the Legislature and our partners to get it over the finish line.
