Several pieces of legislation affecting public works contracting and labor requirements moved through the 2026 General Assembly and are headed to Governor Spanberger for her action by April 13. As a member of the Virginia Promise Partnership (VPP), VACo supports expanding access to affordable, quality childcare.
HB 1208 (Sewell) / SB 134 (Locke) establish a child care access calculation to provide Virginia’s policymakers with clear and consistent information on funding Virginia early childhood care and education services. Virginia lacks an accessible way of determining the level of childcare funding needed from year to year. This contributes to volatility in the system, creating uncertainty for working parents, childcare providers, and Virginia employers. The results of this structural gap are readily tangible: thousands of children (age birth-five) remain on waitlists for subsidized childcare. On March 14, the Senate agreed to the conference report for SB 134 on a unanimous vote and the House of Delegates adopted the conference report 85-12. The conference report for HB 1208 was adopted by the House 76-20 and the Senate 39-0.
HB 18 (McClure) / SB 3 (Aird) establish the Virginia Employee Child Care Assistance Program, which will provide matching funds to incentivize employers to contribute to the child care costs of their employees, adding an additional payor to the current Early Childhood Care and Education Commission (ECCE) funding model. The Senate’s budget proposal included $50 million over the biennium, while the House proposed $25 million for the program. Funding differences will need to be resolved between now and the Special Session on April 23. HB 18 passed the Senate unanimously on March 9. The Senate had previously accepted the House-approved substitute to SB 3, so the bills are now identical. A similar bill, SB 119 (Carroll Foy), was incorporated into SB 3.
VACo supports efforts to increase at-risk children’s access to high-quality, enriching learning environments, including more resources and flexibility for localities participating in programs like the Virginia Preschool Initiative and Head Start. VACo supports additional federal and state funding for programs such as the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to support increased demand for childcare services. VACo supports local flexibility to administer or expand support services for childcare. VACo supports the work of, and local government representation on, the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education to provide recommendations for and tracking progress on the financing of Virginia’s comprehensive birth-to-five early childhood care and education system.
VACo Contact: Jeremy R. Bennett