M E M O R A N D U M

TO:                      Members of the Assembly Women and Children Committee 

FROM:               Hilary Chebra, Manager, Government Affairs CCSNJ

RE:                      Support of:

A-1469 (Lopez/Freiman/Pintor Marin) 

A-4176 (Park/Jaffer/Jimenez)

A-4177 (Mosquera/Swain/McKnight)

DATE:                 June 9, 2022

The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey is pleased to support the package of bills before you that will assist the childcare industry and increase access to childcare for working parents.

• A-1469 (Lopez/Freiman/Pintor Marin) - Allows for a gross income tax credit for certain childcare staff and registered family day care providers

• A-4176 (Park/Jaffer/Jimenez) - Extends childcare subsidies to families earning up to 300 percent of federal poverty level and establishes the "Child Care Tuition Assistance Program."

• A-4177 (Mosquera/Swain/McKnight) - Extends the duration of the law requiring certain provider subsidy payments for childcare services to be based on enrollment.

Together, these bills address one of the critical issues facing the New Jersey business community - access to childcare. Increasing the access to, and affordability of, childcare is essential to addressing the labor shortage, which has disproportionally impacted women across the state. According to a recent report by the Rutgers Center for Women and Work, female unemployment, which was at its highest at 18.4 percent in April 2020, outpaced men through the end of 2021. After schools returned to in-person instruction, 23 percent of families still experienced childcare disruptions in the last six months of 2021. These disruptions have forced families to make difficult decisions on how to juggle work and childcare.  

COVID-19, while more manageable, has not been eradicated and still disrupts daily life. The assistance and resources provided in these bills to families and childcare and to the childcare service providers will provide the much-needed access to childcare that families need to feel confident they can return to the workforce.

 Thank you for the opportunity to weigh in on this important issue, and we urge you to vote yes.