The following articlewas originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.
A new bill introduced in the Ohio House would create a business tax credit for child care benefits similar to a federal credit the bill’s sponsor says is underutilized.
State Rep. Andrea White, R-Kettering, told the House Ways and Means Committee said the tax credit in House Bill 167 would offer a stronger incentive for employers than the federal tax credit does, by bridging a gap in the federal funds available for businesses. The tax credit would also be another attempt to stem a problem that covers all of Ohio, from urban centers to rural regions.
“Let’s try something, let’s get something going to see how we can get our employers engaged,” White told the committee.
H.B. 167 would authorize a nonrefundable tax credit for an employer providing “certain child care benefits” to employees, allows the credit to be claimed against other taxes like income or the commercial activity tax, and creates eligibility for costs “associated with establishing or operating an employer-owned child care facility, contracting with a child care facility, or paying employees for the provision of their own child care.
Under the current language of the bill, the credit is limited to $500,000 per year, but any unused funds can be carried over for five years, White said. She said she’s open to changes to that cap or the carryover language if the committee feels the amounts are too high.
The federal credit that’s already in placecovers 25% of total expenses related to child care services or benefits, and up to 10% of the resource and referral expenses, for a total credit capped at $150,000 per year.
It’s a heavy lift for businesses, White argued, since they must spend at least $600,000 to be able to get the full benefit, if they’re aware of it at all.
“People don’t know about this credit, they don’t quite understand how to utilize it,” White said. “…But the other thing is it doesn’t help if you, as a business, want to give a stipend for your employee, it doesn’t cover that as a tax credit, so this gives employers more options so that they can actually take advantage of it.”
H.B. 167 also allows non-profits to utilize the tax credit, unlike the federal credit, White said.
The measure comes amid ongoing discussions about the state of child care, and how the economy is affected by a lack of access and affordability for the services in Ohio. Child care “deserts” exist in Ohio where no services are available for children, and data from the Ohio Department of Children and Youth estimate 40,000 children in the state aren’t eligible for Publicly Funded Child Care, meaning they don’t receive state assistance to pay for the services.
On top of those problems, low pay and high turnover in the child care sector means even if child care exists, the workforce shortages reduce capacity at facilities.
White citedrecent research by the U.S. Chamber of Commercethat found Ohio is losing $5.48 billion every year in economic activity because of “insufficient child care,” including $1.52 billion in tax revenue and $3.97 billion in losses related to child care employee turnover and absenteeism.
“The business community, our families, are looking for solutions, and this is a solution,” White said.
The bill sponsor also echoed comments by ODCY director Kara Wentein supporting the Child Care Choice Voucher Program, which subsidizes child care for those who fall outside the Publicly Funded Child Care eligibility of 145% of the federal poverty line.
This is certainly not the first time White has pushed for more child care supports. A bill she co-sponsored establishing child care grant programs for employers was passed last month by the House committee she chairs, the Children and Human Services Committee.
State support for child care is uncertain as it is, with the state operating budget draft being drawn up by the Ohio Senate, after the Ohio House finalized its own draft last month.
The House’s version added $50 million to the Child Care Choice Voucher Program for each of the next two fiscal years, taking from federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant funding.
Despite a proposal by Gov. Mike DeWine to increase the Publicly Funded Child Care eligibility to 160% of the federal poverty line, the House budget draft maintained the 145% level, which Wente said is the lowest eligibility level in the country.
Also included in House budget proposal is language originally included in separate legislation, which would create a cost-sharing model for child care, in which the state, employers and employees would all pay a percentage of costs. In a hearing earlier this month, the House Children and Human Services Committee passed the original bill with language they said harmonizes the bill with the budget proposal details. In House Bill 2, the state would pay 20% of the costs, and employers and employees would each pay 40%.
During the hearing, however, two Republicans on the committee put concerns on the record about H.B. 2 and White’s child care grant program bill, House Bill 41. State Rep. Sarah Fowler Arthur, R-Ashtabula, voted against both bills, saying she had “concerns about the state subsidizing child care going forward.”
State Rep. Tracy Richardson, R-Marysville, voted in favor of both bills but said the House Finance Committee may have to work on at least House Bill 2, “maybe look at perhaps some potential reduction in overall funding.”
On H.B. 41, Richardson said the finance committee “should take a closer look at the overall appropriation.”
The Senate is currently working on their own draft, on line for an end-of-June deadline for both chambers to reconcile each of their budget drafts and get a final budget to the governor for signature.
