Earlier this month, the Travis County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to approve the Travis County CARES Resolution, Creating Access for Resilient Families, to expand access to high-quality, early child care and after school/summer care for low-income families.
As a result, Travis County voters will have the opportunity to decide on a tax rate election that, if passed, will provide high-quality, affordable child care to more than 8,000 children in our community.
This 2.5 cent property tax rate increase would generate $76.76 million in revenue to increase the number of scholarships available for children and families to access child care, expand access to care outside of the regular work day, build quality and capacity in child care centers, and create a business-government alliance to incentivize private employers to offer child care stipends to their workforce.
I appreciate the leadership of Judge Brown, the Travis County Commissioners, and the many individuals and organizations that have worked for years to bring us to this moment, including United Way for Greater Austin and the Success by 6 Coalition.
When my twins were born in 2005, I was a young communications professional, and my husband was a public school teacher. Our family couldn’t afford an accredited child care provider for two infants at one time. The twins’ father and I had to make hard decisions. One of us would leave the workforce, or we would find an alternative child care provider. We were fortunate to find a neighbor to look after our babies while we worked, but our options were very limited. I want Travis County parents today to have more options. This is why I will vote for Travis County CARES in November.
To learn more about the importance of a child’s early experiences and the role United Way for Greater Austin plays in expanding access to high-quality, early child care for all children, attend United Way’s Centennial Celebration event: Future United on Thursday, September 19 at the LBJ Auditorium.
Insights article written by Kristin Marcum, CEO and owner of ECPR Texas.
