Business Executives Champion Funding for Child Care Subsidies Program at Task Force Meeting, Launching ExCEL NC.
Last week (on April 30), at a meeting of Governor Josh Stein’s Task Force on Child Care and Early Education, Lieutenant Governor Rachel Hunt, Task Force co-chair, publicly introduced “ExCEL NC” to an enthusiastic audience of Task Force members, child care advocates, state legislators and media reporters – underscoring the urgent need to address the state’s access and affordability crisis sooner, rather than later. NCLCCA President Dan Rockaway (a Task Force member), Advocacy Council member Sandy Weathersbee and lobbyist Sherry Melton were all in attendance. ExCEL NC is “Executives Championing Early Learning in North Carolina” and is a new “coalition of business owners, entrepreneurs and corporate leaders advocating for solutions to stabilize the state’s child care options, strengthen our workforce, and create a more prosperous economy.” It is funded by the Leon Levine Foundation.
During the one-hour meeting, three business leaders identified as “Executive Champions” for ExCEL NC told stories about how inadequate or unaffordable child care options in their communities impacts their employees and ability to recruit and retain talent and operate efficiently and productively:
- Carol Steen, vice president of Human Resources, IT and Security, Biltmore Farms (Buncombe County/western NC)
- Chris Paterson, CEO, Carolina Complete Health (Mecklenburg County)
- Gene McLaurin, president, Quality Oil Company (Richmond County) and chairman of the Board of the NC Economic Development Partnership
Also speaking at the event were NC Chamber President & CEO Gary Salamido and Rhonda Rivers, NC Child Care Commission Chairwoman and regional education director for Leafspring Schools in Charlotte.
All of the speakers at the combined ExCEL NC/Task Force event were united in calling for state legislators to appropriate funding this year for a minimum reimbursement rate for licensed child care providers serving low-income working families called a child care subsidies “rate floor.” The rate floor being promoted would cost roughly $65 million and would increase subsidy reimbursement rates across all counties to better align with the actual costs of child care and eliminate extreme rate disparities among many rural and urban counties due to the flawed rate-setting system currently in use. For example, if incorporated into state law and funded, the new minimum rate for serving an infant in a five-star program would be $1,400 per month per child. Most counties receive less than that now. Under the proposal being promoted, any county with rates at or above the new rate floor would be held harmless, meaning their rates would not go down.
It is notable that the establishment and funding of a new statewide subsidy rate floor has been on the NCLCCA legislative agenda for several years and is also a top recommendation of the Governor’s Task Force on Child Care and Early Education. NCLCCA is lobbying state lawmakers to increase reimbursement rates from the 2021 Market Rate Survey to the 2023 MRS ($80 million) and establish and fund a rate floor, at a total cost of approximately $145 million, depending upon which Market Rate Survey is used to set the floor.
State legislators were invited to the Task Force meeting and a handful attended, including the following:
- Rep. Eric Ager (D-Buncombe)
- Rep. Maria Cervania (D-Wake)
- Rep. Julia Greenfield (D-Mecklenburg)
- Rep. Julie von Haefen (D-Wake)
- Rep. Donnie Loftis (R-Gaston)
- Rep. Carolyn Logan (D-Mecklenburg)
- Sen. Sophia Chitlik (D-Durham)
The Senate was holding meetings during the time of the Task Force event, which prevented Sen. Jim Burgin (R-Harnett), co-chair of the Task Force, from attending and likely hindered participation from other members of the chamber. During her opening remarks, however, Lt. Gov. Hunt told the audience that Sen. Burgin would soon be introducing significant child care legislation with about $75 million in funding, although no further specifics were shared.
Senate Bill 1042 Filed with $75 Million for Child Care Subsidy Rates – Later that day, Sen. Burgin filed Senate Bill 1042, which would appropriate $75 million to increase subsidy rates for providers from those recommended in the 2021 Market Rate Survey to 2023 market rates, extend the Tri-Share Child Care Pilot Program and extending and expanding an in-home child care pilot program (for FCCHs). The bill further specifies that the Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) “shall develop a plan for implementing a statewide child care subsidy reimbursement rate floor” and submit the plan no later than Dec. 1, 2026, to the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Health and Human Services and the General Assembly’s Fiscal Research Division.
Fast Facts from ExCEL NC – In calling for funding for a statewide rate floor (minimum reimbursement rate) for licensed child care providers serving low-income working families eligible for subsidies, ExCEL NC shared the following: “Targeted investment in a subsidy rate floor could facilitate the following:
- Support an estimated 7,800 additional child care enrollments within a year
- Create nearly 3,200 new jobs
- Increase state GDP by $189 million
Read more about the Task Force meeting and ExCEL NC in “Child Care in the News” included in this newsletter.
Child Care Bill Introduced in NC House Includes Several NCLCCA Priorities
During just the second week of the legislative short session, on April 30, four influential members of the NC House responded to NCLCCA’s requests and filed House Bill 1086 – “Child Care Initiative Funds/Reform/Study,” which includes four of the association’s 2026 legislative priorities. Primary sponsors of the bill are: Representatives Dean Arp (R-Union), Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth), Erin Pare (R-Wake) and Heather Rhyne (R-Lincoln). We are thrilled to share that the bipartisan bill has 26 additional sponsors: 19 Republicans, 9 Democrats and 2 Unaffiliated members of the state House!
The provisions in the House Bill 1086 that were requested by NCLCCA and align with our 2026 agenda include the following:
- Regulatory reform that would allow licensed child care centers to use the combined education and experience of two employed staff persons to meet the requirements set forth in child care rules for a Level II or Level III Administrator (Director) and receive the same quality rating in the state’s new QRIS that they would if it was only one employee that met the requirements – as long as the staff member with early childhood experience and education is on site at least 20 hours/week; plus
- Regulatory reform that would waive the requirement that Administrators complete EDU 261 and EDU 262 (Admin. I and II) to secure their Administrator Credential if/when the employee has either an associate’s degree or higher in business administration or a related field or two years of verifiable business or administrative work experience
- $1.5 million to establish 10 “Career-ready Lead Teacher Academies” across the state designed to prepare individuals who want to work in licensed child care, but have no education or experience, to be a Lead Teacher in just two to three weeks – with an NC Early Childhood Credential, qualifying letter from a completed background check, all required health-and-safety training completed, and more! Additionally, and perhaps the icing on the cake, this provision in the bill would fund a $500 recruitment/retention bonus for anyone who completes a “Career-ready Lead Teacher Academy” and goes to work as a Lead Teacher in a licensed program within three months and stays for one year at the same program.
- $15 million to expand mental and behavioral health services for children, families and staff in licensed child care facility settings and out-of-school programs, including on-site services and supports.
- $350,000 for the state Dept. of Insurance to hire a consultant to study the feasibility of establishing liability insurance coverage – including state-supported captive insurance, risk-pooling, joint reinsurance and more – to help address skyrocketing premiums, denials and limited options that are challenging licensed child care providers.
NCLCCA extends our sincere thanks to Rep. Arp and his staff, who not only opened their doors to hear our top concerns and priorities, but also responded with a bill that addresses many of them directly. We look forward to continuing to work with Reps. Arp, Lambeth, Pare, Rhyne and others to ensure House Bill 1086 not only passes the House, but also clears the Senate and is signed into law by the governor before this year’s legislative session ends. Keep an eye on your email Inboxes because we may need to call on our members and advocates to weigh in with your legislators on the bill at the appropriate or necessary time. As always, thank you for your support!
Op/Ed: “North Carolina child care is in crisis – and a business issue”
By Gene McLaurin, chair of the NC Economic Development Partnership
Business North Carolina, May 1, 2026
“A full-blown childcare crisis in North Carolina has the full attention of business leaders. It has to… Since 2019, roughly 100,000 fewer parents of young children are participating in the labor force. More than a third of parents who experienced job disruptions say childcare was the reason they left work altogether… The childcare crisis hits rural areas where I live particularly painfully, turning a family struggle into a major economic barrier… The message from the business community is clear: childcare is not a side issue. It is essential economic infrastructure. We are engaging directly with Gov. Josh Stein’s administration and state lawmakers from both parties, all of whom are keenly interested in durable, fiscally responsible solutions.” Read the full opinion piece HERE.
“Business leaders call on legislature for child care subsidy investment this session”
EdNC, May 1, 2026
“Business leaders and owners advocated on Thursday for legislative funding this session for the child care subsidy program, which helps low-income working and student parents afford care. ‘Without enough affordable, high-quality child care, employers across the state are missing out on what they need; that’s talent and people,’ said Gary Salamido, president and CEO of the NC Chamber of Commerce. The state needs to invest in child care to maintain its CNBC ranking as No. 1 in business, Salamido said.
“‘When the reimbursement rate is $500 less for one of those counties … to me, that’s saying that they don’t have as much, so they don’t need as much, but they could actually need more,’ said Rhonda Rivers, chair of the state Child Care Commission and regional director of education at LeafSpring School, a child care program in the Charlotte area…
“‘We have single parents who earn good salaries, who still see child care consume a third of their gross wages, which is just untenable,’ said Chris Paterson, CEO of Carolina Complete Health.
“Carol Steen, vice president of human resources, information technology, and security at Biltmore Farms, recalled her own experience placing her children on a waitlist for child care when she found out she was pregnant with twins. It took 10 months before slots opened. She said she sees her employees have similar experiences often, forcing some parents out of the workforce. ‘A reimbursement rate floor will stabilize what most providers will need, particularly the providers at most risk, the ones that are serving the families with the least alternatives,’ Steen said…
“‘Private industry frankly just cannot do this alone,’ said Gene McLaurin, president and CEO of Quality Oil Company, which has offices in Lumberton, Laurinburg, Waynesboro, and Rockingham. ‘We need both public and private sector investment to address this challenge.’”