This story was originally produced by The Keene Sentinel. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Businesses could receive a tax credit for creating new child care capacity in New Hampshire under a legislative proposal Gov. Kelly Ayotte supports.
“We need everyone at the table to bring more affordable child care options to our state — our business community, state and local officials, and our nonprofits,” the Republican governor said at a child care forum in Manchester last week.
“We can help working families and keep growing our economy by incentivizing companies to invest in child care, growing workforce development opportunities in child care, and cutting red tape without compromising child safety. Together, we’ll make sure New Hampshire stays the best place to raise a family.”
Rep. Katelyn Kuttab, R-Windham, is proposing a bill to be considered by the New Hampshire Legislature next year that would allow companies to deduct from their business taxes half of expenses they incur by creating new child care slots.
These could be direct costs or expenses a company might have in working with a third party to expand capacity by 12 or more seats in licensed child care programs.
Companies would be able to deduct such expenses from their business profits tax or business enterprise tax on or after Jan. 1, 2027.
Related: Single moms bear brunt of New Hampshire child care costs, a new report finds
The New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute said in an analysis this year that Census data indicated the state was more than 9,000 slots short of the child care positions needed in 2023.
Kuttab said in an interview Monday that her proposal has the potential to increase the availability of child care and reduce its costs, while helping businesses recruit and retain employees.
“There are huge wait lists for child care in many areas in New Hampshire,” Kuttab said. “I was on a waitlist for my own daughter for nine months. That was to get into a preschool program when she was 3 years old and I first became a state representative.”
She was first elected in 2022.
Boosting availability of child care in the state should increase competition among providers and lower costs for parents, she said.
“When there is an overabundance of demand and very little supply, given the economics of that, I do think things end up being more expensive,” Kuttab said.
She also said availability of child care is important to the state’s economy overall.
“If we want to attract new businesses, we have to have the availability of child care for potential employees, and we really don’t have that now,” Kuttab said.
She said the N.H. Business and Industry Association has expressed support for her proposal, and the organization has discussed it with the governor.
The title of Kuttab’s proposal is on the N.H. Legislature’s website, but the bill number and the measure itself haven’t been posted there yet as measures are still in the drafting stage.
