SB 922 West Virginia Senate · 2025 Regular Session

Streamlining and enhancing early childhood education and child care services in WV

SB 922 establishes the West Virginia Comprehensive Childcare Program (WVCCP), integrating existing Head Start, Pre-K, and Birth-to-Three services into a single state-administered system managed by the West Virginia Department of Education. It aims to improve access, affordability, and quality of childcare for children from birth to age five, with priority for low-income families, children with disabilities, and those facing barriers. Key provisions include income-based fees for families above eligibility thresholds, standardized educator credentialing with K-12 comparable salaries, and county-level coordination boards to oversee implementation. The program will take effect on July 1, 2026, with a phased rollout to ensure continuity of care from early childhood through school entry.

Issues: ✓ Education

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 24, 2025 Last action Mar 25, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Committee Substitute · 7 edits

MODERATE

The bill was significantly simplified from a comprehensive childcare program proposal to a coordination-focused act. The original version aimed to create a unified state-administered system with new funding mechanisms and workforce requirements, while the committee substitute narrows the scope to requiring the Department of Education and Department of Health to coordinate existing programs without establishing a new unified system or mandating specific funding levels.

Scope change

The bill's scope was substantially reduced from creating a new comprehensive childcare program to requiring coordination between existing programs. The committee substitute removed provisions for establishing a new program structure, funding mechanisms, and workforce requirements.

SCOPE

Removed the creation of a new West Virginia Comprehensive Childcare Program (WVCCP) and replaced it with a requirement for existing departments to coordinate service delivery.

REQUIREMENT

Eliminated provisions requiring a Statewide Early Childhood Education and Care Council and county-level Childcare Coordination Boards.

Removed workforce development requirements that would have mandated standardized credentialing and K-12 teacher-level salaries for early childhood educators.

ELIGIBILITY

Deleted specific eligibility criteria including universal access for low- and middle-income families and a sliding fee scale for working families.

ENFORCEMENT

Changed the oversight mechanism from general annual reporting to specific reporting requirements to the Legislative Oversight Commission on Education Accountability and Legislative Oversight Commission on Health and Human Resources Accountability.

FISCAL

Deleted all provisions related to funding mechanisms, including state appropriations, federal grants, and private sector partnerships.

TIMELINE

Removed the phased implementation language and kept only a single effective date of July 1, 2026.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 25, 2025

Committee

To Finance

upper

Mar 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee substitute reported, but first to Finance

upper

Mar 24, 2025

Committee

To Health and Human Resources

upper

Mar 24, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in Senate

upper

Mar 24, 2025

Committee

To Health and Human Resources then Finance

upper

1 primary · 0 co-sponsors