Indiana Chamber CEO says child care will be major priority next year

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The president and CEO of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce said Indiana’s child care access is a major workforce retention issue.

Child care drove much of the discussion at the Chamber’s annual legislative preview earlier this month. Indiana Chamber President and CEO Vanessa Green Sinders said Indiana’s limited access to child care costs the state’s economy as much as $4 billion per year, according to a study the Chamber commissioned. She said access to child care has a twofold impact. First, it allows working parents to remain in the workforce. Second, it gives the next generation of workers a head start by investing in their early childhood education.

Sinders said the Chamber plans to continue to work with lawmakers during the 2026 session on ways to reduce regulatory barriers for new solutions to child care. A bill passed during the 2025 session allows students who are at least 15 years old to volunteer as a caregiver if their school corporation operates a child care program.

“There’s lots of work going on in all corners of the state,” Sinders said. “Fort Wayne has a pilot program going on that’s kind of a tri-care model that brings government and employers and individuals together to think about this. So, my view is that it’s going to take all of us working together.”

The 2026 legislative session will begin Dec. 1. Lawmakers plan to spend the first two weeks of December considering whether to redraw Indiana’s Congressional districts. After that, lawmakers will reconvene in early January with the goal of wrapping up the 2026 session by the end of February.

All INdiana Politics airs at 9:30 a.m. Sunday on WISH-TV.

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