by LUKE BERNSTEIN

Note: This op-ed originally appeared in the Reading Eagle.

The 2025 elections sent a clear message: Americans are demanding relief from the crushing cost of living. From Pennsylvania to New York, voters turned out in record odd-year election numbers to support candidates who campaigned to make life more affordable.

In New York City, Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani stunned the political establishment with a landslide mayoral victory, powered by a radically costly platform that seemingly included everything “free,” including universal childcare. A nice reminder to us as taxpayers is that nothing the government provides is “free.”

While Mamdani’s proposal may be well intended, it is completely unrealistic and ignores the important structural issues impacting childcare and its cost drivers. Ignoring these fundamental cost drivers is like fixing the water-logged floor and ignoring the hole in the roof.

Here in Pennsylvania, we are advocating for a different approach. At the PA Chamber, we believe childcare is not just a family issue—it’s a workforce issue. And, if we want to grow our population and our economy, we need to fix the childcare system in a way that is sustainable, scalable, and rooted in economic reality.

Let’s start with the facts. Pennsylvania currently has more than 340,000 job openings. A recent study showed that we only have 66 available workers for every 100 open jobs. Our labor force participation rate lags the national average. One of the biggest barriers keeping Pennsylvanians from reentering the workforce is the lack of affordable, accessible childcare.

Lawmakers have worked in a bipartisan manner to advance various proposals to provide more state funding, including the most recent budget that appropriates additional assistance for childcare providers and a tax credit for working families. However, we know a legislative agenda to support the childcare sector must go beyond financial support.

The real drivers of childcare costs are complex, deeply embedded in the system and business environment, and include barriers in the form of excessive regulations. Providers face the same challenges as other small businesses across the Commonwealth: staffing shortages, regulatory burdens, rising insurance premiums due to our legal system, and razor-thin operating margins. Many are barely staying afloat.

Without addressing these root cost drivers, any attempt to expand access—let alone make childcare universal and free—will collapse under its own weight. That is why the PA Chamber is championing a comprehensive childcare reform policy agenda built around three core pillars:

1. Support Staffing Efforts: Childcare providers are struggling to find and retain qualified staff, creating a major barrier to expanding access and affordability. To address this, lawmakers should consider revising educational requirements, recognizing relevant experience, and encouraging future and retired teachers to join the childcare workforce. Supporting credentialing programs and reviewing staffing regulations can help build a stronger, more sustainable pipeline of qualified professionals while maintaining high standards of care.

2. Reduce Administrative Burden: Childcare providers face excessive challenges in permitting and licensing, while existing centers struggle under a burdensome regulatory framework. To ensure child safety without overburdening providers, lawmakers should streamline processes, eliminate unnecessary regulatory hurdles, reduce redundant paperwork, and involve providers early in regulatory development. We have made great strides in other areas of permitting and licensing reform, and we can build upon that progress to make a difference for providers.

3. Combat Rising Insurance Costs: Childcare centers are facing rising liability insurance costs and shrinking coverage options, driven by factors like pandemic aftershocks and a difficult legal climate. To help stabilize the market, lawmakers should enact litigation protections such as damages caps, proportional liability rules, and venue requirements that prevent forum shopping.

This is not just theory—it’s backed by data and driven by the voices of employers, parents, and providers across the state. We have heard from employers and many local chambers of commerce around the state that childcare is impeding economic growth in their communities. Manufacturers cannot fill second-shift jobs because workers cannot find evening care. Hospitals struggle to retain nurses with young children. Parents are forced to choose between their careers and their kids.

The stakes are high. If we fail to act, we risk leaving tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians on the sidelines of our economy. But, if we get this right, we can unlock a powerful engine of growth and opportunity.

Making high quality childcare more accessible and affordable should not only be the goal, but it is achievable if we fix the underlying cost drivers and implement key reforms.

Pennsylvania has a chance to lead the nation with a model that actually works—for families, for businesses, and for the economy. Let’s seize it. If we do, I imagine many new Yorkers will flee the “free” system in New York in search of the quality system in Pennsylvania.

Luke Bernstein is President and CEO of the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry.