A letter from a childless dog man

“Yes, We Should Vote For Affordable Child Care”

The author with Cooper (L, wearing necktie)

by Bill McCamley

A long time ago, I made the decision not to have kids. While I make a hell of a camp counselor, hockey coach, substitute teacher, and uncle-type babysitter becoming a parent is something I never wanted to do. Unfortunately, childless by choice folks are now under political attack. Current US Senator and VP Candidate JD Vance (quite possibly one heartbeat away from becoming President) recently expressed opinions about me and others who make this decision, saying we are “less mentally stable”, ”more sociopathic”, and “don’t have a direct stake in our country’s future” because we are not “invested in this country’s children”.  

While most of this vitriol is straight up sexist and focused on “childless cat ladies”, this “childless dog man” takes a bit of offense and would like to take a few minutes of your time to persuade you to support more (yes, more!) funding for Early Childhood Education.

I currently live in Austin, TX and this Fall Travis County residents will have a chance to vote on a ballot measure that will increase our taxes slightly to help low income families get quality educational experiences before their young humans hit Kindergarten. I am voting for this, gave some money to the campaign advocating for its passage, and am putting a sign in my yard to get the word out.

So why am I, a dude who got a vasectomy after Roe v Wade because I hate how birth control seems to be always on the woman in our society, pushing so hard to spend more money on a service that I may not seem to (according to JD Vance anyway) benefit from?

Before I moved to TX, I spent years as a politician in NM. As a State Rep, I had the opportunity to learn about a proposal to allow dollars from the state’s permanent fund to pay for early childhood programs. The data from across the country on how this benefits us all is inarguable.

• More support for kids before they entered kindergarten in Chicago cut child abuse and neglect in half, meaning less need for taxpayer-funded social services.

• In New Jersey and Michigan, students were held back less when access to early childhood services were provided, meaning fewer dollars were needed to guide kids through school.

• North Carolina’s early childhood programs led to significantly better math and reading scores by 5th grade and fewer high school dropouts.

• All of this means safer communities. Decades-long studies show that kids with early childhood support were 70 percent less likely to be arrested for a violent crime later in life and 20 percent less likely to have spent time in jail. And government then spends less money on prisons.

I learned even more about why these services are needed for the economy when I served as the State’s Secretary of Workforce Solutions (another word for the Labor Dept). If you do that job right, you get tattooed with the knowledge that workers need an affordable place to live somewhat near where they are employed, a way to get to work, and access to childcare if they have a family. Otherwise, they simply won’t be able to work.

The first two are somewhat obvious (and I am proud to work on those issues here in Austin for my day job), but the last is just as important. While it was difficult for parents to find care for their kids before COVID, the pandemic made that process even harder, building huge barriers to women who may otherwise want to get back into the workforce.

Needless to say, I was ecstatic when NM voters gave it the green light in 2021 with the support of Governor Lujan Grisham. And I get to join Judge Brown and the Commissioners Court, Mayor Watson and many members of the City Council, and a great group of advocates working to get this done here in Austin.

So take it from this childless dude… and my dog Cooper. If you are in Austin please vote for Early Childhood Education in November. And if you’re in another part of the state or county, support efforts to make early childhood care more affordable and available.

Let’s show JD Vance how great our country’s future can truly be.  

Bill McCamley spent 20+ years as an elected and appointed official in various capacities at the state and local level. He now lives in Austin, TX as an advocate for public transit and related housing projects.