Child Care is the backbone of the economy; it is vital infrastructure to our economy in Austin, the State of Texas and the National pandemic recovery. The unintended damage done by the necessity of shutting down the City and then allowing the return of child care under strict, expensive precautionary practices, continues to threaten the existence of the entire child care industry. As the owners and providers of child care in our City continue to suffer significant monthly losses due to expenses, we are unwilling to pass that cost onto the parents and unable to bear the expense much longer.