Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) introduced the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act and the Child Care Workforce Act—bipartisan, bicameral legislation that together form a bold proposal to make child care more affordable and accessible by strengthening existing tax credits to lower child care costs and increase the supply of child care providers. The bill was co-led by U.S.
Senators Katie Britt (R-AL), Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA). U.S. Representatives Mike Lawler (NY-17) and Salud Carbajal (CA-24) introduced a companion bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill includes language from Shaheen’s Right Start Child Care and Education Act legislation.“I hear time and again from parents in New Hampshire who are desperate for reliable, affordable child care options, but for too many families, their options are limited at best and nonexistent at worst,” said Senator Shaheen. “For an issue that impacts so many families in every corner of every state, it’s time we find a bipartisan path forward, which is why I’m proud to join my colleagues on this commonsense, bipartisan proposal to lower child care costs, increase wages for the workforce and ensure providers can keep their doors open.”
Additional cosponsors of the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act include U.S. Senators John Curtis (R-UT), Angus King (I-ME), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Susan Collins (R-ME). The bill text can be viewed here.
The Child Care Workforce Act is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators King and Gillibrand. The proposal contains two bills because one proposes changes to existing tax credits, falling under the jurisdiction of the Senate Finance Committee, and the other authorizes a new pilot program, falling under the jurisdiction of the Senate HELP Committee. The bill text can be viewed here.
The worsening child care crisis is holding families, child care workers, businesses and our entire economy back. Across the country, too many families cannot find—or afford—the high-quality child care they need so parents can go to work and children can thrive. Over the last few decades, the cost of child care has increased by 263%, forcing families—and mothers, in particular—to make impossible choices.
More than half of all families live in child care deserts. Meanwhile, child care workers are struggling to make ends meet on their poverty-level wages and child care providers are struggling to simply stay afloat. The crisis—which was exacerbated by the pandemic—is costing our economy approximately $122 billion in economic losses each year.
New national polling in conjunction with First Five Years Fund (FFYF) reflects overwhelming bipartisan support for the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), with 86% of voters in support of increasing the CDCTC. Additionally, 79% of Republican voters say they want President Trump and Republicans in Congress to do more to help hardworking families afford child care with 72% saying investing in child care is a good use of tax dollars. According to polling from Fabrizio Ward, 63% of all voters say helping working class families is their top priority when it comes to changes in tax policy.
Senator Shaheen has been a leader in advocating for more affordable and accessible child care, including by delivering more than $77 million to New Hampshire through the American Rescue Plan and other COVID relief laws to the Granite State. Since then, Shaheen had urged state and local officials to distribute those federal funds, especially in communities that lack access to child care. In August, Shaheen visited Colebrook Community Child Care Center to discuss challenges and solutions to the child care crisis in rural communities, and in October Shaheen hosted Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su for a discussion on child care and workforce challenges in Brentwood.
Last year, Shaheen introduced the Right Start Child Care and Education Act, which would make child care more affordable and accessible for working families by reforming the federal tax code. She also introduced the bipartisan Expanding Child Care for Military Families Act. Additionally, she helped introduce the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit Enhancement Act to permanently expand the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, which helps households offset their child care costs.
Last April, Shaheen convened a hearing as former Chair of the U.S. Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee to hear testimony from expert witnesses on the child care industry’s broken business model and what Congress can do to support small business child care providers, employees and families. A subsequent U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Office of Advocacy issue brief, in response to data challenges raised at the hearing, details the role of small businesses in the child care industry and fills data gaps in child care industry research.
Last Congress, Shaheen helped introduce the Child Care Stabilization Act, which would provide additional federal child care stabilization funding—which was provided in the American Rescue Plan—and ensure that child care providers can keep their doors open and continue serving children and families in every part of the country. Shaheen joined Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) to introduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would provide affordable child care for all working families, expand access to preschool programs and increase wages for early childhood workers. She also joined U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Dan Sullivan (R-AK) in reintroducing the bipartisan Childcare Workforce and Facilities Act to address the national shortage of affordable, quality child care, especially in rural communities. In the government funding bill for fiscal year (FY) 2024, Senator Shaheen worked to include a $1 billion increase for early education, including a $725 million increase to $8.75 billion for Child Care and Development Block Grants to states and a $275 million increase to Head Start4. The law additionally included $315 million for Preschool Development Grants.
The Child Care Availability and Affordability Act is endorsed by A+ Education Partnership, Alabama Arise, Alabama School Readiness Alliance, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Bipartisan Policy Center Action (BPCA), Business Council of Alabama, Care.com, Chamber of Progress, Chamber RVA, Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA), Child Care Aware of Virginia, Children's Institute, Early Care & Education Consortium (ECEC), Educare Learning Network, FFYF, Gingerbread Kids Academy, Hampton Roads Chamber, Healthy Kids AL, KinderCare Learning Companies, Manufacture Alabama, Metrix IQ, Mobile Area Education Foundation, National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), National Child Care Association (NCCA), Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce (NVC), Save the Children, Small Business Majority, Start Early, Third Way, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Virginia Early Childhood Foundation (VECF), VOICES for Alabama's Children and Voices for Virginia's Kids. In addition to those groups, the Child Care Workforce Act is endorsed by the National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and ZERO TO THREE.
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