Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Hearings held.
This bill updates the federal child care assistance program by expanding who qualifies for help, requiring states to pay child care providers based on their actual costs instead of market surveys, and creating a new grant program to help build or fix child care facilities and increase the number of child care slots available. If it passes, more families could qualify for child care assistance, providers could get higher and more stable payments, and communities with too few child care options could see new providers open up.
Millions of families struggle to afford child care, which can cost more than rent in many parts of the country. This bill would make more families eligible for federal help paying for care and could lead to higher payments for providers, potentially keeping more child care programs open.