Fischer, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Expand Working Families’ Access to Quality Child Care

Today, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), led Senate colleagues in introducing legislation to increase working families' access to quality, affordable child care. The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Reauthorization Act of 2024 strengthens child care services, increases the supply of child care providers, and improves the program to support families and providers in the pursuit of quality, affordable child care.

In addition to Senator Fischer, the legislation is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), and Todd Young (R-Ind.).

"Nebraska families deserve safe, reliable, and affordable child care. Unfortunately, high-quality child care is not always easy to come by, especially for those in rural areas. Our commonsense legislation will provide America's working families with the options they need to prioritize their children," said Senator Fischer.

"Improving access to quality, affordable child care helps promote financial stability for families while benefiting small businesses and local economies. Child care alleviates stress on working parents because they know that their children are in a safe, structured environment where they can play and learn," said Senator Collins. "This bill will help increase the availability of reliable care for children, providing parents with a greater ability to work or attend classes to improve their own skills and education."

"The CCDBG has worked as a bipartisan solution for decades, providing families with flexible child care options - including in rural areas. Our legislation will expand eligibility for CCDBG while keeping costs low for hardworking families. I'm proud to back this pro-family, pro-worker proposal," said Senator Grassley.

"I am proud to support working families across North Carolina by co-sponsoring this bill that enhances parental choice, improves access to affordable care, and strengthens our child care infrastructure," said Senator Tillis. "The CCDBG reauthorization is commonsense legislation channeling federal child care assistance through a program with a proven track record of success and is a critical step forward in ensuring that every family has the quality child care they deserve."

"Child care is a critical need for working families. Increasing their access to quality, affordable child care will help families and workers across the country. This common sense bill will strengthen child care services and bring more providers to rural areas in Nebraska," said Senator Ricketts.

"Hoosier and American families rely on affordable, quality, accessible child care and preschool options. Our bill would empower parents to decide what child care and preschool providers best suit the needs of their families and strengthens child care capacity," said Senator Young.

The bill has been endorsed by the First Five Years Fund, Save the Children, First Five Nebraska, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, Early Care and Education Consortium, and Buffett Early Childhood Institute.

"We applaud Senator Fischer for her leadership in modernizing the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which will help our nation's primary child care program evolve to meet the needs of families today and for years to come. Congress has repeatedly demonstrated strong, bipartisan support for CCDBG, ensuring support for hundreds of thousands of children, but we still have significant work to do to ensure the program can reach all of the families who need it. The Child Care and Development Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 2024 provides a critical opportunity to make much-needed improvements to CCDBG, allowing it to help more families access and afford the child care they rely on. First Five Years Fund looks forward to working with child care champions in Congress in the weeks and months ahead to ensure more working families and their children have access to the quality child care they need to be successful," said First Five Years Fund Executive Director Sarah Rittling.

"High-quality child care is essential to ensuring every child has a strong start in life, and the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program is critical to making high-quality care affordable and accessible for millions of families. That's why Save the Children supports the efforts of Senators Fischer and Collins in the Child Care and Development Block Grant Reauthorization Act of 2024. It would strengthen CCDBG by raising reimbursement rates to providers to better match the true cost of care, increasing the supply of child care and quality of facilities, and supporting affordable child care in rural America," said Save the Children Managing Director Domestic Policy Roy Chrobocinski.

"Nebraska puts a high degree of value on localized decision making, especially with respect to the services and supports available to working parents with young children. Those same principles are evident in the 2024 Child Care and Development Block Grant Reauthorization Act. This legislation enables state lawmakers and residents to tailor a more flexible and efficient child care infrastructure so parents can choose the early childhood supports that make the most sense for their families. It also introduces important efficiencies to the regulatory environment in which child care programs operate, ensuring that providers are better positioned to deliver the services our families, communities and state need to thrive," said First Five Nebraska Deputy Director and Public Policy Manager Elizabeth Everett.

"Across the state, Nebraska's employers are struggling to secure affordable child care for their employees and the communities they serve. Senator Fischer's CCBDG Reauthorization Act will help reduce regulatory burdens that hinder child care providers, ensure communities have the flexibility they need to make child care funds work for them, and ensure families, employers, and providers have a seat at the table as state plans are crafted. Nebraska's business community is grateful for Senator Fischer's leadership on such a key issue," said Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry Executive Vice President of Policy and Legislation Alex Reuss.

"The Lincoln Chamber thanks Senator Fischer for her leadership to modernize and reauthorize the Child Care Block Development Grant. Limited access to child care has contributed to Nebraska's workforce challenges. The CCBDG will help Lincoln business recruit and retain workforce by providing working families access to quality child care and support early childhood professionals,"said Lincoln Chamber of Commerce President Jason Ball.

"CCDBG is a vital program that helps ensure low-income families have access to high-quality child care. CCDBG reauthorization is long overdue to modernize and make much-needed updates to the program. This bill will help increase access for more low-income families by providing states with greater flexibility, help ensure more providers will be reimbursed for the true cost of providing care, and help address widespread supply shortages. We applaud Sens. Fischer and Collins for their commitment to young children," said Early Care and Education Consortium Executive Director Radha Mohan.
Background:

The CCDBG Reauthorization Act of 2024 builds on the historically bipartisan CCDBG program which has assisted working families with their child care needs for over 30 years.

Specifically, the reauthorization:

• Ensures parental choice by supporting working parents as they choose the child care services that best suit their family's needs.
• Strengthens child care services by moving states to a statistically valid and reliable cost estimation model for setting provider rates.
• Provides funding to states to expand the supply and capacity of child care providers, as well as to ensure that child care facilities are designed and equipped to keep children healthy and safe.
• Assists in-home and rural child care providers by providing them with technical assistance, while also directing the Department of Agriculture to remove regulatory burdens that restrict the presence of home-based child care providers.
• Broadens community input in state child care plan development.
• Reduces duplicative regulatory burdens on child care providers.

Click here for a one-pager of the bill.

Click here to read the text of the bill.

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