Sen. Young, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Expand Working Families’ Access to Quality Child Care

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined Senators Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.) 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 would strengthen child care services, increase the supply of child care providers, and improve the program to support families and providers in the pursuit of quality, affordable child care.

“Hoosier 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 strengthen child care capacity,” said Senator Young.

“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.

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 would: 

• Ensure parental choice by supporting working parents as they choose the child care services that best suit their family’s needs;

• Strengthen child care services by moving states to a statistically valid and reliable cost estimation model for setting provider rates;

• Provide 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;

• Assist 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;

• Broaden community input in state child care plan development; and

• Reduce duplicative regulatory burdens on child care providers.

A one-pager of the bill is available here. Full text of the bill is available here.