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Provides large, ongoing federal funding to expand child care access, supply, workforce supports, and facility projects. It directs an initial $20 billion for child care grants starting FY2026 with an annual inflation-linked floor and establishes a new $5 billion per-year competitive/targeted grant program to finance workforce pay, recruitment, facility financing, family child care networks, scholarships, and other targeted activities in areas of particular need, with set reserves for tribes, territories, technical assistance, evaluation, and administration. Sets program rules and reporting: applicants must submit planned uses as part of CCDBG plans, the bill waives matching requirements, requires Davis-Bacon wages on construction, sets limits on federal interest for facility projects, requires state maintenance-of-effort and supplement-not-supplant certifications, creates tribal redistribution of unused tribal funds, and mandates regular public reporting and independent evaluations. The changes take effect October 1, 2025.
The bill makes substantial, targeted investments to expand child care access, supply, and workforce supports—especially for low‑income families, tribes, and territories—but does so at the cost of sizeable recurring federal spending and added administrative/compliance burdens with some distributional and construction‑cost trade‑offs.
Low-income families with children will receive a large, guaranteed boost in child care funding — a $20 billion FY2026 appropriation with an inflation‑indexed minimum thereafter — expanding affordability and access for eligible parents.
Parents and communities gain a stable federal stream ($5 billion/year) to expand child care supply and support facility projects, enabling more slots, longer-term planning, and reduced shortages.
Children in high-need areas — including infants, dual-language learners, and children with disabilities — get increased access to child care slots, nontraditional-hour care, and priority services.
Taxpayers will face substantially higher recurring federal spending — starting with a $20 billion FY2026 appropriation (inflation‑indexed) plus an ongoing $5 billion/year stream — increasing deficits or crowding out other priorities.
States and child care lead agencies (and local providers) will incur increased administrative, reporting, and compliance burdens — including maintenance-of-effort and supplement‑not‑supplant certification — which can strain budgets and divert staff time from service delivery.
Reserved set‑asides (tribes, territories, technical assistance, evaluation) reduce the share of formula or competitive funds available to other states or programs when total needs exceed appropriations, potentially leaving unmet needs elsewhere.
Introduced April 3, 2025 by Ronald Lee Wyden · Last progress April 3, 2025