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Introduced September 30, 2025 by Elizabeth Warren · Last progress September 30, 2025
Creates a nationwide child care and early learning entitlement that makes care available to all children younger than compulsory school age. The federal government funds the program (open-ended authorizations plus a $500 million annual admin/enhancement authorization for FY2026–FY2036), sets national standards and monitoring, requires “prime sponsors” (States, localities, Tribes, nonprofits) to run local systems, caps family fees at 7% of income, and requires states not to reduce their own child care spending because of the new federal aid. The law sets rules for provider payments (federal share generally ≥90%, 100% for Tribal and migrant children), workforce compensation and training (pay scales comparable to local school districts or military child care and at least a living wage), data/reporting, coordination with Head Start/IDEA/USDA/LEAs, facility and accreditation requirements, and special tribal consultation and protections. It also amends CCDBG to add a maintenance‑of‑effort test and to limit CCDBG use where this new entitlement covers services.
The bill would make high‑quality, year‑round child care universally available and better funded — improving affordability, workforce pay, and program quality — but does so as a large, open‑ended federal commitment that raises fiscal costs and imposes new mandates and administrative burdens that could strain state budgets, small providers, and workforce capacity if implementation funding and safeguards are insufficient.
Nearly all young children (all children younger than compulsory school age) and their families gain guaranteed access to full‑day, year‑round federally supported child care and early learning services, greatly expanding affordable care availability.
The federal government covers most program costs (generally ≥90%, 100% for specified tribal groups) and provides planning, administrative, operational, supplemental, and capital grant funding, lowering local budget pressure and enabling program scale‑up.
Nationwide quality, safety, accreditation, curriculum, and child‑development supports — including early intervention linkages and mental‑health/cognitive supports — are required, raising baseline program quality and improving school readiness and child outcomes.
Establishes an uncapped federal entitlement and open‑ended appropriations that could substantially increase federal spending and add to deficits or future tax pressures if costs grow beyond projections.
Maintenance‑of‑effort requirements force States and localities to keep or raise prior child care spending, constraining budget flexibility and possibly forcing cuts or reallocations from other state and local services.
New federal standards, reporting, planning, and oversight create significant administrative and compliance burdens for prime sponsors and providers — especially small and family child care homes — which could divert time and resources from direct care.