Sponsors (4)
The bill would substantially expand access, workforce support, provider payment adequacy, and transparency in child care—benefiting families, workers, and providers—but does so with open‑ended federal costs, added administrative burdens, and risks of uneven quality or supply strains across states.
Millions of parents and children (especially low- and moderate-income families) would gain greater access to subsidized and higher-quality child care through expanded eligibility, targeted grants, prioritization for underserved groups, and continued federal support.
Child care workers and programs would receive stronger workforce supports (recruitment, training, retention funding floor), improving staff stability and likely raising care quality and early learning outcomes for children.
Child care providers would get clearer, more adequate payment policies and business supports (cost‑based rate setting, technical assistance, loan eligibility adjustments), boosting provider financial sustainability and the local supply of care.
Taxpayers face increased and open‑ended federal spending because many provisions rely on 'such sums as may be necessary' or expand program scope without specific appropriations or caps.
States, local agencies, and providers will incur substantial administrative and implementation burdens (new reporting, plan requirements, waiver processes, model reviews), creating short‑term costs and planning uncertainty.
Expanding eligibility and adding nontraditional eligible activities (higher income threshold waivers, FMLA, part‑time, atypical hours) risks increasing demand faster than supply, straining provider capacity—especially family child care and rural providers.
Based on analysis of 13 sections of legislative text.
Updates and reorganizes the Child Care Block Grant law: clarifies eligibility and definitions, requires state consultations and reports, creates a supply/facilities grant program, strengthens workforce rules, and authorizes funding for FY2026–2030.
Introduced September 17, 2025 by Debra Fischer · Last progress September 17, 2025
Revises and reorganizes the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act to strengthen state planning, eligibility rules, workforce supports, reporting, and waiver processes for child care assistance. It adds a new (unspecified) child care supply and facilities grants program, requires states to consult parents, providers, employers and local governments when developing state plans, expands and clarifies who counts as an eligible child and eligible activities, and establishes a dedicated workforce initiative with a minimum funding floor. The bill also authorizes “such sums as may be necessary” for the subchapter for fiscal years 2026–2030, updates technical statutory language, revises a USDA loan regulation to exclude state-licensed child care businesses, and creates new state reporting requirements and a process for states to request and renew waivers to raise income eligibility standards (with protections for lower-income families). Many changes are definitional, reporting, and planning requirements rather than new dollar amounts; one new grant program is created but its details and funding levels are not specified in the text provided.