Sponsors
The bill strengthens incentives to reduce improper child care payments and preserve federal funds for families, but risks disrupting assistance and narrowing access for eligible low-income families while increasing state administrative burdens.
Children and parents will have more reliable access to child care assistance because reducing improper payments preserves CCDBG funds for intended services.
State governments will be incentivized and better able to detect and reduce improper payments, improving program integrity and the efficient use of federal child care funds.
Families could lose access to child care assistance if states exceed improper-payment thresholds and face CCDBG funding penalties after two years, causing service disruptions.
Low-income and eligible families may face stricter eligibility checks as states tighten controls to avoid improper payments, which could unintentionally restrict access to benefits.
State agencies will face increased administrative and reporting costs to comply with new requirements, potentially diverting resources away from direct services.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Requires states with child care improper payment rates over 5% to submit corrective plans and conditions federal funds after two consecutive years above 5% unless progress is shown.
Introduced February 26, 2026 by Glenn Grothman · Last progress February 26, 2026
Requires states that administer child care block grant funds to act if their improper payment rate for those funds exceeds 5%. States with rates above 5% must submit an approved corrective action plan and any required reports; if a state has rates above 5% for two straight years it can be made temporarily ineligible for those federal funds unless it reduces the rate to 5% or shows substantial progress on its plan. Creates new compliance and reporting rules and ties eligibility for federal child care funds to hitting a 5% improper payment target or demonstrating clear progress toward it.