Sponsors (8)
The bill increases parental choice, support for family caregivers, and targeted funding/clarity for child care and dependent care benefits, but does so by shifting services toward certificates (raising oversight and state implementation concerns) and removing an existing dependent care tax credit while introducing church-state and litigation risks.
Parents of eligible children gain broader choice because they may receive child care certificates to pay the provider they select, including relatives and religious providers.
Relative caregivers and in-home providers face fewer regulatory barriers and may be paid at higher, specified rates, expanding care options and additional income for family caregivers.
States must reserve additional funds for direct services and infant/toddler quality, which could increase available child care support and improve early care quality for young children.
Families that relied on the existing dependent care tax credit could face higher tax liabilities because the bill strikes section 21 and eliminates the current credit.
Shifting most direct services to child care certificates reduces program control over provider selection and oversight, which could increase variability in care quality and safety for children.
Allowing certificate funds to be used for religious activities means taxpayer-supported child care could include religious instruction, raising church-state concerns for some families.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Requires CCDBG services be delivered via parent-choice child care certificates, adds protections for parents who marry, and repeals the federal dependent care tax credit.
Introduced March 24, 2025 by Riley M. Moore · Last progress March 24, 2025
Requires parents receiving federal child-care assistance under the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) to be offered a child care certificate as their choice of provider payment and directs that direct services under the law be provided via those certificates. Adds protections so a parent’s assistance is not automatically ended solely because an unmarried parent marries and the combined income exceeds a State median-income threshold, and updates several eligibility and provider-treatment rules. Separately, repeals the federal tax credit for household and dependent care expenses and makes related changes to multiple Internal Revenue Code provisions, effective for taxable years beginning after enactment.