Hirono Reintroduces Child Care for Working Families Act to Tackle Child Care Crisis and Get Families the Child Care & Pre-K They Need

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bob Casey (D-PA), and Tim Kaine (D-VA) led 35 of their colleagues in reintroducing the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to tackle the child care crisis and ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need. The bicameral bill was led by Representative Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (D-VA) in the House.

“Families in Hawaii and across the country deserve to have access to high-quality, affordable child care,” said Senator Hirono. “The Child Care for Working Families Act will help address our nation’s child care crisis by capping child care costs for working families, increasing access to pre-K, and helping to ensure child care workers are paid a living wage. Expanding access to quality, affordable early education has long been a top priority of mine and I am proud to join Senators Murray, Casey, Kaine, and our colleagues in reintroducing this legislation to lower costs for families, support child care workers, and help set children up for a lifetime of success.”

Across the country, too many families cannot find—or afford—the high-quality child care they need so parents can go to work and children can thrive, and the worsening child care crisis is holding families, child care workers, businesses, and our entire economy back. Over the last three decades, the cost of child care has increased by 220%, forcing families—and mothers, in particular—to make impossible choices, and more than half of all families live in child care deserts. Meanwhile, child care workers are struggling to make ends meet on the poverty-level wages they are paid and child care providers are struggling to simply stay afloat. The crisis—which was exacerbated by the pandemic—is costing our economy dearly, to the tune of $122 billion in economic losses each year.

The Child Care for Working Families Act would tackle the child care crisis head-on: ensuring families can afford the child care they need, expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. The legislation will also dramatically expand access to pre-K, and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers. Under the legislation, the typical family in America will pay no more than $10 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family will pay more than 7% of their income on child care.

The Child Care for Working Families Act will:

• Make child care affordable for working families.
•  The typical family earning the state median income will pay about $10 a day for child care. 
• No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
• Families earning below 85% of state median income will pay nothing at all for child care.
• If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.

• Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by:
• Addressing child care deserts by providing grants to help open new child care providers in underserved communities.
• Providing grants to cover start-up and licensing costs to help establish new providers.
• Increasing child care options for children who receive care during non-traditional hours.
• Supporting child care for children who are dual-language learners, children who are experiencing homelessness, and children in foster care.

• Support higher wages for child care workers.
• Child care workers would be paid a living wage and achieve parity with elementary school teachers who have similar credentials and experience.
• Child care subsidies would cover the cost of providing high-quality care.

• Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K.
• States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
• States must prioritize establishing and expanding universal local preschool programs within and across high-need communities.
• If a state does not choose to receive funding under this program, the Secretary can provide funds to localities, such as cities, counties, local governments, districts, or Head Start agencies.

• Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.

In addition to Senators Hirono, Murray, Casey, and Kaine, the bill is also cosponsored by Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Chris Coons (D-DE), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Angus King (I-ME), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bob Menendez (D-NJ), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Tina Smith (D-MN), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Peter Welch (D-VT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), and Ron Wyden (D-OR).

In the House, the bill is cosponsored by Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR), Kevin Mullin (D-CA), John P. Sarbanes (D-MD), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Joaquin Castro (D-TX), Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL), Sean Casten (D-IL), Julia Brownley (D-CA), Hank Johnson (D-GA), Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Troy Carter (D-LA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Greg Landsman (D-OH), Nikema Williams (D-GA), Haley Stevens (D-MI), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX), William R. Keating (D-MA), Dina Titus (D-NV), Lauren Underwood (D-IL), Daniel S. Goldman (D-NY), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D-MP), Rosa L. DeLauro (D-CT), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), Donald Norcross (D-NJ), Andrea Salinas (D-OR), Nydia M. Velazquez (D-NY), Nanette Diaz Barragan (D-CA), Sara Jacobs (D-CA), Gwen Moore (D-WI), Suzan Delbene (D-WA), Kathy Castor (D-FL), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-NM), Derek Kilmer (D-WA), Terri A. Sewell (D-AL), Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Colin Z. Allred (D-TX), and Katherine Clark (D-MA).

The legislation is endorsed by: AFL-CIO, AFSCME, AFT, All Our Kin, The Center for American Progress, The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), Child Care Aware of America, Community Change Action, Council for Professional Recognition, Family Value @ Work, First Five Years Fund, MomsRising, National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC), National Education Association (NEA), National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Oxfam, Save the Children, Save the Children Action Network, SEIU, YWCA, Zero to Three, and First Five Years Fund.

As Hawaii Lieutenant Governor, Senator Hirono led the development of the Hawaii Pre-Plus Program, which expanded access to high-quality, affordable early childhood education programs for 3- and 4-year-olds from families at or below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level. Today, there are 14 Pre-Plus sites statewide, some of which are used by HCAP for their Head Start programs. In February, Senator Hirono and Hawaii Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke hosted a roundtable discussion with early childhood providers and experts to talk about the critical need to expand access to quality, affordable early childhood programs in Hawaii.

In Congress, Senator Hirono has remained a strong and consistent advocate for expanding access to high-quality, affordable early childhood education programs. She and Senators Murray and Casey originally introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act during the 115th Congress (2017-2018), and reintroduced the legislation during the 116th and 117th Congresses. Earlier this year, she led a letter with Senators Casey and Smith calling for strong funding for Head Start, Early Head Start, and other early childhood programs in FY24. In 2021, Senator Hirono helped pass the American Rescue Plan Act, which included $39 billion for child care programs in the United States—including nearly $130 million to support Hawaii child care programs.

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