With control divided between a Republican-led House of Representatives and a Democratic-led Senate, the 118th Congress has failed to pass transformative child care legislation that encompasses our comprehensive vision. Still, many Members of Congress have taken important steps to try to strengthen our child care system. To assess support by Members of Congress toward our vision, this scorecard examines action and leadership on a combination of bills, letters, and votes:
Did the Member cosponsor these bills?
(1) Either Child Care for Every Community Act (S. 388, H.R. 953) or Child Care for Working Families Act (S. 1354, H.R. 2976)
The Child Care for Every Community Act (S. 388, H.R. 953) and the Child Care for Working Families Act (S. 1354, H.R. 2976) are the two pieces of legislation that would transform the current child care system.
The Child Care for Every Community Act would ensure universal access to child care with a mandatory federal investment to establish and support a network of locally-run child care and early learning centers and family child care homes; guarantee affordability for all families; and ensure the child care workforce would earn living wages. This bicameral legislation is led by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Representative Mikie Sherrill (D-NJ) and was re-introduced in February 2023.
The Child Care for Working Families Act (CCWFA) addresses long-standing structural challenges plaguing the child care system by simultaneously addressing the three pillars of the child care system: access, affordability, and wages. This bicameral legislation is led by the Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee Patty Murray (D-WA) and the Ranking Member of the House Education and Workforce Committee Bobby Scott (D-VA); CCWFA was first introduced in 2017.
(2) Child Care Stabilization Act (S. 2777, H.R. 5433)
The Child Care Stabilization Act is aimed at preventing a child care crisis due to the expiration of the stabilization fund on September 30, 2023, by providing $16 billion in mandatory funding each year for the next five years to continue the successful ARPA Child Care Stabilization Grant program. Child care stabilization grants saved nearly 10 million child care slots, and protected more than 1 million child care jobs since 2021.
Did the Member sign these letters?
(1) November 2023 Bicameral Letter to Congressional Leadership
(2) February 2024 Bicameral Letter to Congressional Leadership
Each of these congressional letters, sent to the House and Senate Majority and Minority leaders as well as House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders, called on Congress to support robust funding for child care in FY 2024 after Congress failed to act before the Stabilization Grant funding expired on September 30, 2023.
How did the Member vote on these bills?
(1) Voted NO on Limit, Save, Grow Act (H.R. 2811)
The Limit, Save, Grow Act came up for a roll call vote in April 2023 in the House. The bill represented House Republicans’ proposal to raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion or until March 31, 2024, whichever comes first in exchange for brutal across-the-board program cuts. This included cutting annual spending to FY 2022 levels — about a $130 billion cut — with future increases capped at a 1% yearly rate in the following decade. On child care specifically, a vote for this bill was a vote to cut an estimated 101,000 child care slots & over 200,000 Head Start slots. (Note: This vote is only scored for the House.)
(2) Voted YES on the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024
This March, Congress passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2024. This 6-bill appropriations package covers a wide range of federal programs and thus is an imperfect vehicle to score. However, this legislative package signifies a recent, important federal investment in child care: $8.75 billion — a $725 million, or 9%, increase over FY2023 — for the largest federal child care program, the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). This legislation also includes $12.3 billion for Head Start to support and retain the teachers and staff to continue serving families nationwide, an increase of $275 million over FY23. Together, the programs received a combined increase of $1 billion.
Did the Member organize other Members of Congress to support child care?
True to Community Change Action’s commitment to organizing, we also examined whether a Member of Congress played a leadership role to advance our vision for child care.
First, we looked at the two bicameral letters from November 2023 and February 2024, which were led by 8 and 9 Members of Congress, respectively. Each letter garnered well over 100 signatures from Representatives and Senators calling for important FY 2024 child care investments.
Next, we identified the founders and chairs of issue-based caucuses that dedicate significant attention to child care issues, namely the Congressional Baby Caucus, Congressional Bipartisan Affordable Childcare Caucus, Congressional Dads Caucus, Congressional Mamas’ Caucus, Congressional Pre-K and Child Care Caucus, and the Democratic Women’s Caucus.
Members of Congress who “organized” for child care are denoted with an asterisk (*).
The 2024 Child Care Scorecard
Based on the legislative action and leadership described above, we evaluated the level of support for our child care vision for each Member of Congress according to these grades:
A = 80-100+
B = 50-79
C = 25-49
F = 24-0
The scorecard below also takes into account these factors:
- NA (for “not applicable”) means this legislative action was not scored for the individual Member of Congress because:
- They were not sworn into the 118th Congress at the time;
- They missed the vote;
- They did not vote because they are a non-voting Member (delegate or resident commissioner); or
- Their role in leadership means they would not sign a congressional letter.
- NV designates a non-voting Member of Congress
- (VACANT) designates that the seat is currently vacant and the tier of support is based on the former Member’s legislative action or inaction
- ASTERISK (*) denotes a Member of Congress who “organized” for child care
