Senators Kaine and Britt Introduce New Bipartisan Child Care Plan

Washington, D.C. – Today, Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Katie Britt (R-AL) introduced a bipartisan package that will help lower the cost and boost the supply of child care for working families, giving parents more options to choose the type of care that works best for them.   

Today, millions of working families with young children rely on quality child care, but the high cost and limited supply means many can’t find or afford it. Without access to quality child care, many parents are forced to miss work or exit the workforce entirely, leaving families financially unstable, employers scrambling to fill jobs, and young children missing opportunities to learn and grow.

The Child Care Availability and Affordability Act and the Child Care Workforce Act make up a bipartisan package that would update current tax provisions to help more working parents afford the child care they need, support employers who want to be part of the solution, while also addressing child care workforce challenges by creating a pilot program to boost the supply of child care workers.

Executive Director Sarah Rittling released the following statement on the introduction of the package: 

“The Bipartisan Kaine-Britt Child Care Proposal is an innovative package that strives to help address the unique challenges facing working parents, employers, and child care providers. By updating our tax code and taking additional measures to increase child care supply, this plan will provide meaningful support to hundreds of thousands of working families across the country. We are so grateful for the bipartisan leadership of Senators Kaine and Britt for reaching across the aisle to find common sense solutions for working families, and we look forward to working with them to get this package over the finish line.”

The package would update current tax provisions to help more parents afford the child care they need by:

• Enhancing the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) by making the credit fully refundable so that it reaches more low- and middle-income working families; and expands the maximum amount parents can receive to $2,500 for families with one child and $4,000 for families with two or more children.
• Expanding the Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP) by increasing the amount of pre-tax dollars families can put into a child care assistance plan (similar to a Flexible Spending Account) from $5,000 to $7,500. 
• Bolsters the Employer-Provided Child Care Tax Credit (often referenced as 45F), supporting businesses who want to provide child care to their employees and allowing small businesses to work together to provide child care to employees.

The package would also help increase supply and reduce turnover by:

• Implementing a competitive grant program for states, localities, Indian Tribes, and Tribal organizations who are interested in adopting or expanding pay supplement programs for child care workers.
• Ensuring supplements are offered to both home-based and center-based child care providers who are licensed by the state. 

Voter Support: 

FFYF’s recent polling also shows strong voter support for improving federal support to make child care more affordable and accessible for working families including: 

• 89% of voters want candidates to have a plan or policies ready to help working parents afford high-quality child care. 
• 76% of voters (including 62% of Republicans, 74% of Independents, and 92% of Democrats) support increasing the CDCTC to help ease the burden of child care costs for working families.
• And voters strongly support the expansion of federal tax credits to employers who want to help provide child care or expand benefits including: 84% of all voters, 76% of Republicans, 82% of Independents and 93% of Democrats.

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