<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><BillSummaries>
    <item congress="118" measure-type="s" measure-number="1867" measure-id="id118s1867" originChamber="SENATE" orig-publish-date="2023-06-07" update-date="2024-09-18">
        <title>Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act of 2023</title>
        <summary summary-id="id118s1867v00" currentChamber="SENATE" update-date="2024-09-18">
            <action-date>2023-06-07</action-date>
            <action-desc>Introduced in Senate</action-desc>
            <summary-text><![CDATA[<p><strong>Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act of 2023</strong></p><p>This bill requires the&nbsp;Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish the Expanding Childcare in Rural America Initiative to&nbsp;prioritize certain loans and grants that address&nbsp;childcare in agricultural and rural communities. Under the bill, childcare includes eligible programs that provide quality care and early education for young children who are in kindergarten or have not yet entered kindergarten.</p><p>Under the initiative, USDA must give priority to applicants that propose to use certain&nbsp;loans or grants to address the availability, quality, or costs of childcare in an agricultural or&nbsp;rural community.&nbsp;In addition, USDA must&nbsp;prioritize communities in farming-dependent counties and ensure a balanced geographical distribution of the benefits.</p><p>USDA must conduct a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the projects carried out under the initiative and submit a report to Congress.&nbsp;</p><!--tinycomments|2.1|data:application/json;base64,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-->]]></summary-text>
        </summary>
    </item>
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        <dc:language>EN</dc:language>
        <dc:rights>Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.</dc:rights>
        <dc:contributor>Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress</dc:contributor>
        <dc:description>This file contains bill summaries for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.</dc:description>
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