[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3562 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 3562

     To provide supplemental appropriations for the Child Care and 
  Development Block Grant program, and the Head Start and Early Head 
                Start programs, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 22, 2020

 Mr. Casey (for himself and Ms. Hassan) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To provide supplemental appropriations for the Child Care and 
  Development Block Grant program, and the Head Start and Early Head 
                Start programs, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Supporting Child Care Providers and 
Families Affected by Coronavirus Act''.

SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Coronavirus.--The term ``coronavirus'' means 
        coronavirus as defined in section 506 of the Coronavirus 
        Preparedness and Response Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2020 
        (Public Law 116-123).
            (2) COVID-19 public health emergency.--The term ``COVID-19 
        national emergency'' means the national emergency declared by 
        the President under the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 
        1601 et seq.) on March 13, 2020, with respect to coronavirus.
            (3) Eligible child care provider.--The term ``eligible 
        child care provider'' has the meaning given the term in section 
        658P of the Child Care Development and Block Grant Act of 1990 
        (42 U.S.C. 9858n).

SEC. 3. SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION.

    The following sums are hereby appropriated, out of any money in the 
Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 2020, and for other purposes, namely:
    

                DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

                Administration for Children and Families

   payments to states for the child care and development block grant

    For an additional amount for ``Payments to States for the Child 
Care and Development Block Grant'', $4,000,000,000, to carry out the 
Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 by enabling States 
to carry out activities including--
            (1) providing direct assistance to eligible child care 
        providers so that reimbursement can be adjusted to be based on 
        the number of enrolled children, rather than the number of 
        children in attendance, with such providers, due to the absence 
        of children or closure of providers, related to the COVID-19 
        public health emergency;
            (2) continuing payments to eligible child care providers 
        when there are closures related to the emergency;
            (3) providing payments to eligible child care providers so 
        that the providers can provide tuition or copayment assistance 
        for children whose families are temporarily unable to continue 
        making tuition payments or copayments due to the emergency;
            (4) providing payments to eligible child care providers to 
        cover the cost of substitute educators who are needed due to 
        the emergency;
            (5) providing payments to eligible child care providers to 
        provide additional training to staff or to purchase supplies 
        and services needed to keep the facilities of the eligible 
        child care providers safe, sanitary, and operational; and
            (6) ensuring the children of frontline workers, needed as a 
        result of the emergency, have access to care.

                children and families services programs

    For an additional amount for ``Children and Families Services 
Programs'', $1,000,000,000 for carrying out the Head Start Act by 
assisting Head Start programs (including Early Head Start programs)--
            (1) to provide educators with additional training or to 
        purchase supplies and services needed to keep the facilities of 
        the programs safe, sanitary, and operational;
            (2) to provide mental health supports, needed due to the 
        COVID-19 public health emergency, to children in the programs 
        and their families;
            (3) to provide services to the children and families 
        remotely or through alternative delivery methods, including 
        through the provision of needed technology for programs and 
        families, due to the emergency;
            (4) to continue payments for salaries of staff during 
        closures, and to provide the staff with hazard pay when 
        applicable, due to the emergency;
            (5) without displacing children eligible for a Head Start 
        program (including an Early Head Start program), or disrupting 
        services provided to the families of such children, at the 
        discretion of the grantee involved, to provide care to children 
        of frontline workers needed as a result of the emergency 
        regardless of the eligibility of the children; and
            (6) to provide other services needed as a result of the 
        emergency.

SEC. 4. EMERGENCY REQUIREMENT.

    The amounts appropriated under section 3 are designated by Congress 
as being for an emergency requirement pursuant to section 
251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control 
Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 901(b)(2)(A)(i)).
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