[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3943 Introduced in House (IH)]

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117th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3943

   To establish a commission to make recommendations for modernizing 
        Federal financing of early care and education programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 16, 2021

 Mr. Owens (for himself and Mr. Estes) introduced the following bill; 
  which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in 
    addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be 
subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration 
  of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee 
                               concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To establish a commission to make recommendations for modernizing 
        Federal financing of early care and education programs.

    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 ``Modernizing Financing of Early Care 
and Education in America Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. MODERNIZING FINANCING OF EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION IN AMERICA.

    (a) Purpose and Objectives.--The purpose of this section is to 
establish a commission to make recommendations for modernizing Federal 
financing of early care and education programs in order to promote--
            (1) access to high quality child care and early education 
        settings that support healthy development and well-being of 
        young children;
            (2) affordability of high quality early learning and 
        education opportunities for children living in poverty and in 
        disadvantaged communities;
            (3) parent choice and flexibility that respects the role 
        parents play in choosing child care that is best suited to fit 
        their child's needs; and
            (4) a more streamlined, equitable, and sustainable Federal 
        financing framework to support the success of future 
        generations.
    (b) Bipartisan Commission on Early Childhood Education Financing.--
            (1) Establishment.--There is established a commission to be 
        known as the Bipartisan Commission on Early Childhood Education 
        Financing (in this subsection referred to as the 
        ``Commission'').
            (2) Membership.--
                    (A) Qualifications.--The Commission members shall 
                be knowledgeable in federally and state-funded early 
                care and education programs, including individuals 
                representing State and local governments and 
                organizations knowledgeable in public regulatory and 
                funding mechanisms for early care and education 
                programs, and shall be balanced by area of expertise 
                and balanced geographically to the extent consistent 
                with maintaining the highest level of expertise on the 
                Commission.
                    (B) Number; appointment.--The Commission shall be 
                composed of 12 members appointed, within 90 days after 
                the effective date of this Act, from among individuals 
                who meet the requirements of subparagraph (A), as 
                follows:
                            (i) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        Majority Leader of the Senate.
                            (ii) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        Minority Leader of the Senate.
                            (iii) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        Speaker of the House of Representatives.
                            (iv) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        Minority Leader of the House of 
                        Representatives.
                            (v) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the 
                        Senate.
                            (vi) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        ranking minority member of the Committee on 
                        Finance of the Senate.
                            (vii) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of 
                        the House of Representatives.
                            (viii) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        ranking minority member of the Committee on 
                        Ways and Means of the House of Representatives.
                            (ix) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        Chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, 
                        Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
                            (x) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        ranking minority member of the Committee on 
                        Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 
                        Senate.
                            (xi) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        Chairman of the Committee on Education and 
                        Labor of the House of Representatives.
                            (xii) 1 member shall be appointed by the 
                        ranking minority member of the Committee on 
                        Education and Labor of the House of 
                        Representatives.
                    (C) Vacancies.--A vacancy on the Commission shall 
                be filled in the same manner in which the vacating 
                member was appointed.
            (3) Powers.--In carrying out the functions of the 
        Commission under this subsection, the Commission--
                    (A) may secure directly from any Federal agency or 
                department any information the Commission deems 
                necessary to carry out the functions, and, on the 
                request of the Commission, each such agency or 
                department may cooperate with the Commission and, to 
                the extent permitted by law, furnish the information to 
                the Commission; and
                    (B) may enter into contracts, subject to the 
                availability of appropriations, and employ such staff 
                experts and consultants as may be necessary to carry 
                out the duties of the Commission, subject to section 
                3109 of title 5, United States Code.
            (4) Staff.--The Commission may, without regard to the civil 
        service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an 
        Executive Director and such other additional personnel as may 
        be necessary for the Commission to perform the duties of the 
        Commission. The Executive Director shall be compensated at a 
        rate not to exceed the rate payable for Level V of the 
        Executive Schedule under section 5136 of title 5, United States 
        Code. The employment and termination of an Executive Director 
        shall be subject to confirmation by a majority of the members 
        of the Commission.
            (5) Meetings.--
                    (A) In general.--All meetings of the Commission 
                shall be open to the public. The Commission shall 
                permit interested persons to appear at Commission 
                meetings and present oral or written statements on the 
                subject matter of the meeting.
                    (B) Advance public notice.--The Commission shall 
                provide timely notice, in advance, in the Federal 
                Register, of the time, place, and subject of each 
                Commission meeting.
                    (C) Documentation.--The Commission shall keep 
                minutes of each Commission meeting, which shall contain 
                a record of the people present, a description of the 
                discussion that occurred, and copies of all statements 
                filed. Subject to section 552 of title 5, United States 
                Code, the minutes and records of all meetings and other 
                documents that were made available to, or prepared for, 
                the Commission shall be available for public inspection 
                and copying at a single location in the offices of the 
                Commission.
                    (D) Initial meeting.--The Commission shall hold its 
                first meeting within 30 days after all Commission 
                members are appointed.
            (6) Report.--
                    (A) In general.--Within 18 months after the date of 
                the enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall 
                prepare a report of its findings and recommendations 
                regarding modernizing Federal financing of early care 
                and education programs to streamline and reduce 
                duplicate funding streams.
                    (B) Contents.--The report required by subparagraph 
                (A) shall include the following:
                            (i) An inventory and accounting of the 
                        total amount of Federal funds available for 
                        early care and education programs, including--
                                    (I) programs under the Child Care 
                                and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 
                                (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.);
                                    (II) the child care stabilization 
                                grant program under section 2202 of the 
                                American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (42 
                                U.S.C. 9858 note);
                                    (III) the child care entitlement 
                                program under section 418 of the Social 
                                Security Act (42 U.S.C. 618);
                                    (IV) programs under the Head Start 
                                Act (42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.);
                                    (V) the program of block grants to 
                                States for temporary assistance for 
                                needy families under part A of title IV 
                                of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
                                601-619);
                                    (VI) the Preschool Development 
                                Grants program under section 9212 of 
                                the Every Student Succeeds Act (42 
                                U.S.C. 9831 note);
                                    (VII) the Child Care Access Means 
                                Parents in School program under section 
                                419N of the Higher Education Act of 
                                1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070e); and
                                    (VIII) and any other early care or 
                                education program identified by the 
                                Commission.
                            (ii) A comprehensive review and assessment 
                        of the funding structure and allocation formula 
                        used to finance each program referred to in 
                        clause (i), including a bifurcation of programs 
                        indicating whether Federal funds are provided 
                        directly to States or to other grantees, and 
                        how that affects the coordination of programs 
                        at the State and local levels and the delivery 
                        of services to families.
                            (iii) A description of congressional 
                        jurisdiction over, and Federal agency 
                        administration of, each such program.
                            (iv) An explanation of how each such 
                        program interacts with State and local public 
                        funding and financing for early care and 
                        education, including publicly-funded pre-
                        kindergarten, which shall include an accounting 
                        of the total amount of State and local funds 
                        available for such purposes.
                            (v) An identification of barriers in the 
                        governance and funding structures of programs 
                        that limit the most efficient use of local, 
                        State, and Federal resources.
                    (C) Matters required to be addressed in the report 
                to the congress.--In the report to the Congress, the 
                Commission shall make specific recommendations, 
                including delineation of specific statutory and 
                regulatory changes, to address each of the following:
                            (i) How to modernize and more effectively 
                        use Federal funds to strengthen the delivery of 
                        child care and early education, and improve the 
                        financing framework and governance structure at 
                        the Federal level to improve access for 
                        families and accountability for taxpayer 
                        dollars.
                            (ii) The pros and cons of streamlining or 
                        combining Federal programs and funding streams 
                        in order to improve the overall participation 
                        of children in a mixed delivery system, while 
                        maintaining availability of high quality 
                        services, expanding parental choice, and 
                        enhancing access for children from low-income 
                        communities.
                            (iii) Options for Federal alternative 
                        financing framework or governance models that 
                        better leverage the Federal investment in child 
                        care and early education funding, including 
                        ideas that are outside the current framework or 
                        that re-envision existing programs.
                            (iv) Options for expanding the use of 
                        public and private partnerships to help 
                        maximize the Federal investment in early care 
                        and education.
                    (D) Distribution.--The Commission shall make the 
                report publicly available, and shall submit a copy of 
                the report to the Chairman and ranking minority member 
                of each of the Committees on Finance and on Health, 
                Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the 
                Committees on Ways and Means and on Education and Labor 
                of the House of Representatives, and to the President.
            (7) Termination.--The Commission shall terminate 60 days 
        after the Commission submits the report required by paragraph 
        (6).
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