[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 93 (Friday, June 27, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6740-S6741]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. SPECTER:
  S. 978. A bill to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to allow 
employers a credit for a portion of the expenses of providing dependent 
care services to employees, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Finance.


                     the affordable child care act

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, I have sought recognition to introduce 
the Affordable Child Care Act, which will ease the financial burden of 
child care for working families by reducing the cost of day care. I 
would like to commend Congressman Jon Fox from Pennsylvania's 13th 
District, who has sponsored this legislation in the House. Our bill 
would provide a tax credit for employers who provide on-site or site-
adjacent child care to their employees in order to reduce the child 
care expenses of the employee.
  Many employees have expressed support for on-site day care 
facilities, which allow parents to spend more time with their children 
during the day, such as over the lunch hour. On-site child care may not 
be the best option for all families. Many families rely on relatives, 
centers operated by churches and other religious organizations, or make 
other arrangements to provide care for their children while they work. 
However, it is my view that this bill represents a good start toward 
reducing the cost of child care for many Americans.
  The need for affordable and accessible day care is critical given the 
increasing numbers of working parents and dual-income families in the 
United States. According to the Bureau of the Census, in 1975, 31 
percent of married mothers with a child younger than age 1 participated 
in the labor force. By 1995, that figure had risen to 59 percent. 
Almost 64 percent of married mothers and 53 percent of single mothers 
with children younger than age six participated in the labor force in 
1995.
  Yet, as reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on June 5, 1996, only 
13 percent of all major U.S. companies provide some form of on-site day 
care. Further, it costs at least $1 million to start up such a day care 
center. About 70 percent of working parents missed at least 1 work day 
in the past year because of child-related problems, according to Work 
Family Directions of Boston, a company that advises firms on how to 
improve work and family programs. A 1991 estimate by the Child Care 
Action Committee, a national child care advocacy group, found that U.S. 
businesses lose $3 billion a year because of child care related 
absences.
  The cost of child care for families is also significant. A 1995 
report by the Census Bureau showed that in 1993, the average weekly 
child care cost per arrangement paid by families with employed mothers 
was $57. Parents using organized child care facilities paid the most 
per arrangement at around $65 per week. Child care is even more 
expensive in metropolitan areas than nonmetropolitan areas, averaging 
$80 per week versus $55 per week. I know that licensed day care centers 
in some urban areas cost as much as $200 per week, which is quite a 
burden on families which need the second income. These figures serve to 
underscore the need for action on the part of the Federal Government to 
provide the necessary assistance to our Nation's working families.
  Accordingly, the legislation I am proposing today would provide a tax 
credit to businesses that provide licensed, on-site or site-adjacent 
child care for their employees. Employers would be eligible for a tax 
credit equal to 50 percent of the net cost of providing dependent care 
services at a child day care facility for employees. This bill also 
provides, however, that no credit shall be allocated unless the 
employer certifies that the amount of such a credit is passed on to the 
employees using the provider day care in the form of reduced child care 
costs.
  The Affordable Child Care Act complements my recent efforts to assist 
working families in a number of areas. When Congress debated welfare 
reform in 1995 and 1996, I worked to ensure that adequate funds were 
provided for child care, a critical component for welfare mothers who 
would be required to work to receive new limited welfare benefits. I am 
pleased that the welfare reform bill that became law provides $20 
billion in child care funding over a 6-year period.

  Providing health insurance for children is also a top priority of 
mine, and I have sponsored legislation to establish a discretionary 
pilot program to cover the 4.2 million children of the working poor, 
who are not eligible for Medicaid but whose parents cannot afford 
private insurance. I am also a cosponsor of legislation introduced by 
my colleagues, Senators Chafee and Rockefeller, to expand the Medicaid 
Program to cover children whose families earn up to 150 percent of the 
Federal poverty level.
  To encourage the adoption of children into healthy and stable 
families, last April I introduced the Adoption Promotion Act of 1996 
(S. 1715) with 13 other Senators to provide tax credits for families 
that adopt. Subsequently, a broader piece of tax legislation, the Small 
Business Job Protection Act of

[[Page S6741]]

1996, was passed by Congress and signed into law on August 20, 1996. 
This act included a $5,000 adoption tax credit for qualified adoption 
expenses and a $6,000 tax credit for special needs adoptions, and was 
much like our legislation. I recently reintroduced legislation to 
increase the tax credit for special needs adoptions for $7,500, and 
permit penalty-free withdrawals from Individual Retirement Accounts up 
to $2,000 for adoption expenses.
  In conclusion, Mr. President, encouraging businesses to provide 
affordable child care for their employees will help provide peace of 
mind to those in our Nation struggling to balance career and family. I 
urge my colleagues to join me in cosponsoring this important 
legislation, and I urge its swift adoption.
                                 ______