[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 113 (Thursday, July 29, 2010)]
[Senate]
[Page S6524]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. KERRY (for himself, Mrs. Lincoln, and Mr. Franken):
  S. 3667. A bill to amend part A of title IV of the Social Security 
Act to exclude child care from the determination of the 5-year limit on 
assistance under the temporary assistance to needy families program, 
and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance.
  Mr. KERRY. Mr. President, our Nation has suffered through the worst 
recession since the 1930s. As the economy begins to recover, the 
availability of affordable and safe child care is a necessary component 
of enabling parents to find and maintain employment to support their 
family.
  The recession has caused States across the country to scale back 
funding for child care. The waiting lists for subsidized child care in 
some States are beginning to rise and a few states have stopped or are 
planning to stop providing child care assistance to families who are 
not receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, TANF, altogether. 
Restrictions of the availability of child care assistance make it 
harder for parents to afford child care and force some parents to leave 
their jobs and turn to welfare programs for support. That is wrong and 
we can do better.
  Child care consumes a large portion of family budgets, and can range 
from $4,560 to $15,895 annually for full-time care depending on where 
the family lives, the type of care, and the age of the child. Child 
care prices are higher than other household expenses and typically 
exceed the average amount families spend on food. In 39 States and the 
District of Columbia, the average annual price for child care for an 
infant in a child care center was higher than a year's tuition at many 
4-year public colleges.
  Without assistance, low-income families can find it impossible to 
secure child care. For example, in 2005, the median monthly income of 
families receiving child care assistance was just $15,396 a year. 
Nearly half of, 49 percent, of families receiving child care assistance 
live below the poverty line and 86 percent of these families were 
single parent households.
  The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 increased mandatory child care 
funding by $1 billion over 5 years, fiscal years 2006 to 2010. Without 
legislative action this funding will expire on September 30, 2010.
  The President's fiscal year 2011 budget calls for mandatory child 
care to be reauthorized and provided an $800 million increase above the 
past 5 years. This increase is necessary because only about one in six 
children eligible for Federal child care assistance receives help.
  Today I am introducing the Children First Act to address the growing 
unmet need for affordable and safe child care. I am pleased Senator 
Lincoln is an original cosponsors of this important legislation.
  The Children First Act would help states meet the significant demand 
for child care assistance by increasing funding for mandatory child 
care by $800 million annually for fiscal year 2011 through 2015. This 
legislation would also annually index mandatory child care funding to 
inflation beginning in fiscal year 2012. This increased funding would 
allow approximately 117,500 more children to have access to safe and 
affordable child care.
  The Children First Act would exclude child care from the definition 
of TANF assistance so that unemployed families who receive child care 
assistance will not have it count towards the 5-year time limit for 
Federal TANF assistance. The legislation would also ensure that the 
minimum child care health and safety standards required for providers 
receiving Child Care Development Block Grant, CCDBG, funding also apply 
to providers who receive funding through TANF. In Massachusetts, all 
licensed providers are required to the same health and safety standards 
regardless of subsidy type received.
  This legislation would increase the availability of child care for 
parents who are required to work. States are currently prohibited from 
withholding or reducing assistance to a single parent with children 
under 6 who does not meet work requirements for reasons related to the 
unavailability or unsuitability of appropriate, affordable child care 
arrangements. The Children First Act would prevent States from 
withholding to reducing child care assistance to parents of a child 
with children under age 13.
  Enactment of this legislation is incredibly important for my home 
State of Massachusetts which currently has approximately 18,000 
children on a waitlist for child care subsidies. Approximately half of 
the parents with at least one preschool age child in the household have 
been on the waitlist for 13 months or more.
  The high cost of child care is the most significant issue facing 
families currently on the waitlist in Massachusetts. Massachusetts 
families pay more on average than families in any other state for most 
types of child care; the average price of full time care in center 
based settings is: $15,895 for an infant and $11,678 for a preschooler. 
This means a single parent at the State median income in Massachusetts, 
$26,680, would have to spend nearly 44 percent of their income to pay 
for the average full day pre-kindergarten program.
  I would like to thank a number of organizations who have been 
integral to the development of the Children First Act and who have 
endorsed it today, including the American Federation of State, County, 
and Municipal Employees, AFSCME, the Children's Defense Fund, CLASP, 
the First Focus Campaign for Children, the National Women's Law Center, 
the Service Employees International Union, SEIU, and the YMCA of the 
USA.
  These reforms would significantly increase access to stable and 
affordable child care to low-income families and would make our 
nation's children more prepared for school and success later in life. I 
look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to pass this 
legislation.
                                 ______