[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 134 (Wednesday, July 29, 2020)]
[House]
[Pages H3908-H3921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CHILD CARE FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY ACT
Mrs. LOWEY. Madam Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1053, I call
up the bill (H.R. 7327) making additional supplemental appropriations
for disaster relief requirements for the fiscal year ending September
30, 2020, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate
consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
The SPEAKER pro tempore (Ms. Pressley). Pursuant to House Resolution
1053, the bill is considered read.
The text of the bill is as follows:
H.R. 7327
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 ``Child Care for Economic
Recovery Act''.
SEC. 2. REFERENCES.
Except as expressly provided otherwise, any reference to
``this Act'' contained in any division of this Act shall be
treated as referring only to the provisions of that division.
DIVISION A--EMERGENCY CHILD CARE SUPPORT APPROPRIATIONS
The following sums in this Act are appropriated, out of
any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the
fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for other
purposes, namely:
TITLE I--DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Internal Revenue Services
taxpayer services
For an additional amount for ``Taxpayer Services'',
$5,000,000, to remain available until expended, for making
grants under the Community Volunteer Income Tax Assistance
Matching Grants Program established under section 7526A of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986: Provided, That the
matching funds requirement in section 7526A(b)(2) shall not
apply to funds made available under this heading in this Act:
Provided further, That such amount is designated by the
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.
TITLE II--DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Administration for Children and Families
social services block grant
For an additional amount for ``Social Services Block
Grant'', $850,000,000, to remain available until September
30, 2021, for making grants to States pursuant to section
2002 of the Social Security Act: Provided, That the amount
made available under this heading in this Act shall be used
for necessary expenses for family care for essential workers,
pursuant to section 409 of division B this Act: Provided
further, That such amount is designated by the 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.
child care and development fund
For an additional amount for ``Child Care and Development
Fund'', $10,000,000,000, to remain available until September
30, 2024, for necessary expenses for infrastructure grants to
improve child care safety, including needs assessments,
pursuant to section 418A of Part A of title IV of the Social
Security Act, as added by division B of this Act: Provided,
That funds made available under this heading in this Act may
be used for grants for the construction, alteration, or
renovation of non-federally owned facilities to improve child
care safety: Provided further, That all construction,
alteration, or renovation work, carried out in whole or in
part with funds appropriated under this heading in this Act,
[[Page H3909]]
shall be subject to the requirements of subchapter IV of
chapter 31 of title 40, United States Code (commonly referred
to as the ``Davis-Bacon Act''): Provided further, That such
amount is designated by the 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.
TITLE III--GENERAL PROVISIONS--THIS DIVISION
Sec. 301. Each amount appropriated or made available by
this Act is in addition to any amounts otherwise appropriated
for the fiscal year involved.
Sec. 302. No part of any appropriation contained in this
Act shall remain available for obligation beyond the current
fiscal year unless expressly so provided herein.
Sec. 303. Unless otherwise provided for by this Act, the
additional amounts appropriated by this Act to appropriations
accounts shall be available under the authorities and
conditions applicable to such appropriations accounts for
fiscal year 2020.
Sec. 304. Each amount designated in this Act by the
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 shall be available (or rescinded
or transferred, if applicable) only if the President
subsequently so designates all such amounts and transmits
such designations to the Congress.
Sec. 305. Any amount appropriated by this Act, designated
by the Congress as an emergency requirement pursuant to
section 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 and subsequently so designated by
the President, and transferred pursuant to transfer
authorities provided by this Act shall retain such
designation.
budgetary effects
Sec. 306. (a) Statutory PAYGO Scorecards.--The budgetary
effects of division B shall not be entered on either PAYGO
scorecard maintained pursuant to section 4(d) of the
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010.
(b) Senate PAYGO Scorecards.--The budgetary effects of
division B shall not be entered on any PAYGO scorecard
maintained for purposes of section 4106 of H. Con. Res. 71
(115th Congress).
(c) Classification of Budgetary Effects.--Notwithstanding
Rule 3 of the Budget Scorekeeping Guidelines set forth in the
joint explanatory statement of the committee of conference
accompanying Conference Report 105-217 and section 250(c)(8)
of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of
1985, the budgetary effects of division B shall not be
estimated--
(1) for purposes of section 251 of such Act; and
(2) for purposes of paragraph (4)(C) of section 3 of the
Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 as being included in an
appropriation Act.
This division may be cited as the ``Emergency Child Care
Support Appropriations Act, 2020''.
DIVISION B--WORKER ACCESS TO CHILD AND FAMILY CARE
SEC. 401. SHORT TITLE.
This division may be cited as the ``Worker Access to Child
and Family Care Act''.
SEC. 402. REFUNDABILITY AND ENHANCEMENT OF CHILD AND
DEPENDENT CARE TAX CREDIT.
(a) Treatment of Credit as Refundable.--Section 21 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding at the end
the following new subsection:
``(g) Treatment of Credit as Refundable.--In the case of an
individual other than a nonresident alien, the credit allowed
under subsection (a) shall be treated as a credit allowed
under subpart C (and not allowed under this subpart).''.
(b) Increase in Applicable Percentage.--Section 21(a)(2) of
such Code is amended--
(1) by striking ``35 percent'' and inserting ``50
percent'', and
(2) by striking ``$15,000'' and inserting ``$120,000''.
(c) Increase in Dollar Limit on Amount Creditable.--Section
21(c) of such Code is amended--
(1) by striking ``$3,000'' in paragraph (1) and inserting
``$6,000'', and
(2) by striking ``$6,000'' in paragraph (2) and inserting
``twice the amount in effect under paragraph (1)''.
(d) Inflation Adjustment.--Section 21(e) of such Code is
amended by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
``(11) Inflation adjustment.--In the case of any taxable
year beginning after December 31, 2020, the $120,000 amount
in subsection (a)(2) and the $6,000 amount in subsection
(c)(1) shall each be increased by an amount equal to--
``(A) such dollar amount, multiplied by
``(B) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under
section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable
year begins, determined by substituting `2019' for `2016' in
subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.
If any increase determined under this paragraph is not a
multiple of $100, such increase shall be rounded to the next
highest multiple of $100.''.
(e) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1324(b)(2) of title 31,
United States Code, is amended by inserting ``21 (by reason
of subsection (g) thereof),'' before ``25A''.
(f) Coordination With Possession Tax Systems.--Section
21(g)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (as added by
this section) shall not apply to any person--
(1) to whom a credit is allowed against taxes imposed by a
possession with a mirror code tax system by reason of the
application of section 21 of such Code in such possession for
such taxable year, or
(2) to whom a credit would be allowed against taxes imposed
by a possession which does not have a mirror code tax system
if the provisions of section 21 of such Code had been in
effect in such possession for such taxable year.
(g) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2019.
SEC. 403. INCREASE IN EXCLUSION FOR EMPLOYER-PROVIDED
DEPENDENT CARE ASSISTANCE.
(a) In General.--Section 129(a)(2)(A) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking ``$5,000
($2,500'' and inserting ``$10,500 (half such dollar amount''.
(b) Inflation Adjustment.--Section 129(a)(2) is amended by
adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) Inflation adjustment.--In the case of any taxable
year beginning after December 31, 2020, the $10,500 amount in
subparagraph (A) shall be increased by an amount equal to--
``(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by
``(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment determined under
section 1(f)(3) for the calendar year in which the taxable
year begins, determined by substituting `2019' for `2016' in
subparagraph (A)(ii) thereof.
Any increase determined under the preceding sentence which is
not a multiple of $50, shall be rounded to the next highest
multiple of $50.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendment made by this section
shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31,
2019.
(d) Plan Amendments.--A plan or other arrangement that
otherwise satisfies all applicable requirements of sections
106, 125, and 129 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(including any rules or regulations thereunder) shall not
fail to be treated as a cafeteria plan or dependent care
flexible spending arrangement merely because such plan or
arrangement is amended pursuant to the amendments made by
this section and such amendment is retroactive, if--
(1) such amendment is adopted no later than the last day of
the first plan year beginning after December 31, 2019, and
(2) the plan or arrangement is operated consistent with the
terms of such amendment during the period beginning on the
effective date of the amendment and ending on the date the
amendment is adopted.
SEC. 404. PAYROLL CREDIT FOR CERTAIN FIXED EXPENSES OF CHILD
CARE FACILITIES SUBJECT TO CLOSURE BY REASON OF
COVID-19.
(a) In General.--In the case of an eligible employer, there
shall be allowed as a credit against applicable employment
taxes for each calendar quarter an amount equal to 50 percent
of the qualified fixed expenses paid or incurred by such
employer during such calendar quarter.
(b) Limitations and Refundability.--
(1) Overall quarterly dollar limitation.--The qualified
fixed expenses which may be taken into account under
subsection (a) (determined after the application of paragraph
(2)) by any eligible employer for any calendar quarter shall
not exceed the least of--
(A) the qualified fixed expenses paid by the eligible
employer in the same calendar quarter of calendar year 2019,
(B) $25,000,000, or
(C) the greater of--
(i) 25 percent of the wages paid with respect to the
employment of all the employees of the eligible employer for
such calendar quarter, or
(ii) 6.25 percent of the gross receipts of the eligible
employer for calendar year 2019.
(2) Per facility quarterly dollar limitation.--The
qualified fixed expenses which may be taken into account
under subsection (a) by any eligible employer for any
calendar quarter with respect to any facility of such
employer shall not exceed $50,000.
(3) Credit limited to certain employment taxes.--The credit
allowed by subsection (a) with respect to any calendar
quarter shall not exceed the applicable employment taxes for
such calendar quarter (reduced by any credits allowed under
subsections (e) and (f) of section 3111 of such Code,
sections 7001 and 7003 of the Families First Coronavirus
Response Act, and section 2301 of the CARES Act, for such
quarter) on the wages paid with respect to the employment of
all the employees of the eligible employer for such calendar
quarter.
(4) Refundability of excess credit.--
(A) In general.--If the amount of the credit under
subsection (a) exceeds the limitation of paragraph (3) for
any calendar quarter, such excess shall be treated as an
overpayment that shall be refunded under sections 6402(a) and
6413(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(B) Treatment of payments.--For purposes of section 1324 of
title 31, United States Code, any amounts due to an employer
under this paragraph shall be treated in the same manner as a
refund due from a credit provision referred to in subsection
(b)(2) of such section.
(c) Definitions.--For purposes of this section--
(1) Applicable employment taxes.--The term ``applicable
employment taxes'' means the following:
(A) The taxes imposed under section 3111(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986.
[[Page H3910]]
(B) So much of the taxes imposed under section 3221(a) of
such Code as are attributable to the rate in effect under
section 3111(a) of such Code.
(2) Eligible employer.--
(A) In general.--The term ``eligible employer'' means any
employer--
(i) which was carrying on a trade or business engaged in
the provision of child care assistance at a qualified child
care facility (within the meaning of section 45F(c)(2)(A) of
such Code without regard to the last sentence thereof) at any
time during calendar year 2020, and
(ii) with respect to any calendar quarter, for which--
(I) the operation of the trade or business described in
clause (i) is fully or partially suspended during the
calendar quarter due to orders from an appropriate
governmental authority limiting commerce, travel, or group
meetings (for commercial, social, religious, or other
purposes) due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), or
(II) such calendar quarter is within the period described
in subparagraph (B).
(B) Significant decline in gross receipts.--The period
described in this subparagraph is the period--
(i) beginning with the first calendar quarter beginning
after December 31, 2019, for which gross receipts (within the
meaning of section 448(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of
1986) for the calendar quarter are less than 90 percent of
gross receipts for the same calendar quarter in the prior
year, and
(ii) ending with the calendar quarter following the first
calendar quarter beginning after a calendar quarter described
in clause (i) for which gross receipts of such employer are
greater than 90 percent of gross receipts for the same
calendar quarter in the prior year.
(C) Tax-exempt organizations.--In the case of an
organization which is described in section 501(c) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under
section 501(a) of such Code--
(i) any reference in this section to a trade or business
shall be treated as a reference to the operations of such
organization which are related to the provision of child care
assistance (within the meaning of subparagraph (A)(i)), and
(ii) any reference in this section to gross receipts shall
be treated as a reference to gross receipts within the
meaning of section 6033 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(D) Phase-in of credit where business not suspended and
reduction in gross receipts less than 50 percent.--
(i) In general.--In the case of any calendar quarter with
respect to which an eligible employer would not be an
eligible employer if subparagraph (B)(i) were applied by
substituting ``50 percent'' for ``90 percent'', the amount of
the credit allowed under subsection (a) shall be reduced by
the amount which bears the same ratio to the amount of such
credit (determined without regard to this subparagraph) as--
(I) the excess gross receipts percentage point amount,
bears to
(II) 40 percentage points.
(ii) Excess gross receipts percentage point amount.--For
purposes of this subparagraph, the term ``excess gross
receipts percentage point amount'' means, with respect to any
calendar quarter, the excess of--
(I) the lowest of the gross receipts percentage point
amounts determined with respect to any calendar quarter
during the period ending with such calendar quarter and
beginning with the first calendar quarter during the period
described in subparagraph (B), over
(II) 50 percentage points.
(iii) Gross receipts percentage point amounts.--For
purposes of this subparagraph, the term ``gross receipts
percentage point amount'' means, with respect to any calendar
quarter, the percentage (expressed as a number of percentage
points) obtained by dividing--
(I) the gross receipts (within the meaning of subparagraph
(B)) for such calendar quarter, by
(II) the gross receipts for the same calendar quarter in
calendar year 2019.
(3) Qualified fixed expenses.--
(A) In general.--The term ``qualified fixed expenses''
means the payment or accrual, in the ordinary course of the
eligible employer's trade or business, of any covered
mortgage obligation, covered rent obligation, or covered
utility payment. Such term shall not include the prepayment
of any obligation for a period in excess of a month unless
the payment for such period is customarily due in advance.
Such term shall not include any payment or accrual of any
obligation or payment which is with respect to property which
is not located in the United States or any possession of the
United States.
(B) Application of definitions.--The terms ``covered
mortgage obligation'', ``covered rent obligation'', and
``covered utility payment'' shall each have the same meaning
as when used in section 1106 of the CARES Act.
(4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of the Treasury or the Secretary's delegate.
(5) Wages.--
(A) In general.--The term ``wages'' means wages (as defined
in section 3121(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) and
compensation (as defined in section 3231(e) of such Code).
For purposes of the preceding sentence (other than for
purposes of subsection (b)(2)), wages as defined in section
3121(a) of such Code shall be determined without regard to
paragraphs (1), (8), (10), (13), (18), (19), and (22) of
section 3121(b) of such Code.
(B) Allowance for certain health plan expenses.--
(i) In general.--Such term shall include amounts paid or
incurred by the eligible employer to provide and maintain a
group health plan (as defined in section 5000(b)(1) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986), but only to the extent that
such amounts are excluded from the gross income of employees
by reason of section 106(a) of such Code.
(ii) Allocation rules.--For purposes of this section,
amounts treated as wages under clause (i) shall be treated as
paid with respect to any employee (and with respect to any
period) to the extent that such amounts are properly
allocable to such employee (and to such period) in such
manner as the Secretary may prescribe. Except as otherwise
provided by the Secretary, such allocation shall be treated
as properly made if made on the basis of being pro rata among
periods of coverage.
(6) Employer.--The term ``employer'' means any employer (as
defined in section 3401(d) of such Code) of at least one
employee on any day in calendar year 2020.
(7) Other terms.--Except as otherwise provided in this
section, any term used in this section which is also used in
chapter 21 or 22 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 shall
have the same meaning as when used in such chapter.
(d) Aggregation Rule.--All persons treated as a single
employer under subsection (a) or (b) of section 52 of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or subsection (m) or (o) of
section 414 of such Code, shall be treated as one employer
for purposes of this section.
(e) Denial of Double Benefit.--For purposes of chapter 1 of
such Code, the gross income of any eligible employer, for the
taxable year which includes the last day of any calendar
quarter with respect to which a credit is allowed under this
section, shall be increased by the amount of such credit.
(f) Certain Governmental Employers.--
(1) In general.--The credit under this section shall not be
allowed to the Federal Government, the government of any
State, of the District of Columbia, or of any possession of
the United States, any tribal government, or any political
subdivision, agency, or instrumentality of any of the
foregoing.
(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any
organization described in section 501(c)(1) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a)
of such Code.
(g) Election Not To Have Section Apply.--This section shall
not apply with respect to any eligible employer for any
calendar quarter if such employer elects (at such time and in
such manner as the Secretary may prescribe) not to have this
section apply.
(h) Transfers to Certain Trust Funds.--There are hereby
appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund
established under section 201 of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 401) and the Social Security Equivalent Benefit
Account established under section 15A(a) of the Railroad
Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231n-1(a)) amounts equal to
the reduction in revenues to the Treasury by reason of this
section (without regard to this subsection). Amounts
appropriated by the preceding sentence shall be transferred
from the general fund at such times and in such manner as to
replicate to the extent possible the transfers which would
have occurred to such Trust Fund or Account had this section
not been enacted.
(i) Treatment of Deposits.--The Secretary shall waive any
penalty under section 6656 of such Code for any failure to
make a deposit of applicable employment taxes if the
Secretary determines that such failure was due to the
anticipation of the credit allowed under this section.
(j) Third-Party Payors.--Any credit allowed under this
section shall be treated as a credit described in section
3511(d)(2) of such Code.
(k) Regulations and Guidance.--The Secretary shall issue
such forms, instructions, regulations, and guidance as are
necessary--
(1) to allow the advance payment of the credit under
subsection (a), subject to the limitations provided in this
section, based on such information as the Secretary shall
require,
(2) regulations or other guidance to provide for the
reconciliation of such advance payment with the amount of the
credit at the time of filing the return of tax for the
applicable quarter or taxable year,
(3) with respect to the application of the credit under
subsection (a) to third-party payors (including professional
employer organizations, certified professional employer
organizations, or agents under section 3504 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986), including regulations or guidance
allowing such payors to submit documentation necessary to
substantiate the eligible employer status of employers that
use such payors,
(4) for application of subsection (b)(1)(A) and
subparagraphs (A)(ii)(II) and (B) of subsection (c)(2) in the
case of any employer which was not carrying on a trade or
business for all or part of the same calendar quarter in the
prior year, and
(5) for recapturing the benefit of credits determined under
this section in cases where there is a subsequent adjustment
to the credit determined under subsection (a).
(l) Application of Section.--This section shall apply only
to qualified fixed expenses
[[Page H3911]]
paid or accrued in calendar quarters beginning on or after
the date of the enactment of this Act and before January 1,
2021.
SEC. 405. PAYROLL CREDIT FOR CERTAIN EMPLOYEE DEPENDENT CARE
EXPENSES PAID BY EMPLOYERS.
(a) In General.--In the case of an employer, there shall be
allowed as a credit against applicable employment taxes for
each calendar quarter an amount equal to 30 percent of the
qualified employee dependent care expenses paid by such
employer with respect to such calendar quarter.
(b) Limitations and Refundability.--
(1) Dollar limitation per employee.--The qualified employee
dependent care expenses which may be taken into account under
subsection (a) with respect to any employee for any calendar
quarter shall not exceed $2,500.
(2) Credit limited to certain employment taxes.--The credit
allowed by subsection (a) with respect to any calendar
quarter shall not exceed the applicable employment taxes for
such calendar quarter (reduced by any credits allowed under
subsections (e) and (f) of section 3111 of such Code,
sections 7001 and 7003 of the Families First Coronavirus
Response Act, section 2301 of the CARES Act, and section 4 of
this Act, for such quarter) on the wages paid with respect to
the employment of all the employees of the employer for such
calendar quarter.
(3) Refundability of excess credit.--
(A) In general.--If the amount of the credit under
subsection (a) exceeds the limitation of paragraph (2) for
any calendar quarter, such excess shall be treated as an
overpayment that shall be refunded under sections 6402(a) and
6413(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
(B) Treatment of payments.--For purposes of section 1324 of
title 31, United States Code, any amounts due to an employer
under this paragraph shall be treated in the same manner as a
refund due from a credit provision referred to in subsection
(b)(2) of such section.
(4) Coordination with government grants.--The qualified
employee dependent care expenses taken into account under
this section by any employer shall be reduced by any amounts
provided by any Federal, State, or local government for
purposes of making or reimbursing such expenses.
(c) Qualified Employee Dependent Care Expenses.--For
purposes of this section, the term ``qualified employee
dependent care expenses'' means any amount paid to or for the
benefit of an employee in the employment of the employer if--
(1) such amount is dependent care assistance (as defined in
section 129(e)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986), and
(2) the employer elects (at such time and in such manner as
the Secretary may provide) to treat such amount as a
qualified employee dependent care expense.
(d) Special Rules; Other Definitions.--
(1) Application of certain non-discrimination rules.--No
credit shall be allowed under this section to any employer
for any calendar quarter if qualified employee dependent care
expenses are provided by such employer to employees for such
calendar quarter in a manner which discriminates in favor of
highly compensated individuals (within the meaning of section
125) as to eligibility for, or the amount of, such benefit
expenses.
(2) Denial of double benefit.--For purposes of chapter 1 of
such Code, no deduction or credit (other than the credit
allowed under this section) shall be allowed for so much of
qualified employee dependent care expenses as is equal to the
credit allowed under this section.
(3) Third-party payors.--Any credit allowed under this
section shall be treated as a credit described in section
3511(d)(2) of such Code.
(4) Applicable employment taxes.--For purposes of this
section, the term ``applicable employment taxes'' means the
following:
(A) The taxes imposed under section 3111(a) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986.
(B) So much of the taxes imposed under section 3221(a) of
such Code as are attributable to the rate in effect under
section 3111(a) of such Code.
(5) Secretary.--For purposes of this section, the term
``Secretary'' means the Secretary of the Treasury or the
Secretary's delegate.
(6) Certain terms.--
(A) In general.--Any term used in this section which is
also used in chapter 21 or 22 of such Code shall have the
same meaning as when used in such chapter (as the case may
be).
(B) Certain provisions not taken into account except for
purposes of limiting credit to employment taxes.--For
purposes of subparagraph (A) (other than with respect to
subsection (b)(2)), section 3121(b) of such Code shall be
applied without regard to paragraphs (1), (5), (6), (7), (8),
(10), (13), (18), (19), and (22) thereof (except with respect
to services performed in a penal institution by an inmate
thereof) and section 3231(e)(1) shall be applied without
regard to the sentence that begins ``Such term does not
include remuneration''.
(e) Certain Governmental Employers.--
(1) In general.--The credit under this section shall not be
allowed to the Federal Government or any agency or
instrumentality thereof.
(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any
organization described in section 501(c)(1) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 and exempt from tax under section 501(a)
of such Code.
(f) Treatment of Deposits.--The Secretary shall waive any
penalty under section 6656 of such Code for any failure to
make a deposit of applicable employment taxes if the
Secretary determines that such failure was due to the
anticipation of the credit allowed under this section.
(g) Regulations.--The Secretary shall prescribe such
regulations or other guidance as may be necessary to carry
out the purposes of this section, including regulations or
other guidance--
(1) to allow the advance payment of the credit determined
under subsection (a), subject to the limitations provided in
this section, based on such information as the Secretary
shall require,
(2) to provide for the reconciliation of such advance
payment with the amount of the credit at the time of filing
the return of tax for the applicable quarter or taxable year,
(3) for recapturing the benefit of credits determined under
this section in cases where there is a subsequent adjustment
to the credit determined under subsection (a), and
(4) with respect to the application of the credit to third
party payors (including professional employer organizations,
certified professional employer organizations, or agents
under section 3504 of such Code), including to allow such
payors to submit documentation necessary to substantiate
eligibility for, and the amount of, the credit allowed under
this section.
(h) Application of Section.--This section shall apply only
to qualified employee dependent care expenses paid in
calendar quarters beginning on or after the date of the
enactment of this Act and before January 1, 2021.
(i) Transfers to Certain Trust Funds.--There are hereby
appropriated to the Federal Old-Age and Survivors Insurance
Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance Trust Fund
established under section 201 of the Social Security Act (42
U.S.C. 401) and the Social Security Equivalent Benefit
Account established under section 15A(a) of the Railroad
Retirement Act of 1974 (45 U.S.C. 231n-1(a)) amounts equal to
the reduction in revenues to the Treasury by reason of this
section (without regard to this subsection). Amounts
appropriated by the preceding sentence shall be transferred
from the general fund at such times and in such manner as to
replicate to the extent possible the transfers which would
have occurred to such Trust Fund or Account had this section
not been enacted.
SEC. 406. FLEXIBILITY FOR DEPENDENT CARE FLEXIBLE SPENDING
ARRANGEMENTS.
(a) Carryover of Unused Benefits.--A plan or other
arrangement that otherwise satisfies all applicable
requirements of sections 106, 125, and 129 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 (including any rules or regulations
thereunder) shall not fail to be treated as a cafeteria plan
or dependent care flexible spending arrangement merely
because such plan or arrangement permits participants to
carry over (under rules similar to the rules applicable to
health flexible spending arrangements) an amount, not in
excess of the amount in effect under section 129(a)(2)(A) of
such Code, of unused benefits or contributions remaining in a
dependent care flexible spending arrangement from the plan
year ending in 2020 to the plan year ending in 2021.
(b) Extension of Grace Periods.--A plan or other
arrangement that otherwise satisfies all applicable
requirements of sections 106, 125, or 129 of the Internal
Revenue Code (including any rules or regulations thereunder)
shall not fail to be treated as a cafeteria plan or dependent
care flexible spending arrangement merely because such plan
or arrangement extends the grace period for the plan year
ending in 2020 to 12 months after the end of such plan year,
with respect to unused benefits or contributions remaining in
a dependent care flexible spending arrangement.
(c) Definitions.--Any term used in this section which is
also used in section 106, 125, or 129 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986 or the rules or regulations thereunder shall
have the same meaning as when used in such section or rules
or regulations.
(d) Plan Amendments.--A plan or other arrangement that
otherwise satisfies all applicable requirements of sections
106, 125, and 129 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986
(including any rules or regulations thereunder) shall not
fail to be treated as a cafeteria plan or dependent care
flexible spending arrangement merely because such plan or
arrangement is amended pursuant to a provision under this
section and such amendment is retroactive, if--
(1) such amendment is adopted no later than the last day of
the plan year in which the amendment is effective, and
(2) the plan or arrangement is operated consistent with the
terms of such amendment during the period beginning on the
effective date of the amendment and ending on the date the
amendment is adopted.
SEC. 407. EMPLOYEE RETENTION CREDIT ALLOWED WITH RESPECT TO
EMPLOYMENT OF DOMESTIC WORKERS.
(a) In General.--Section 2301(c)(2) of the CARES Act is
amended by adding at the end the following new subparagraph:
``(D) Employers of domestic workers.--In the case of an
employer with one or more employees who perform domestic
service (within the meaning of section 3121(a)(7) of such
Code) in the private home of such employer, with respect to
such employees--
``(i) subparagraph (A) shall be applied--
``(I) by substituting `employing an employee who performs
domestic service in the
[[Page H3912]]
private home of such employer' for `carrying on a trade or
business' in clause (i) thereof, and
``(II) by substituting `such employment' for `the operation
of the trade or business' in clause (ii)(I) thereof,
``(ii) subclause (II) of subparagraph (A)(ii) shall not
apply, and
``(iii) such employer shall be treated as a large
employer.''.
(b) Denial of Double Benefit.--Section 2301(h)(2) of the
CARES Act is amended--
(1) by striking ``shall not be taken into account for
purposes of'' and inserting ``shall not be taken into
account--
``(A) for purposes of'',
(2) by striking the period at the end and inserting ``,
and'', and
(3) by adding at the end the following:
``(B) if such wages are paid for domestic service described
in subsection (c)(2)(E), as employment-related expenses for
purposes of section 21 of such Code.
In the case of any individual who pays wages for domestic
service described in subsection (c)(2)(E) and receives a
reimbursement for such wages which is excludible from gross
income under section 129 of such Code, such wages shall not
be treated as qualified wages for purposes of this
section.''.
(c) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section
shall take effect as if included in section 2301 of the CARES
Act.
SEC. 408. CHILD CARE STABILIZATION FUNDS.
(a) In General.--Section 418(a)(3) of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 618(a)(3)) is amended by striking
``$2,917,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2017 and 2018'' and
inserting ``$10,000,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020
through 2024''.
(b) Additional Funds Not Subject to State Match
Requirement.--With respect to the amounts appropriated in
section 418(a)(3) of the Social Security Act in excess of
$2,917,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2020 and 2021,
section 418(a)(2)(C) of such Act shall be applied and
administered with respect to any State that is entitled to
receive the entire amount that would be allotted to the State
under section 418(a)(2)(B) of such Act for the fiscal year in
the absence of this section, as if the Federal medical
assistance percentage for the State for the fiscal year were
100 percent.
SEC. 409. FAMILY CARE FOR ESSENTIAL WORKERS.
(a) Increase in Funding.--The amount specified in
subsection (c) of section 2003 of the Social Security Act for
purposes of subsections (a) and (b) of such section is deemed
to be $2,550,000,000 for fiscal year 2020, of which
$850,000,000 shall be obligated by States during calendar
year 2020 in accordance with subsection (b) of this section.
(b) Rules Governing Use of Additional Funds.--
(1) In general.--Funds are used in accordance with this
subsection if--
(A) the funds are used for--
(i) child care services for a child of an essential worker;
or
(ii) daytime care services or other adult protective
services for an individual who--
(I) is a dependent, or a member of the household of, an
essential worker; and
(II) requires the services;
(B) the funds are provided to reimburse an essential worker
for the cost of obtaining the services (including child and
adult care services obtained on or after the date the
Secretary of Health and Human Services declared a public
health emergency pursuant to section 319 of the Public Health
Service Act on January 31, 2020, entitled ``Determination
that a Public Health Emergency Exists Nationwide as the
Result of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus''), to a provider of
child or adult care services, or to establish a temporary
child care facility operated by a State or local government;
(C) eligibility for the funds or services, and the amount
of funds or services provided, is not conditioned on a means
test;
(D) the funds are used in consultation with the lead agency
designated pursuant to section 658D(a) of the Child Care and
Development Block Grant Act of 1990 by the State involved and
subject to the limitations in section 2005 of the Social
Security Act, except that, for purposes of this
subparagraph--
(i) paragraphs (3), (5), and (8) of section 2005(a) of such
Act shall not apply; and
(ii)(I) the limitation in section 2005(a)(7) of such Act
shall not apply with respect to any standard which the State
involved determines would impede the ability of the State to
provide emergency temporary care to a child, dependent, or
household member referred to in subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph if the emergency temporary care would not endanger
the health, safety, or development of children who received
the care and care would otherwise not be available to support
the immediate, short-term family care needs of essential
workers; and
(II) if the State determines that such a standard would be
so impeding, the State shall report the determination to the
Secretary, including a description of how exempting standards
that may impede the ability of the State to provide emergency
temporary care did not endanger the health, safety, or
development of children who received emergency temporary
care, separately from the annual report to the Secretary by
the State;
(E) the funds are used to supplement, not supplant, State
general revenue funds for child care assistance; and
(F) the funds are not used for child care costs that are--
(i) covered by funds provided under the Head Start Act, a
preschool development grant under section 9121 of the Every
Student Succeeds Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 note), the Child Care
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990, section 418 of the
Social Security Act, or another federally funded dependent
care program; or
(ii) reimbursable by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency.
(2) Essential worker defined.--In paragraph (1), the term
``essential worker'' means--
(A) a health sector employee;
(B) an emergency response worker;
(C) a child care worker;
(D) a sanitation worker;
(E) a worker at a business which a State or local
government official has determined must remain open to serve
the public during the emergency referred to in paragraph
(1)(B); and
(F) any other worker who cannot telework, and whom the
State deems to be essential during the emergency referred to
in paragraph (1)(B).
SEC. 410. INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS TO IMPROVE CHILD CARE SAFETY.
(a) In General.--Part A of title IV of the Social Security
Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after
section 418 the following:
``SEC. 418A. INFRASTRUCTURE GRANTS TO IMPROVE CHILD CARE
SAFETY.
``(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the
`Infrastructure Grants To Improve Child Care Safety Act of
2020'.
``(b) Needs Assessments.--
``(1) Immediate needs assessment.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct an immediate
needs assessment of the condition of child care facilities
throughout the United States (with priority given to child
care facilities that receive Federal funds), that--
``(i) determines the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic
has created immediate infrastructure needs, including
infrastructure-related health and safety needs, which must be
addressed for child care facilities to operate in compliance
with public health guidelines;
``(ii) considers the effects of the pandemic on a variety
of child care centers, including home-based centers; and
``(iii) considers how the pandemic has impacted specific
metrics, such as--
``(I) capacity;
``(II) investments in infrastructure changes;
``(III) the types of infrastructure changes centers need to
implement and their associated costs;
``(IV) the price of tuition; and
``(V) any changes or anticipated changes in the number and
demographic of children attending.
``(B) Timing.--The immediate needs assessment should occur
simultaneously with the first grant-making cycle under
subsection (c).
``(C) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the
Congress a report containing the result of the needs
assessment conducted under subparagraph (A), and make the
assessment publicly available.
``(2) Long-term needs assessment.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct a long-term
assessment of the condition of child care facilities
throughout the United States (with priority given to child
care facilities that receive Federal funds). The assessment
may be conducted through representative random sampling.
``(B) Report.--Not later than 4 years after the date of the
enactment of this section, the Secretary shall submit to the
Congress a report containing the results of the needs
assessment conducted under subparagraph (A), and make the
assessment publicly available.
``(c) Child Care Facilities Grants.--
``(1) Grants to states.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may award grants to States
for the purpose of acquiring, constructing, renovating, or
improving child care facilities, including adapting,
reconfiguring, or expanding facilities to respond to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
``(B) Prioritized facilities.--The Secretary may not award
a grant to a State under subparagraph (A) unless the State
involved agrees, with respect to the use of grant funds, to
prioritize--
``(i) child care facilities primarily serving low-income
populations;
``(ii) child care facilities primarily serving children who
have not attained the age of 5 years;
``(iii) child care facilities that closed during the COVID-
19 pandemic and are unable to open without making
modifications to the facility that would otherwise be
required to ensure the health and safety of children and
staff; and
``(iv) child care facilities that serve the children of
parents classified as essential workers during the COVID-19
pandemic.
``(C) Duration of grants.--A grant under this subsection
shall be awarded for a period of not more than 5 years.
``(D) Application.--To seek a grant under this subsection,
a State shall submit to the Secretary an application at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the
Secretary may require, which information shall--
``(i) be disaggregated as the Secretary may require; and
[[Page H3913]]
``(ii) include a plan to use a portion of the grant funds
to report back to the Secretary on the impact of using the
grant funds to improve child care facilities.
``(E) Priority.--In selecting States for grants under this
subsection, the Secretary shall prioritize States that--
``(i) plan to improve center-based and home-based child
care programs, which may include a combination of child care
and early Head Start or Head Start programs;
``(ii) aim to meet specific needs across urban, suburban,
or rural areas as determined by the State; and
``(iii) show evidence of collaboration with--
``(I) local government officials;
``(II) other State agencies;
``(III) nongovernmental organizations, such as--
``(aa) organizations within the philanthropic community;
``(bb) certified community development financial
institutions as defined in section 103 of the Community
Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act of 1994
(12 U.S.C. 4702) that have been certified by the Community
Development Financial Institutions Fund (12 U.S.C. 4703); and
``(cc) organizations that have demonstrated experience in--
``(AA) providing technical or financial assistance for the
acquisition, construction, renovation, or improvement of
child care facilities;
``(BB) providing technical, financial, or managerial
assistance to child care providers; and
``(CC) securing private sources of capital financing for
child care facilities or other low-income community
development projects; and
``(IV) local community organizations, such as--
``(aa) child care providers;
``(bb) community care agencies;
``(cc) resource and referral agencies; and
``(dd) unions.
``(F) Consideration.--In selecting States for grants under
this subsection, the Secretary shall consider--
``(i) whether the applicant--
``(I) has or is developing a plan to address child care
facility needs; and
``(II) demonstrates the capacity to execute such a plan;
and
``(ii) after the date the report required by subsection
(b)(1)(C) is submitted to the Congress, the needs of the
applicants based on the results of the assessment.
``(G) Diversity of awards.--In awarding grants under this
section, the Secretary shall give equal consideration to
States with varying capacities under subparagraph (F).
``(H) Matching requirement.--
``(i) In general.--As a condition for the receipt of a
grant under subparagraph (A), a State that is not an Indian
tribe shall agree to make available (directly or through
donations from public or private entities) contributions with
respect to the cost of the activities to be carried out
pursuant to subparagraph (A), which may be provided in cash
or in kind, in an amount equal to 10 percent of the funds
provided through the grant.
``(ii) Determination of amount contributed.--Contributions
required by clause (i) may include--
``(I) amounts provided by the Federal Government, or
services assisted or subsidized to any significant extent by
the Federal Government; or
``(II) philanthropic or private-sector funds.
``(I) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the last day
of the grant period, a State receiving a grant under this
paragraph shall submit a report to the Secretary as described
in subparagraph (D)--
``(i) to determine the effects of the grant in
constructing, renovating, or improving child care facilities,
including any changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic
and any effects on access to and quality of child care; and
``(ii) to provide such other information as the Secretary
may require.
``(J) Amount limit.--The annual amount of a grant under
this paragraph may not exceed $35,000,000.
``(2) Grants to intermediary organizations.--
``(A) In general.--The Secretary may award grants to
intermediary organizations, such as certified community
development financial institutions, tribal organizations, or
other organizations with demonstrated experience in child
care facilities financing, for the purpose of providing
technical assistance, capacity building, and financial
products to develop or finance child care facilities.
``(B) Application.--A grant under this paragraph may be
made only to intermediary organizations that submit to the
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may require.
``(C) Priority.--In selecting intermediary organizations
for grants under this subsection, the Secretary shall
prioritize intermediary organizations that--
``(i) demonstrate experience in child care facility
financing or related community facility financing;
``(ii) demonstrate the capacity to assist States and local
governments in developing child care facilities and programs;
``(iii) demonstrate the ability to leverage grant funding
to support financing tools to build the capacity of child
care providers, such as through credit enhancements;
``(iv) propose to meet a diversity of needs across States
and across urban, suburban, and rural areas at varying types
of center-based, home-based, and other child care settings,
including early care programs located in freestanding
buildings or in mixed-use properties; and
``(v) propose to focus on child care facilities primarily
serving low-income populations and children who have not
attained the age of 5 years.
``(D) Amount limit.--The amount of a grant under this
paragraph may not exceed $10,000,000.
``(3) Report.--Not later than the end of fiscal year 2024,
the Secretary shall submit to the Congress a report on the
effects of the grants provided under this subsection, and
make the report publically accessible.
``(d) Limitations on Authorization of Appropriations.--
``(1) In general.--To carry out this section, there is
authorized to be appropriated $10,000,000,000 for fiscal year
2020, which shall remain available through fiscal year 2024.
``(2) Reservations of funds.--
``(A) Indian tribes.--The Secretary shall reserve 3 percent
of the total amount made available to carry out this section,
for payments to Indian tribes.
``(B) Territories.--The Secretary shall reserve 3 percent
of the total amount made available to carry out this section,
for payments to territories.
``(3) Grants for intermediary organizations.--Not less than
10 percent and not more than 15 percent of the total amount
made available to carry out this section may be used to carry
out subsection (c)(2).
``(4) Limitation on use of funds for needs assessments.--
Not more than $5,000,000 of the amounts made available to
carry out this section may be used to carry out subsection
(b).
``(e) Definition of State.--In this section, the term
`State' has the meaning provided in section 419, except that
it includes the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
and any Indian tribe.''.
(b) Exemption of Territory Grants From Limitation on Total
Payments to the Territories.--Section 1108(a)(2) of such Act
(42 U.S.C. 1308(a)(2)) is amended by inserting ``418A(c),''
after ``413(f),''.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The bill shall be debatable for 1 hour,
equally divided among and controlled by the chair and ranking minority
member of the Committee on Appropriations and the chair and ranking
minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means.
The gentlewoman from New York (Mrs. Lowey), the gentlewoman from
Texas (Ms. Granger), the gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal), and
the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Brady) each will control 15 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from New York.
General Leave
Mrs. LOWEY. Madam Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members
have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and
include extraneous material on the measure under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from New York?
There was no objection.
Mrs. LOWEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, I am pleased to offer H.R. 7327, the Child Care for
Economic Recovery Act, which I introduced with our exceptional Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
chairwoman, Rosa DeLauro; our esteemed Appropriations Committee
colleague, Congresswoman Clark; and our Ways and Means colleagues,
Chairman Neal, Chairman Davis, and Congresswoman Sanchez.
It is no secret, with quality childcare, children enter kindergarten
ready to learn; hardworking families have better job security, knowing
their children are healthy and safe; and our communities thrive.
But even before COVID-19, millions of hardworking families,
disproportionately families of color, struggled to find and afford
quality care that matched their work hours and ZIP Codes.
At the height of the pandemic, more than half of childcare
providers--many of them women, minority-owned small businesses
operating on razor-thin margins--closed their doors. We risk losing
more permanently.
Every single industry counts on childcare. In order to save our
economy, we need to save childcare.
{time} 1245
The Child Care for Economic Recovery Act would:
More than triple mandatory funds for the childcare entitlement to
States;
[[Page H3914]]
Invest $10 billion in new infrastructure grants so providers have the
resources to address hazardous conditions like broken heaters, mold,
and lead paint, as well as necessary modifications to protect our
children and caretakers from the risk of coronavirus;
Reimburse child and dependent care costs incurred by essential
workers who have sacrificed so much to keep us safe;
Make the child and dependent care tax credit fully refundable for the
first time; keep the lights on and doors open with a new tax credit for
childcare providers to help cover costs for rent, mortgages, and
utilities; and
Recognize childcare workers as essential.
What is good for our babies is good for our budget. With this bill,
we can do what is good for our babies and the budget.
Madam Speaker, I urge support, and I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may
consume.
I rise in opposition to H.R. 7327.
American parents want and need reliable and safe childcare options
for their children while they are at work. Access to childcare is
especially important for those on the front lines addressing the
coronavirus. Providers face many new challenges during this pandemic as
they seek to understand new regulations and provide a healthy
environment for the children in their care.
Unfortunately, instead of helping American families and childcare
providers, this bill misses the mark. The bill includes an increase of
more than $7 billion in childcare funds, even though we know the CARES
Act funding still has not been made to some providers who need it.
There are also no safeguards to accompany the changes that are made
to the child and dependent care tax credit. We saw with the rollout of
the Paycheck Protection Program just how important it is to ensure
programs are targeted and tailored to help those who need it most.
Finally, programs for children have had a long history of bipartisan
support, so I am disappointed to see that end today. We need to take a
step back and ensure that any bill we pass addresses the problem
without creating more bureaucratic red tape for the childcare industry.
We must support parents and childcare providers so that they can get
our economy up and running again. Instead of passing partisan bills
made behind closed doors, we should be working together with the
administration on a proposal that can be signed into law.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the distinguished
gentlewoman from New Mexico (Ms. Haaland).
Ms. HAALAND. Madam Speaker, childcare is a vital part of economic
recovery.
I know what it is like to struggle to make ends meet as a parent. I
raised my daughter, Somah, on my own. And as a single mother working my
way through law school, it was very hard to find childcare. In fact, I
could never afford childcare.
When she was 2, I found a preschool where I could volunteer in
exchange for lower tuition so that she would have a place to learn
while I worked. It was helpful and shows just how much New Mexicans are
willing to support each other. But that should not be the reality for
parents and kids across the country.
During the pandemic, our State has helped childcare providers stay
open by paying licensed providers a premium, but many of them still had
to lay off employees because fewer children were showing up.
As we look to a future when more parents get back to working outside
their home, the childcare industry needs Federal support to safely
adapt to the new normal and welcome families and employees back. That
is why I am supporting the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act.
This bill funds upgrades in childcare centers that are needed to meet
new health and safety measures for the pandemic; it provides refundable
tax credits for parents to return to their jobs; and, most importantly,
it ensures a satisfactory, affordable, and guaranteed future for the
childcare industry.
Madam Speaker, by investing in the childcare industry, we invest in
our economic future. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes'' on this bill.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Kennedy).
Mr. KENNEDY. Madam Speaker, I want to thank Chairwoman Lowey for her
leadership on this important piece of legislation.
Madam Speaker, already in this country, the skyrocketing cost of
childcare was solidifying deep economic and racial inequities that have
plagued us for decades.
Already, many childcare workers were living in poverty because
astronomical tuition rates are not enough to pay teachers the salary
that they deserve.
Already, working moms and dads pause promising careers because their
wages didn't match the cost of childcare.
Already, inability to find childcare locked many parents out of the
workforce altogether.
And already, children were denied access to high-quality early
learning programs because of a broken childcare system.
Then COVID-19 completely obliterated a faulty system for parents, for
childcare providers, for educators, and for children.
Providers are going out of business completely, which will make it
even harder for parents to find the childcare that they need. Costs
will skyrocket as class sizes shrink. State budgets that are already
stretched thin will undoubtedly decide childcare is
dispensable, despite big talk about how essential it is to our economic
recovery.
Madam Speaker, we will look back at this moment and regret that we
are not doing more because, ultimately, this decision will leave
families with young children behind. This is a decision to hollow out
an entire generation of parents' employment stability and economic
opportunity.
We have a decision as to whether to widen the achievement gap,
because our children will not be going to preschool programs that set
them up to thrive over the long term. It is a decision to perpetuate
systemic racism, because it is Black and Latinx women who are suffering
the most from our failure to act decisively.
Madam Speaker, we need to pass this bill, and then we need universal
childcare.
I want to thank the chair for her leadership.
Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Mrs. LOWEY. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.
Madam Speaker, I am enthusiastically supporting this bill. Childcare
is essential for every woman who has ever raised children with the
struggling days that she manages to work and take care of the children,
so I am a very strong supporter of this bill.
Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the Committee on Appropriations
has expired.
The gentleman from Massachusetts (Mr. Neal) and the gentleman from
New York (Mr. Reed) each will control 15 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Massachusetts.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, we are considering H.R. 7327, the Child Care for
Economic Recovery Act, which I introduced with my friend and colleague
Chairwoman Lowey, as well as Representatives Davis, Clark, DeLauro, and
Sanchez.
This legislation is particularly important as our country continues
to face a national emergency. All around America, our constituents, are
struggling to cope with the consequences of the pandemic, consequences
made worse because of the policies of this current administration.
People have lost loved ones and livelihoods. Many faced obstacles to
working: pandemic restrictions and health conditions that make them
vulnerable to COVID and, for millions of families, a lack of reasonable
childcare options.
Today, we have the opportunity to help Americans overcome one of the
hurdles to work. By supporting meaningful childcare relief, we can go a
long way.
[[Page H3915]]
Even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, our Nation's
childcare system was strained. Millions of families had trouble finding
quality dependent care, and when they did manage to locate it, they
often discovered long waiting lists and out-of-reach prices.
As it has with so many other preexisting challenges, the pandemic has
greatly intensified the stress on our childcare system. Now, daycare
facilities are closing.
In April, the National Association for the Education of Young
Children conducted a survey of more than 5,000 providers and learned
that nearly half had completely closed. The Center for American
Progress estimates that, without Federal support, the pandemic could
result in the loss of 4.5 million childcare slots, which is almost half
the national capacity.
Last week, I spoke with a group of working mothers. One told me that
she fears we are at risk of losing a generation of working parents.
Others emphasized how terrifying their situations are and how they lack
choices that are needed to continue their careers and protect their
children. Their words echo what we have heard from constituents all
over this country.
Today's bill tackles these problems through a combination of tax
relief for parents and childcare providers, grants to States, and
support for essential workers and their childcare needs.
Specifically, it will double the child and dependent care tax credit
and, for the first time, make it fully refundable so that low-income
parents can access it like everyone else. It also establishes a
refundable tax credit to help childcare providers cover their fixed
costs.
It will help parents carry over their dependent care flexible
spending account contributions to next year and expand the employee
retention tax credit, which is so important to help employers of
domestic workers retain those employees.
This bill triples the guaranteed Federal childcare funding from $2.9
billion to $10 billion a year for the next 5 years. It suspends State
match requirements and will also help more low- and middle-income
families afford care.
In sum, I want to say to the parents of this country: We have heard
you loudly and clearly. This childcare crisis is untenable, and it is
pushing many of you to the breaking point. Nothing cuts deeper than
worry over kids' safety and well-being, and the choices you face are
simply too hard. You need and deserve help accessing safe and
affordable care for your kids, and your ability to obtain it is an
essential precondition of helping the economy move forward and helping
it to grow in the future.
This bill provides unprecedented Federal support for childcare
because we are all in this together, and we have got your back.
Madam Speaker, I urge our colleagues to support this important
legislation, and I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1300
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, we agree. Families need access to childcare. It is key
to making America's recovery stronger. Childcare is an economic,
education, and public health issue that demands our full attention,
particularly now that millions of Americans want to return to work.
Unfortunately, this crisis has hit childcare providers across the
country especially hard. Many are facing an acute set of financial
challenges. We must address this problem in a bipartisan manner if we
are to ensure our Nation's children and the working families that
support them are not left behind during this crisis.
Unfortunately, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle today
have decided to throw bipartisanship out the window, knowing that by
doing so they are dooming their own legislation. They have once again
shut us out of the process and crafted a bill that is out of touch with
America's needs. This is no more than a copy-paste of various
Democratic childcare proposals superficially edited to link to the
pandemic.
This bill contains six childcare tax provisions that, combined, would
cost more than $100 billion. Simply throwing as much money as you can
at the problem with no thought into the actual policy itself won't
work. These provisions haven't been through our regular order in the
committee of jurisdiction. This package has not been the subject of a
single committee hearing, let alone, a committee markup.
It is abundantly clear, Democrats were so eager to achieve a
messaging victory, they felt they could skip the whole policymaking
process that is fundamental to how Congress is supposed to work. We
have been down this road before. In multiple States, the additional
childcare funding we have already provided through the CARES Act still
has not made its way down to childcare providers on the ground.
In my home State of New York, one of my constituents, Beth Starks,
testified in front of the New York State Assembly on childcare issues.
She highlighted that of the $164.6 million in Childcare Development
Block Grants for New York State, less than half have gone out to the
communities and providers who needed it yesterday.
Her testimony also underscores the negative impact State leaders,
like our Governor, have had by withholding Federal grants to families
and providers.
Madam Speaker, I include in the Record a copy of her testimony.
Testimony of Beth Starks, Founder and Executive Director of Chautauqua
Lake Child Care Center
Before The NYS Assembly, Standing Committee on Small Business, Standing
Committee on Ways and Means, Standing Committee on Agriculture,
Standing Committee on Banks, Office of State-Federal Relations, Task
Force on Food, Farm & Nutrition Policy
Good morning! Thank you for inviting me to testify today. I
am Beth Starks, the founder and Executive Director of
Chautauqua Lake Child Care Center.
I am a third-generation Early Childhood Educator and have
experience in everything from infant rooms all the way up
through higher education. I am proud to serve on both the
Governor's Early Childhood Advisory Council and the Child
Care Availability Task Force. I come to you today to speak
about child care as a small business. Below, in my written
testimony, you will find links to a lot of statistics and
additional information on the topics that I will be
discussing today.
I know that time is of the essence and I am making an
appeal to all of you. I come to you as the founder of a non-
profit child care center and a supporter of public education.
I come to you as a leader, a public servant and a voice for
children and families. Other small businesses, and families
need your help now by supporting childcare providers. Our
small businesses are especially strained right now when it
comes to their workforce. Workers need child care to do their
jobs. I implore you to ensure more decisive steps are taken
in NYS to assist families in paying for child care and to
safeguard the safety and health of child care providers and
the families they serve. We need you to ensure that New
York's child care providers are ready and able to play their
vital role in restarting the economy as we emerge from this
pandemic. In the past months, I have listened to our Governor
and to many other leaders talk about the reality of this
situation. We know this is a situation like no other, and
there was nothing we could have planned for. We are building
the plane as we fly it and we have true budgetary
constraints. I do understand that NYS has had the most cases
and the most deaths. The health and medical crisis and the
medical decisions needed to come first. I understand that the
decisions involving child care needed to come a little bit
later. Yet child care providers are essential and have been
on the front-line providing care for children of essential
workers so that they can do their jobs--as nurses, doctors,
law enforcement, and so on. Child care providers have allowed
essential workers to work every day knowing that their
children are healthy, safe and happy. I come to you today
frustrated, heartbroken, sad, exhausted, scared, discouraged
and so close to giving up. I am frustrated at the lack of
support, the lack of supplies and the lack of financial
resources. I am heartbroken. Heartbroken for the child care
facilities that have already closed, most never to reopen. I
am heartbroken for the mom of the 9-week-old who just started
in my care on Good Friday as she had to return to work as an
essential worker. I'm sad for the staff that I have lost, for
the parents crying in my office because they can't afford
child care. I am scared for my business of 14 years that I am
trying to keep afloat and I am scared for every child care
provider and for our industry. I am discouraged at the lack
of acknowledgement and awareness of the importance of Early
Childhood and the lack of investment in children.
First of all, I want all of you to understand that child
care is a business that supports all
[[Page H3916]]
other small businesses. We are an essential business that has
remained open throughout the COVID-19 emergency. By doing so,
we have allowed all other small businesses (as well as all
other industries) to remain open and now to re-open. So, all
of your medical providers, restaurant workers, hospital staff
and even farm workers have child care (& workers) thanks to
our centers. As mentioned by our previous speaker, a farm
needs workers in order to operate, there are child care
centers that specifically serve migrant workers. Child care
is an industry that is different from other small businesses
because we enable other small businesses to operate.
I chose to begin my verbal testimony by telling a few
stories. The things that I told included: why I started my
child care facility, the problems that child care had pre-
COVID and what we've gone through during this COVID-19
Pandemic. I founded my center as a non-profit 14 years ago
while I was working at SUNY Fredonia in the Education
Department. While I was there, I had my first son (who just
turned 16) and could not find child care for him. I brought
him with me to Fredonia every day and I found an incredible
in-home child care provider for him. Soon, I decided to stop
working at the college and became a licensed in-home child
care provider myself. In NYS, an in-home licensed day care
facility is also a small business and there are a lot of them
in WNY and across the state. After having my in-home facility
for two years, realizing the need for child care in Mayville
was so great, I then became incorporated and opened my
center. Chautauqua Lake Child Care Center (CLCCC) provides
care and education for over 100 children ages 6 weeks to 12
years. CLCCC is a non-profit child care center leasing space
inside Chautauqua Lake Central School. The partnership with
the public school allows families to drop off & pick up their
children all in one place. We provide full time care, part
time care, UPK, before school and after school programming as
well as a full day summer camp for school aged children. We
also employ 11 full time staff and 10-15 part time staff,
depending on the time of year.
I've also been a part of a lot of initiatives in our County
and across NYS. I serve on our Education Coalition here in
Chautauqua County where we focus on bringing together
educators & industries to meet the needs of the County. I
lead the K-readiness subgroup where we focus on young
children specifically. Our Education Coalition has had a lot
of efforts county-wide to try to support child care. We
started an initiative in the City of Dunkirk, as there are no
licensed child care centers in the City of Dunkirk.
Initially, Mayor Willie Rosas called together a Business
Roundtable, focused on child care. It was his most well
attended roundtable discussion, which demonstrates the need
for child care in the area. Our County Executive at the time,
George Borrello, now a NYS Senator, made child care a county-
wide priority. He recognized how important child care is as
an industry and how interconnected it is to businesses and
economic development. Last year, then-County Executive
Borrello (in collaboration with the City of Dunkirk, private
sector business, the County Chamber, and the County Planning
office and also with the help and support of Assemblyman
Andrew Goodell) was able to apply for some funding through
the Governor's Workforce Development Initiative/Economic
Development Council to work on obtaining additional funding
for child care. Unfortunately, we were unsuccessful in
obtaining funding, even though it was greatly needed. My
point is that child care was in a crisis situation here,
preventing people from going to work, pre-COVID. We are in
what's called a child care desert because there isn't enough
child care here in Chautauqua County (or in much of NYS).
According to the Center for American Progress, 64 percent of
New Yorkers lived in a child care desert (before the
Pandemic), which means that there are more than 50 children
under the age of 5 in a census tract that contains either no
child care providers or so few options that there are more
than three times as many children as licensed child care
slots.
The past 3 months, the situation has gotten much worse.
Over 50% of my colleagues in Chautauqua County have closed
their doors. Nationally, it is estimated that about \1/2\ of
them will never open again. We cannot re-open our county or
NY without child care because there is nowhere for children
to go and that includes children from infants all the way up
through the teenage years.
We're an industry that needs financial support. My
colleagues will tell you that they stayed open during COVID
because it was what was right for children and families. I
will tell you that we all made poor business decisions
because we operated our businesses by leading with our
hearts, instead of making financially-based decisions. We are
all fulfilling our mission in serving children and families.
We remained open serving on the front lines, but every single
day we are open we continue to lose money and there is very
little support. I was fortunate enough to be able to get the
PPP (Paycheck Protection Plan) and I will tell you my story
in being able to do so. I had to find the only lender in
Chautauqua County that was able to allow me to apply for a
PPP loan; there was only one. I searched all weekend to find
the lender and it was KeyBank. The manager let me call her on
a Sunday and come to meet with her first thing on a Monday
morning to open an account with her. None of the other
lenders would let me apply and/or open an account with them.
Once I was able to open an account, we were able to apply for
the PPP and were thankfully approved. If you look at child
care centers statewide, I was told that only 10% received the
PPP, and that's just for the centers. None of the in-home
providers were eligible because they are sole proprietors.
So, the PPP money has only helped a few of us. The EIDL
(Economic Injury Disaster Loan) money I was able to apply
for, but I was denied. I don't know the rationale behind it,
but we just received the email that told us we were not
eligible for that funding. As far as federal funding, there
was CARES Act money that was set aside for child care
federally and we were really excited because we were told we
would receive $164.6 million in NYS specifically for child
care, but we have yet to receive that funding. Of that $164.6
million in CARES funding, only $30 million was allocated, $20
million was designated for scholarships for families (the
scholarship only assists families making up to 300% of the
poverty level and luckily in Chautauqua County we were
already serving that population. So, very few families here
were able to take advantage of this money.) and $8 million
for supplies. We are so thankful for the supplies, which just
came this past Saturday. Beyond that there has been no help
directly to child care facilities. The biggest need is purely
financial. We need working capital. Most of the remaining
providers in Chautauqua County literally have weeks left
until they too close their doors.
We cannot look at supporting childcare as a ``subsidy''. It
is truly an investment in economic development and
infrastructure. We cannot rebuild our economy without an
investment in something as critical as childcare.
In closing, I will tell you that there are also bright
spots. In the beginning, I spoke about feeling frustrated,
heartbroken, exhausted, scared, discouraged and so close to
giving up. Well, I also come to you energized, inspired,
hopeful and encouraged and determined to never to give up. I
am energized by my insightful colleagues, in my community,
across the state and across the nation. I am energized by my
staff who are incredible and dedicated and selfless. I am
energized by my students who are the future educators. I am
inspired by my community coming together in a way that it
never has and bridging divides. I am hopeful for our future
and a chance to fix all of this. I am encouraged by the hard-
working families, the families struggling to go to work every
day to provide the best opportunities for their children. I
am encouraged by the child I sat with yesterday talking about
the people he loves and I am encouraged with the knowledge
that he is healthy, happy and safe in our care.
This issue to me is not political. It is very much
bipartisan and I believe that we have to all come together to
support children and families. In doing so, we support our
economic infrastructure and the future of our state. If we
aren't making decisions based on what is best for our
youngest citizens, then we are doing a disservice to our
entire population.
So, I offer to you my assistance as part of the solution. I
trust your leadership. I trust your judgement. Families and
providers need to be heard. They need your support and they
need it now. I recognize the need for funding and the CARES
Act allows emergency federal funds to be used to provide
child care to the essential worker keeping us safe and to
every other worker trying to go back to work. We need to
follow the lead of many other states around the country and
use that funding immediately to assist families and
providers. We need additional funding for child care in the
next round of CARES relief from the federal government. There
are also so many other sources of funding that could be used
for child care in our state. We need to do innovative things
like use FEMA dollars, community development block grant
funds, and economic development money to invest in child
care. We have to try to find other funding sources and make
NYS the leader in early childhood education during this time
and in the future.
I will always believe every challenge is an opportunity and
we have the opportunity now to do the right thing for our
current workforce and for our state's youngest citizens, our
future.
Thank you for your time.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, up until now, Republicans and Democrats have
consistently worked together to provide additional support for
childcare. Again, this is an issue we fundamentally all agree on.
On the Committee on Ways and Means, we have demonstrated time and
time again our commitment to improving access to high quality
childcare. That is why we are disappointed today. Today's vote is a
wasted opportunity.
I started today by saying we all care deeply about childcare. As
COVID continues to disrupt American life, that focus has only grown. As
co-chair of the Problem Solvers Caucus, I can tell you we are committed
to reaching across the aisle and actively looking for issues where we
can come together to find common ground.
Leader McCarthy has further made clear his support for prioritizing
childcare as part of COVID relief and more than 40 Republican Members,
including myself, echoed that support in a letter to leadership.
[[Page H3917]]
In addition, Republicans have introduced a number of bills that
include smart provisions, such as the bills introduced by my
colleagues, Representative Walorski of Indiana and Mr. Wenstrup of
Ohio.
Earlier this week, we led the introduction of a bill called the Back
to Work Child Care Grants Act of 2020 to support working families,
advance our Nation's economic recovery, and help those parents who want
to go back to work. The bill provides a framework for childcare
providers to access the resources they need to reopen and stay open. We
are proud that we were able to make this bill bipartisan because we
care about getting results, not headlines.
Thanks to the leadership of folks like Senator Ernst and Senator
Alexander in the U.S. Senate, this proposal has a real chance of moving
forward.
Clearly, there is some common ground and shared goals among us, but
Democrats have skipped regular order and any semblance of meaningful
bipartisan discussion and compromise. There is an important role for
Congress to play in alleviating the economic stress COVID has placed on
American families. To the reasonable Members of my colleagues across
the aisle, come work with us. Our door is always open. Until you do,
Congress will continue to waste these good opportunities of good will
to bring the American people together.
Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, in the spirit of bipartisanship, the Record
should note that the second to the gentleman's request came from the
Democratic side.
Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Illinois (Mr.
Danny K. Davis), chairman of the Worker and Family Support
Subcommittee, and original cosponsor of this legislation.
Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, I sincerely believe
that the best way to evaluate the effectiveness and greatness of a
society is by how well it treats its old, how well it treats its young,
and what it does for those who have difficulty caring for themselves.
Childcare is one of the most essential needs that exists in our
community. And I have just heard my colleague say $100 billion helps to
put childcare on the map. I know individuals who work in the childcare
industry who cannot put their own children in the programs that they
work for because they earn so little.
Madam Speaker, if we are to move America as we confront the pandemic,
as we deal with racism, as we deal with structures that have kept
disadvantaged people and communities disadvantaged, nothing would do it
better than making sure that every individual who needs childcare will
have it available.
Madam Speaker, events of the past few months have shown the need for
policies to strengthen child well-being as thousands of youth across
America marched and demonstrated as they challenged our systems of
social, educational and economic justice.
Child care powers both family economic well-being and our national
economic growth. Prior to the pandemic, federal funding only provided
child care for one in six eligible children. And parents in communities
weighed down by poverty and systemic racism experienced a shortage of
high-quality, affordable child care.
Today, we face a global pandemic that has disproportionately infected
and killed people in these same struggling communities, and the child
care crisis we had before is now much, much worse. Now, parents have
lost millions of additional child care options, and providers confront
new costs to keep children and workers safe, risking financial losses
for businesses already operating on the knife's edge of profitability.
In Illinois, nearly half of all previously available child care slots
are at risk of disappearing altogether due to the pandemic, and sixty
percent of child care programs are fully-closed. In Chicago, we did not
have much to lose. Pre-pandemic, five out of six Chicago children lived
in a ``child care desert'' where children outnumbered child care slots
by 3 to 1, or more.
The high cost of quality child care disproportionately affects Black
families because Black children are disproportionately likely to live
in homes with only working parents, but Black working parents earn 40
percent less, on average, than white working parents. For workers with
low wages, work is impossible without child care subsidies, and
difficult even with assistance. Latinx and Black workers are more
likely to work nonstandard schedules than their peers, which often
makes child care harder to find and more expensive. Moreover, people of
color are disproportionately represented in the child care workforce.
About 40 percent of the child care workforce are people of color who
are concentrated in low-level positions with lower credential
requirements and relatively low pay. The child care workforce alone is
94% female and 40% persons of color. Latinas--who represent 15% of all
workers--comprise 21% of child care workers, and Black women represent
15% of all child care workers. These data demonstrate that protecting
the child care industry is key to both economic priority and racial
equity.
As states lift stay-at-home orders and other economic restrictions,
more parents are returning to work, if they can. Quality, affordable
child care is a cornerstone of parents' ability to work and move up the
economic ladder. I know essential workers who couldn't work because
they had no one to watch their kids. I know parents who have lost so
much income that they can't afford child care to work.
As a Black man living in Chicago, I have grieved at far too many
funerals for friends lost to COVID-19, and I know far too many parents
who legitimately fear for their family's health when they return to
work and their children go back to child care. When I see the
devastation caused by this pandemic and the barriers to working due to
child care, I am offended by claims that people will refuse to work
because of the availability of supplemental unemployment benefits. This
charge is simplistic, insulting, and refuted by data showing that low-
wage workers stay at work and return to work even when faced with
unsafe working conditions and inadequate wages.
As our nation grapples with structural racism, policymakers need to
enact policies that support workers and address the barriers they face,
taking care not to penalize communities weighed down by poverty and
racism. Big challenges call for big solutions. Now is the time for this
Committee and this Congress to take meaningful action to ensure that
high-quality child care is available to all who need it.
The two bills before us today demonstrate Democratic commitment to
growing our workforce and our economy by investing in families and in
our child care infrastructure--both the people and the buildings. I am
extremely proud to co-lead the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act and
to cosponsor the Child Care is Essential Act. Together, these bills
parents afford and help businesses provide safe, quality child care.
In addition to increasing the guaranteed investment in child care via
the Child Care Entitlement to States funds to states from $2.9 billion
to $10 billion for the next 5 years, the Child Care for Economic
Recovery Act helps ensure states can use these funds by waiving the
requirement that states match the funds for the first two years. The
bill includes critical investments in child care infrastructure to help
states and providers adapt, expand, and reconfigure child care
facilities and infrastructure in response to coronavirus. Further, it
helps qualified child care facilities weather the pandemic with
targeted tax benefits to help cover rent, mortgage, and utility costs.
The bill also includes two bills I have championed to substantially
help families afford child care. One centers on providing targeted
support to essential workers who need care for children or adults so
they can work, and the other modernizes the Child and Dependent Care
Tax Credit to provide tens of billions of dollars to help working
family cover child care costs. Specifically, there is an additional
$850 million in funding for the Social Services Block Grant to help
essential workers pay for family care. Importantly, states can use the
funding to support child care for any group of workers they deem
essential for in-person work, including sanitation and public safety
workers, grocery store employees and other workers designated by the
state. Further, the bill makes the full amount of the Child and
Dependent Care Tax Credit available to more families by raising the
current phase-out of $15,000 to $120,000, almost triples the maximum
credit from $1,050 to $3,000 per child, and it ensures that families
with the greatest need benefit by making the credit fully refundable.
The Child Care is Essential Act creates a $50 billion Child Care
Stabilization Fund to help stabilize the child care sector and help
providers reopen and operate safely. These grants will support
providers' ability to maintain employee benefits and salaries; follow
Center for Disease Control and Prevention health and safety guidelines
in the classroom; train employees on health and safety standards; make
mortgage, rent, and utility payments; and modify child care services as
needed as a result of the pandemic.
Substantively investing in child care is the right thing for our
economy, the right thing for our children, and the right way to give
everyone a fair shot in America.
[[Page H3918]]
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Nebraska (Mr. Smith).
Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Madam Speaker, I do have to say that I am
disappointed and, frankly, saddened to stand here today to point out my
disappointment that we are debating a bill that I think many would
consider to be unrealistic and certainly highly unlikely to become
designated as a solution or even achieved to be a solution to the
issues we are facing today.
Madam Speaker, as my colleague from New York already pointed out, no
Republican input was sought on this--zero. Zilch. And it is
unfortunate, especially at a time such as this where our country is
wanting us to come together to form solutions that are effective and
can positively impact our country.
We, on the Republican side, stand ready on a bipartisan basis to
accomplish our goals of safely reopening schools, safely reopening
childcare centers so that our children can learn, grow, develop, and
their parents can return to work. We agree. Access to safe, affordable
childcare is essential to getting Americans back to work and a strong
economic recovery.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman has expired.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I yield an additional 15 seconds to the
gentleman.
Mr. SMITH of Nebraska. Madam Speaker, the bill we are considering
today is not a path forward. It is a rehash of partisan ideas. We can
do better. The American people expect us to do better. Republicans have
constructive ideas to offer with demonstrated bipartisan support.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Texas
(Mr. Doggett).
Mr. DOGGETT. Madam Speaker, childcare is so very neglected--a neglect
that has been amplified by this pandemic. Without adequate care,
parents simply cannot go back to work. Always essential for economic
development, adequately funded, quality childcare is more than daycare,
more than babysitting. It should play a key role in educating the next
generation.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children has
estimated that without adequate Federal support, over 4 million
American children will lose their childcare this year.
In Texas, with Governor Abbott offering inadequate State support, and
temporarily, but recklessly, suspending facility safety precautions,
like taking temperatures, the lives of children and their families have
been endangered with coronavirus infections at more than 1,400
childcare facilities.
Our two-pronged legislative approach today cannot undo such
ineptness, but it does offer much-needed resources for both childcare
providers and parents in making one of their most important
investments. This is the first of many steps needed to build an early
learning system truly worthy of our youngest children.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the great gentleman
from Kansas (Mr. Estes).
Mr. ESTES. Madam Speaker, I rise today in opposition to H.R. 7237 and
H.R. 7027.
As a father of three, I understand how important it is that our
children are cared for in a nurturing, loving environment. For many
working parents, that means utilizing quality, affordable daycare for
all or part of the week. My wife and I utilized daycare for our
children when they were younger. It provided a beneficial, educational
experience for them.
Republicans in the House know that when it comes to childcare, we
have to get this right and we have to do it together. In that spirit,
we have been working with our colleagues on the other side of the aisle
during the past 5 years to pass meaningful legislation, like doubling
the Childcare and Development Block Grant funding, and including
support for childcare providers in the CARES Act.
Yet, now, when our country needs us to put politics aside and focus
on the actual needs of families, we are debating partisan bills that do
not go through regular order, had no input from Republicans, put future
taxpayers on the line for billions of dollars without addressing the
childcare needs of today and have no safeguards to prevent wealthy
Americans from hiring maids and butlers instead of helping everyday
families.
Madam Speaker, that is right. My colleagues on the left are more
interested in throwing money at a problem to score political points
rather than making sure hurting families and childcare facilities
receive needed assistance. But it doesn't have to be that way. Instead
of debating another political messaging bill, we should be working
together on commonsense measures, like the Back to Work Child Care
Grants Act, which provides 9 months financial assistance to providers
to safely open, disburses more funds quickly without administrative red
tape, and requires providers receiving support to follow State and
local safety guidelines.
Democrats and Republicans have common ground here. We want to provide
relief to childcare facilities and families during this healthcare
crisis. Unfortunately, the bills we are debating today don't rise to
the challenge we face. We can and must do better.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to reject these partisan bills
and pursue bipartisan legislation, like the Back to Work Child Care
Grants Act. Our families deserve it.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Thompson).
Mr. THOMPSON of California. Madam Speaker, as communities across our
country continue to battle COVID-19 and as school districts around the
country continue to plan for virtual-only education, it is more
important than ever for parents, healthcare professionals, essential
workers, and our children to have access to quality, affordable
childcare.
This bill helps families by making the childcare tax credit fully
refundable and offers new assistance to childcare facilities to help
them weather the storm and continue providing the vital services our
children need.
Every Member of this House has heard from constituents who are
grappling with this challenge. Americans need our help.
Madam Speaker, I urge everyone to vote for this important bill.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Ohio
(Mr. Wenstrup).
Mr. WENSTRUP. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.
Madam Speaker, I rise today in thoughtful opposition to H.R. 7327.
Everyone in this Chamber agrees that protecting our children is our
top priority and that childcare is one of the most critical pieces of
the equation in getting our economy back to the record levels that we
had achieved earlier this year.
I have talked to parents across my district in Ohio who want to go
back to work but don't have reliable care options available for their
children. It is about more than just returning to work. Children need
to be able to grow socially and emotionally by interacting with their
peers regularly.
Instead of rushed partisan legislation, we need bipartisan solutions,
like my Family Savings Flexibility Act that I introduced with
Representatives Kelly and Axne. Our bill allows parents to increase the
contribution limit to their Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts,
as well as roll over the funds from the 2020 plan year--a huge help to
working parents.
Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues on the other side of the aisle to
work with us on finding bipartisan solutions, and I oppose this bill.
{time} 1315
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Oregon (Mr. Blumenauer).
Mr. BLUMENAUER. Madam Speaker, I appreciate the gentleman's courtesy
in permitting me to speak on this, as I applaud his leadership.
Under his leadership, the Ways and Means Committee has been in the
middle of the recovery efforts. There are many of these elements that
we are proud of, but none is more significant than what we are doing
here today to strengthen the opportunities for childcare.
I hear my friends on the other side of the aisle lament the fact that
they feel, well, this is not going to go anywhere; they would like to
work with us. Well, work with us. The Senate is moving in our
direction, as they have with the major package. If you would come work
with us, move this forward, we would be able to accomplish it.
[[Page H3919]]
Putting at risk half our childcare slots is unacceptable. This is
essential if we are going to recover, protect our families, move
forward. Childcare is an essential service for workers today, for
families tomorrow, for children for generations to come.
I am proud to lend my support. I appreciate what our Ways and Means
Committee has done, and I anticipate we have got more in store.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Sanchez), who is an original cosponsor of this
legislation.
Ms. SANCHEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the
Child Care for Economic Recovery Act. I want to thank Chairman Neal,
Chairwoman Lowey, Chairman Davis, Chairwoman DeLauro, and Vice Chair
Clark for working with me on this critical bill.
Access to quality, affordable childcare was out of reach for many
parents before the COVID pandemic, and now our childcare crisis is far
worse.
Families juggling full-time jobs and caring for their kids at home
desperately need our help. And millions of healthcare, grocery store,
and other essential workers who cannot work from home are out of
options.
Thankfully, this package includes a bill I coauthored with Chairman
Davis to help States provide childcare for essential workers. It also
provides long-term support to help working families afford childcare.
Finally, it invests in facilities to help them adapt to serve families
safely.
This pandemic is nowhere near under control, and it isn't safe for
many to return to work. But parents must have access to safe and
affordable childcare before our economy can reopen.
I urge my colleagues to support this bill, and, again, I thank those
involved with the writing of it.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
Alabama (Ms. Sewell).
Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R.
7327, the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act.
In my State of Alabama, 52 percent of the supply of childcare is
projected to be lost as a result of this pandemic. This is a crisis
that is not only dire today but may hold lasting damage in our
communities without bold actions.
We know, Madam Speaker, that the pandemic has disproportionately
affected African-American communities and that so often Black workers
are on the front lines of being essential workers, especially Black
women. They are in greater need of safe, affordable childcare.
At the same time, there are many more that are likely to live in
underserved and rural communities that simply do not have childcare
options.
I am proud that this bill will make important investments in our
childcare system, including making the child care tax credit fully
refundable, expanding funds for the Child Care Entitlement to States
program, and expanding childcare tax incentives. These bold investments
are critical for the well-being of working parents and their children,
especially in underserved communities that I represent.
I urge the passage of this bill. Let's protect our children by making
sure they have adequate childcare.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentlewoman from
California (Ms. Judy Chu).
Ms. JUDY CHU of California. Madam Speaker, I stand today in support
of the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act.
As families juggle working from home and childcare, this pandemic has
made it clear just how vital childcare is to our economy. If we want to
prioritize economic growth and improve outcomes moving forward, we will
have to make investments that improve quality and access today.
Even before the COVID-19 crisis, many families of color were not able
to access childcare. In fact, only 3 percent of federally eligible
Asian children, 6 percent Latinx children, and 15 percent of Black
children were able to access childcare based on Federal eligibility.
This bill helps by adding billions of dollars to our childcare
infrastructure. It also makes the child and dependent care tax credit
refundable so families could receive a childcare credit of up to
$6,000.
Finally, the bill ensures that essential workers have access to safe
care for their children while they are providing invaluable services to
our communities.
Without investments in childcare, our economy cannot recover.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Maryland (Mr. Hoyer), the distinguished majority leader.
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, the Bible tells us: ``Raise up a child in
the way they should go, and they will not depart from it.''
As a parent, I have sometimes, if not always, reflected that that
seems to be the case. But it surely is the case that we need to provide
our families and our children with safe and positive places so that we
can raise them up in the way they should go.
Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the bills on the floor
today to protect childcare workers from losing their jobs and to help
more families afford the cost of childcare. They build on provisions
that we had in the HEROES Act.
First, the Child Care Is Essential Act would create a $50 billion
childcare stabilization fund to keep childcare providers from going out
of business.
I want to thank Chairwoman DeLauro of the Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, as well as
Chairman Bobby Scott of the Education and Labor Committee.
Secondly, the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act takes a long-term
approach by improving infrastructure and designating childcare
providers as essential and providing tax credits to help more families
qualify for and afford safe and accessible childcare.
I want to thank Chairwoman Lowey of the Appropriations Committee and
my dear friend Chairman Neal, chairman of the Ways and Means Committee,
for sponsoring this legislation.
As noted yesterday, in an editorial by The Washington Post: ``The
childcare industry is collapsing under pandemic-inflicted financial
pressure.'' They went on to say: ``Without swift action from Congress,
childcare centers are at risk of permanent closures that could severely
undermine the country's economic recovery.''
Madam Speaker, I am the father of three daughters and a granddaughter
who has four children, my four great-grandchildren. She is fortunate
that she is able to stay home with those children. Three of them are in
school.
I have two other daughters who are now older, and their children are
older. But when they had children at a young age, childcare was
critical and very difficult to obtain and very expensive. Dad and mom
helped out. But there are so many millions who don't have a dad or mom
or a grandfather or grandmother to help out. And when we don't help
them, the cost is to everybody.
Governor Agnew was elected Governor the same year I was elected in
the State of Maryland. I remember a line from his inaugural address:
``The cost of failure far exceeds the price of progress.'' Failure to
bring up these children in the way they should go and have them in safe
childcare settings will result in a cost far higher than providing that
service.
If the Congress fails to take actions like those, like the House is
taking today, we risk our economic recovery by forcing parents to drop
out of the workforce or lose work hours due to the demands of dependent
care. It would place a substantial burden on working families with
young children or elderly parents to care for, and it would
disproportionately hurt minority workers and their families because, as
The Washington Post editorial further pointed out, minority parents
``are more likely than White parents to experience job disruptions due
to childcare.''
That is not good for them; it is not good for their children.
Madam Speaker, it is not good for America.
House Democrats are determined to help families get through this
public health and economic crisis, but we must have a longer vision, as
Chairman Neal pointed out, because it is not just
[[Page H3920]]
the pandemic that caused this problem. It has been a problem that has
been with us for a long period of time.
We refuse to do what some have suggested, again and again, for the
past decade, which is to tell the American people: You are on your own.
``You are on your own'' is not a moral stance. It is not. Am I my
brother's keeper? The answer to that is yes, I am my brother's keeper
because I want my brother healthy; I want my brother educated; and I
want my brother well-housed. Why? Because my brother affects my life
and my children's lives and my grandchildren's lives and my great-
grandchildren's lives.
If you are going to make America great, you need to make all our
people great. So, I am here in support of this legislation. It is
critical legislation for our country--yes, for the children, yes, for
the families, but for our country.
I hope all of my colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, will join us
in passing these bills. Let's do that today to keep childcare providers
open, expand the availability of childcare for working families, and
help workers return to their jobs when it is safe to do so.
Vote ``yes'' for America's families and for America.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the distinguished
gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Evans).
Mr. EVANS. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of the Child
Care for Economic Recovery Act.
Even before the pandemic, childcare in Pennsylvania cost twice what
is considered affordable, and working families struggled with a
shortage of quality care. Now, Pennsylvania could lose half of its
childcare supply due to the pandemic.
This bill funds improvements to help childcare centers reopen and
operate safely and addresses longstanding barriers to help families
secure quality care.
We should invest now to upgrade childcare facilities of all sizes and
ensure children have a safe place to be.
We must act to protect children and the providers who care for them.
I would like to close by thanking all the childcare workers who
provide essential services to American families. Now, let's pass this
bill.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
Illinois (Mr. Schneider).
Mr. SCHNEIDER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in strong support of two
important bills, H.R. 7027, the Child Care Is Essential Act, and H.R.
7327, the Child Care for Economic Recovery Act.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the gaps in America's childcare
system. Even before the current crisis, America faced a dire shortage
of quality, affordable childcare.
Now, with daycares closed, schools out, and many working from home,
parents are struggling between fully attending to their kids' needs and
focusing on their jobs.
These two bills will lend a hand to working parents. The Child Care
for Economic Recovery Act will help ensure parents have quality
childcare within their reach. The Child Care Is Essential Act will
provide necessary emergency funding for childcare providers, the
majority of which are small businesses.
Adequate, quality childcare for every working family is critical to
successfully opening our economy. Passing these bills will help our
children, our working parents, and the countless businesses dependent
on their talents.
I urge my colleagues to support this important legislation.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
{time} 1330
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from
California (Mr. Gomez).
Mr. GOMEZ. Madam Speaker, today I rise in support of these important
pieces of legislation.
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the challenges that working
families have always faced in the American economy: that the economy is
not structured around the needs of working families and that the
solutions that do exist, like childcare, are not sufficiently funded.
As such, our Nation's lack of support for affordable childcare forces
many working families to make an impossible choice: either go to work
to support your family to put a roof over their head, food on their
table, or clothes on their backs, or not in order to stay at home to
make sure that they are safe and well taken care of.
Unfortunately, parents don't face an even playing field when it comes
to childcare. For example, Latino and Asian children are most likely to
have a lack of childcare options in their communities and face long
waits and long lines to get a spot.
Despite the fact that quality childcare is a cost-effective way to
reduce poverty, funding for childcare is simply not enough. I am proud
to support this important piece of legislation and these two pieces of
legislation. It is a way forward, and I look forward to voting on it
later today.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I am ready to close.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The time of the gentleman from Massachusetts
has expired.
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I was prepared to close after Mr. Reed.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from Massachusetts has no time
remaining.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I would inquire as to how much time I have
remaining.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The gentleman from New York has 5\3/4\
minutes remaining.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Madam Speaker, to restart the economy in the wake of COVID-19,
parents will need sufficient childcare to return to the workplace. A
lack of childcare options could keep parents from returning to work or
could force parents to cut back the amount of time spent at work.
Either of these scenarios would cripple our households' finances and a
healthy economic recovery.
New requirements for childcare providers in schools, including
smaller class sizes, enhanced cleaning requirements, new and likely
evolving teacher education on new protocols, and liability risks, will
also increase costs. Policy interventions are needed to increase both
the supply of affordable childcare and working families' demand for
childcare.
As you have heard from my colleagues here today, Republicans share
concerns about the impact of the pandemic on the childcare industry and
lives of working families across the country.
We have bipartisan, feasible, commonsense solutions to address this
problem. Whether it is tax relief for families and businesses to
purchase childcare or additional support to keep existing childcare
providers in business, our solutions would have an immediate impact on
the industry and parents.
Successful childcare solutions have received bipartisan support in
the past, and they will moving forward. It is a shame we can cooperate
in good times but not in the midst of a global pandemic. Our families
and children deserve better.
Madam Speaker, I strongly urge all my colleagues to oppose this bill,
and let's come together to pass a bill that will help the American
people in a true bipartisan fashion.
Madam Speaker, I yield the remainder of my time to the gentleman from
Massachusetts (Mr. Neal).
Mr. NEAL. Madam Speaker, I spoke with a group of working mothers. One
told me that she fears we are at risk of losing a generation of working
parents. Others emphasized how terrifying their situations are and how
they lacked choices that will allow them to continue their careers and
protect their children.
Parents all across the country have been doing the hard work of
holding their families together while the White House ignores the
plight and exacerbates the public health crisis. We owe it to these
parents to show that we in Congress hear them and that we are going to
do something about it.
Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to support this important
legislation.
Mr. REED. Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. JACKSON LEE. Madam Speaker, as a senior member of the Judiciary,
Homeland, and Budget Committees, and Founding Chair of the
Congressional Children's Caucus, I rise
[[Page H3921]]
in strong support of H.R. 7327, the ``Child Care for Economic Recovery
Act'', which expands the availability of quality child care, helps
workers return to their jobs when it is safe, and enables America's
economy to recover from the COVID-19 recession.
The Child Care for Economic Recovery Act creates a new tax credit
that helps employees access quality, affordable child care, and by
expanding the employee retention tax credit, it incentivizes employers
to keep child care workers on payroll.
Further, this bill provides $850 million to states, the District of
Columbia, and all U.S. territories to fill in the gaps in dependent
care for essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as
invests $10 billion in infrastructure to improve child care safety.
Madam Speaker, just last week, the United States reached a historic
and unfortunate milestone with over 4,000,000 confirmed coronavirus
cases.
Today, there are over 4,400,000 cases nationwide and 151,000 deaths.
In my home state of Texas, a current hotspot, there are over 413,000
cases and 6,500 deaths.
At the county level, Harris County, which includes my district, has
approximately 67,660 cases and 1,127 deaths.
As we seek to regain control over this virus and poise our economy to
rebound from the effects of the coronavirus, we must take the necessary
steps to address the cracks and disparities that have come to light by
way of the pandemic.
The child care industry has served as a crucial backbone to the
United States' economy for many years, and it too continues to be
rocked by the coronavirus.
Child care facilities provide an immense and unquestionable public
value.
This was demonstrated by the key role child care centers had as they
continued to provide child care for essential workers who continued to
work at the beginning of the pandemic.
According to the Washington Post, before the coronavirus pandemic,
approximately one-third of all children under 5 attended a paid care
facility, day-care center, preschool or prekindergarten.
Workers in every industry rely on child care centers to provide
capable care for their children, helping them juggle both parenting and
employment responsibilities.
The child care industry is even more essential to single parent
households.
In 2019, 15.76 million children lived with a single mother and
approximately 3.23 million children lived with a single father.
For these millions of families, child care is a lifeline.
However, as millions of businesses continue to feel the economic
effects of the coronavirus and fight for survival, the child care
industry is facing its own crisis.
Nationwide, an estimated 1.5 million childcare workers have lost
their jobs.
Before the pandemic, Texas had more than 11,000 child care
operations.
Yet, as a result of this disease, there were only 883 facilities
still operating in the state as of early this month, according to CNN.
Madam Speaker, I stand here today, voicing my support for H.R. 7327
because it serves as a vital component to our nation's economic
reopening strategy.
The federal government must do everything in its power to ensure that
the child care industry remains available to all who need it, and that
means voting yes on this bill.
By enacting this piece of legislation, Congress commits to ensuring
the long-term success of the child care industry by investing $10
billion over the 2020-2024 period to improve child care facilities and
infrastructure.
Doing so will address longstanding inadequacies of child care
facilities as well as respond to the immediate infrastructure needs
that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused, including structural changes to
facilitate social distancing and improve sanitation.
Madam Speaker, this legislation also requires the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a first-ever comprehensive
inventory of the structural challenges facing child care in the United
States and its territories.
For far too long, the child care industry has been overlooked and
undervalued, and it is no coincidence that this industry is comprised
of 94 percent women, a majority of whom are women of color.
But child care is not just a woman's issue.
Everyone has a stake in ensuring the viability of the child care
industry.
I have been a long-standing advocate for the child care industry
because I understand the challenges many working families face when it
comes to obtaining reliable, affordable, and quality child care.
Prior to the pandemic, HHS considered childcare affordable if no more
than 10 percent of a family's income was put towards it, but parents
were ultimately spending much more, on average.
However, because of the coronavirus and the economic devastation it
has caused, what was once deemed affordable is bound to change.
By passing H.R. 7327, we have the opportunity to bring much-needed
relief to financially struggling child care providers, to families who
need child care in order to return to work, and to the U.S. economy.
With this legislation, we will expand access to care and ease the
financial burdens placed on parents and employers, so that we can
reopen and recover from this public health crisis without leaving kids,
parents, and businesses behind.
I urge all Members to join me in voting for H.R. 7327, the ``Child
Care for Economic Recovery Act.''
The SPEAKER pro tempore. All time for debate has expired.
Pursuant to House Resolution 1053, the previous question is ordered
on the bill.
The question is on the engrossment and third reading of the bill.
The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and was
read the third time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the passage of the bill.
Pursuant to clause 10 of rule XX, the yeas and nays are ordered.
Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question
are postponed.
____________________