Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), a senior member and former chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), issued the following statement on Vice President Harris’ announcement of a new Biden administration rule to strengthen the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program that helps serve 1.5 million kids and their families each month.
The new rule will: cap child care copayments for working families at no more than 7% of a family’s income and encourage states to waive copayments for families at or below 150% of the federal poverty level; improve financial stability for child care providers; and make it easier for families to access CCDBG by encouraging states to accept online applications and make siblings of children already enrolled presumptively eligible.
“This new rule is going to lower child care costs for families, put money back in parents’ pockets, and give them a little extra breathing room and certainty that they can stay in their job, make rent, and know their kids are being cared for. This is an important step forward, and it’s all thanks to President Biden and Vice President Harris’ determination to lower families’ costs and address the child care crisis with every tool at their disposal. And I am really glad to see this new rule reflect some critical policies in my Child Care for Working Families Act.
“But make no mistake: to fix the child care crisis, Congress must act. We must invest in tackling this crisis for good so that families in every zip code in America can find and afford the child care they need, child care workers can earn the wages they deserve, and our economy can finally grow without being held back as parents are forced to leave the workforce. This new rule caps costs for families already receiving federal support at up to 7% of their income—and it’s time we make that a reality for every family in America by passing my Child Care for Working Families Act and tackling this crisis head-on.”
Senator Murray, a former preschool teacher herself, has led the fight to tackle the child care crisis in Congress—using every tool at her disposal to make progress for families. Earlier this year, she reintroduced her Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to solve the child care crisis and ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need. The bill would ensure families can afford the child care they need—expanding access to more high-quality options, stabilizing the child care sector, and helping ensure child care workers taking care of our nation’s kids are paid livable wages. It would also dramatically expand access to pre-K and support full-day, full-year Head Start programs and increased wages for Head Start workers. The typical family in America will pay no more than $10 a day for child care—with many families paying nothing at all—and no eligible family will pay more than 7% of their income on child care under Senator Murray’s bill. Senator Murray has also long fought to strengthen the Child Care and Development Block (CCDBG)—and successfully secured a 30% increase in funding for the program at the end of last year.
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