The House passed two child care aid packages Wednesday, bolstering their proposals for coronavirus aid as party leader remain in a gridlock on a larger relief deal.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi argued that the bills were vital in helping parents, particularly mothers who traditionally share more the child care responsibilities, back to work in a hard-hit economy.
“It isn’t only families in poverty who are affected by this child care issue. It’s our entire society, our entire economy. That’s why we have to think transformatively about this,” the California Democrat said. “Because we do believe when women succeed, America succeeds — and dads have this responsibility too, so we want them to succeed as well. But for all of that to happen, we have to make sure that we know who is taking care of the children.”
The Child Care is Essential Act would create a $50 billion Child Care Stabilization Fund within the larger Child Care and Development Block Grant program to ensure providers, particularly those in low-income areas, don’t shut down. It would provide funds for paychecks and tuition grants, while requiring facilities comply with public health guidance.
The other bill — the “Child Care for Economic Recovery” Act — would provide a surge of funding in several areas, including $10 billion for the Child Care Entitlement to States program, $10 billion for infrastructure projects, and $850 million to state and local governments to help cover child care costs for essential workers. It would also provide about $91 billion over the next decade in tax benefits.
Both measures passed 249-163 and 250-161 basis, respectively, but even with Republicans and Democrats in agreement on having childcare as a priority its unlikely to get much traction in the Senate.
Rep. Kay Granger, Texas Republican, rejected both bills, arguing that they were allocating an excessive amount of funds with overly complicated application processes and regulations that would ultimately hinder child care providers’ ability to function.
“We need to take a step backwards and ensure that any bill we pass addresses the problem without creating manager bureaucratic red tape for the child care industry,” she said on the House floor. “We must support parents and child care 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,” she added.
The GOP has touted child care and schools as one of the top priorities in their proposal, allocating more than $100 billion for schools and creating “Back to Work” grants for child care providers that would provide up to nine months of financial assistance.
Though that’s far less than what the Democrats are eyeing — around a total of $430 billion for schools and child care centers.
However, Democratic and Republican leaders are struggling to get close to any sort of agreement on this next coronavirus deal, with Democrats saying the GOP plan is a non-starter and highlighting Republican infighting over spending.
They’ve also failed to make any headway on a potential short-term extension for unemployment insurance and eviction protections — two of the stickiest items for the parties to agree on. Democrats are resisting any sort of “piecemeal” approach, despite the looming expiration date for many benefits Americans are relying on.
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