This bill reauthorizes and significantly revises the Child Care and Development Block Grant program, which provides federal funding to help low-income families pay for childcare. The legislation increases annual funding to $14 billion per year through 2030 and makes several major policy changes, including requiring states to give parents certificates they can use with any childcare provider of their choice, with special emphasis on making it easier for relatives like grandparents, aunts, uncles, and adult siblings to serve as caregivers. The bill also relaxes regulations on relative caregivers, requires states to pay them at least 75 percent of the rate paid to family childcare providers, and protects religious childcare organizations from having stricter requirements imposed on them than nonreligious providers. Additionally, the legislation repeals the federal tax credit for dependent care expenses starting after enactment and establishes two pilot programs with $50 million each to prevent fraud in the program and to increase the use of relative caregivers.
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