Child care affordability and access are policy topics for the hearing.

Why It Matters

With only 14 percent of eligible children currently served, the House Education and Workforce Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education examined state approaches to expanding child care access during a September 1 hearing titled "Supporting Working Families: State-Led Child Care Solutions."

The subcommittee convened for the third time this Congress to address what Chair Kevin Kiley (I-CA) called a persistent gap in child care access. Kiley said the Child Care and Development Block Grant reaches about 10 percent of the population needing child care and cited estimates that insufficient child care imposes a long-term economic burden of $200 billion to $300 billion on households, businesses and tax revenues.

The Big Picture

Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) highlighted the scale of the challenge, saying that in 2025, CCDBG served roughly 921,000 children while nearly 6.4 million eligible children remained unserved.

Federal COVID-era supplemental funding temporarily allowed states to serve more children, raise provider payment rates and stabilize participating child care businesses. That relief benefited an estimated 225,000 providers serving 10 million children.

States have pursued different approaches as federal pandemic-era funding expired. New Mexico eliminated income requirements and co-payments for participating families. Vermont uses capacity incentives to help providers expand. Massachusetts continued supporting providers after federal stabilization funding expired. Washington, D.C., has pursued approaches to improve compensation for early-childhood educators.

Washington, D.C., has pursued approaches to improve compensation for early childhood educators, while Oregon is developing a child care toolkit for businesses.

Broader Context

Ryan Page, director of child care at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services, discussed Iowa's C3 platform, which includes a Child Care Search tool, Vacancy Dashboard and Supply tool to help match families with available care.

The Kentucky business community has identified child care and housing as opportunities to improve workforce growth.

Hanna Melnick, senior policy adviser and director of early learning policy at the Learning Policy Institute, focused on policies intended to improve early learning systems and prepare a high-quality, diverse educator workforce. Bonamici underscored the human cost of inadequate child care access, describing an Oregon constituent who quit her job because her entire paycheck would have gone to child care.

Jude White, assistant commissioner for child care and community services at the Tennessee Department of Human Services, discussed Tennessee's approach to expanding child care capacity and supporting working families.

Bonamici underscored the effect of inadequate child care access on working families, describing an Oregon constituent who quit her job because her entire paycheck would have gone toward child care. "Families who cannot find quality child care may reduce their hours, decline promotions, or leave the workforce," she said.

The hearing also touched on legislative proposals. Bonamici noted that she introduced the Daycare Not Detentions Act, which would redirect $70 billion in federal immigration enforcement funding to child care and early childhood programs. She also promoted the Child Care for Working Families Act, which would seek to reduce families' child care costs, expand access to care and invest in the child care workforce.

Rep. Ryan Mackenzie (R-PA) has introduced the bipartisan Child Care Modernization Act, which would reauthorize and update CCDBG while giving states additional flexibility to address child care supply, provider capacity and access for working families.

For the witnesses, the hearing offered a platform to discuss implementation challenges and state approaches to expanding access.

Recent appropriations included an additional $85 million for CCDBG, providing additional federal support as states continue confronting child care shortages and affordability concerns.

The subcommittee convened for the third time this Congress to address what Chair Kevin Kiley called a persistent gap: the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) reaches only about 10 percent of the population needing child care. Several states have experimented with different models: New Mexico eliminated income requirements and co-payments for participating families; Vermont uses capacity incentives to help providers expand; Massachusetts continued supporting providers after federal stabilization funding expired; Washington, D.C., has pursued approaches to improve compensation for early-childhood educators; and Oregon is developing a child-care toolkit for businesses. "Families who cannot find quality child care may reduce their hours, decline promotions, or leave the workforce," she said. Bonamici noted she had introduced the Daycare Not Detentions Act, while Rep. For lawmakers, it highlighted competing approaches to addressing child care affordability and availability, including federal investment, state flexibility, employer partnerships and changes to existing federal programs. Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Lucy McBath (D-GA), Mike Lawler (R-NY), John Mannion (D-NY), Jen Kiggans (R-VA) and Bonamici, represents another congressional effort focused on strengthening the early childhood workforce.

The Bottom Line

The hearing highlighted broad agreement that child care shortages affect families, employers and workforce participation while underscoring differences over how the federal government should respond. State initiatives in Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee and elsewhere are providing models for expanding supply and improving access as Congress considers whether to increase federal investment, modernize CCDBG or give states greater flexibility in administering child care assistance.

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