S.Amdt. 4639

SA 4639, submitted by Mrs. Murray, proposes adding Division B, known as the Child Care for Working Families Act, to bill S. 1383. The purpose is to establish a comprehensive federal support system for early education and child care.

The amendment aims to add the following components to the bill:

• Child Care and Early Learning Program: An entitlement program providing high-quality child care for eligible children under 6 not yet in kindergarten. It allows States, territories, and Tribal organizations to use federal funding for assistance via certificates, contracts, or grants. It requires a tiered quality system for providers and a sliding fee scale for family copayments based on income.

• Affordable System for Early Education Grants: The creation of BASE Grants for lead agencies to stabilize the child care sector. These funds aim to expand high-quality child care options, especially in underserved communities, increase educator wages, and offset operating expenses.

• Universal Preschool: A system providing inclusive, free, and high-quality preschool for children ages 3 and 4. The federal government would provide payments to States to cover a large portion of expenditures, and States must ensure services are available to all children without extra eligibility requirements.

• Head Start Act Enhancements: Changes to the Head Start Act to provide grants for extending service hours and increasing staff wages. Specifically, these grants support:

  • Access to a full school year and full school day of services.
  • Continuous services for seasonal and migrant Head Start agencies.
  • Quality enhancements for agencies already meeting full-day and full-year needs.
  • Funding for professional development, classroom supplies, staff, and facility maintenance or purchase. Note that these funds cannot be used to increase the number of children served.

• Staff Wage Support: An appropriation of $2,700,000,000 starting in fiscal year 2027 and every year following. These funds ensure staff receive a minimum living wage and wages comparable to elementary educators in their State with similar credentials and experience.

• Data Collection: Requirements to collect data on kindergarten readiness, recruitment and retention of early childhood staff, and coordination with other early childhood programs. It also requires data on the number and percentage of children in public kindergarten and eligible preschool programs, categorized by disability, income, race, and status (such as foster care or homeless).