Bill · S. 1411· Senate(119-S-1411)
PROSPECT Act
- Introduced
- 4/10/2025
- Last activity
- 4/10/2025 — Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- Sponsored by
- Cory Booker
- Cosponsors
- - 1 - 0
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The PROSPECT Act aims to establish competitive Federal grants to help community colleges and minority-serving institutions become hubs for infant and toddler child care. The bill provides for various grant types, including planning, access, impact, and pipeline grants. These funds are intended to expand child care access for student parents and strengthen the workforce of early childhood educators. It also includes provisions to modify the Child Care and Development Block Grant Program and increases Federal matching payments. Additionally, the act requires sharing information regarding dependent care allowances for Federal student aid.
Yes· 3 of 13
Does this make child care cost less?+9
The bill provides substantial federal grants to expand and fund free or low-cost infant and toddler childcare.
Would children be better off under this?+8
The bill directly increases the availability of high-quality childcare for infants and toddlers.
Would students be better off under this?+8
The bill provides significant financial and practical support to student parents.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Increased Child Care Access for Student Parents: Access grants are intended to provide free high-quality child care for up to 500,000 infants and toddlers of student parents (Sec. 111; Sec. 121; Sec. 123). This can help reduce barriers to graduation and reduce postgraduation debt (Sec. 111; Sec. 121).
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Support for Workforce Development: Pipeline grants are designed to fund the launch and expansion of early childhood educator preparation programs and strengthen the workforce pipeline (Sec. 111; Sec. 121; Sec. 125).
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Community Impact and Expansion: Impact grants can expand the supply and quality of child care in communities by providing training, mentorship, and expansion funding to existing or new providers (Sec. 111; Sec. 121; Sec. 124).
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Living Wages for Workers: On-campus child care centers supported by these grants must pay staff a wage that provides a living wage and is comparable to wages for elementary educators in the State (Sec. 112).
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Enhanced Financial Aid Information: The bill requires sharing information about the dependent care allowance for Federal student aid, explaining how students might include it in their cost of attendance and how to apply (Sec. 301).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
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Grant Limitations: Individual community college or minority-serving institution grants are limited to no more than $20,000,000 (Sec. 113).
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Requirement for Planning Before Implementation: An entity must complete a planning grant before it can receive access, impact, or pipeline grants (Sec. 112).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Children+8Good For Students+8Good For Low Income Households+7Good For African Americans+6Good For Women+6Good For People With Disabilities+5
- Social Issues And Justice
- Improves Childcare Affordability+9Improves Racial Equity+7Improves Gender Equality+6Improves Disability Rights+5Improves Poverty Reduction+5
- Education And Technology
- Improves College Affordability+7
- Economy And Finance
- Increases Job Creation+5
- 4/10/2025
- Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- Introduced in Senate
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
Elizabeth WarrenDemocrat · Massachusetts