Daycare

Floor Speech

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Mrs. WAGNER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of working families across the country who are trying to make ends meet.

As a mother, a grandmother, and someone who has employed moms and dads, I know that raising a family is a great joy, but it can also be a great source of anxiety. Children are a blessing, but raising a family introduces serious challenges and costs.

In Missouri, the average annual cost of center-based infant care is estimated to be $8,632. That is $719 a month. Infant care in Missouri costs $634 more per year than instate tuition at a 4-year public college, and it is unaffordable for so very many families.

According to a study published by the Economic Policy Institute, a daycare center for two children--an infant and, say, a 4-year-old-- costs $17,940. That is 102 percent more than the average rent in Missouri. A typical family in Missouri has to spend a shocking 30 percent of their income on daycare for their two children.

In fact, it is estimated that the cost of childcare for two children exceeds annual median rent payments in every State. Paying for childcare is just plain hard for every working family I have spoken with in the State of Missouri.

In the 1970s, Congress heard America's families loud and clear and created the dependent care flexible spending accounts. These accounts allow parents to contribute pretax dollars to pay for qualified out-of- pocket dependent care expenses.

They are not only for children. These accounts can also be used to pay for adult dependents who use adult daycare, eldercare or similar services.

It is a great program, but it has not kept up with the needs of today's families. Despite rising childcare costs, Congress has not raised the FSA contribution cap since 1986. That is why, this week, I am introducing the Child and Dependent Care Modernization Act.

This bill will modernize the maximum amount a family can contribute to dependent care flexible spending accounts to track with the real costs of dependent care today. It will also index the maximum contribution limit so that the value of an FSA will increase in the future as dependent care costs increase.

Another challenge that many families enrolled in an FSA experience is the ``use-it-or-lose-it'' rule. If parents don't use the full balance in their FSA before the year ends, they forfeit their unused money, limiting the ability of parents to save for ongoing costs of care. My bill will allow unused funds to roll over into the next plan year and return a little more freedom and flexibility to America's families.

This bill is part of my legislative work to make the lives of Missouri's families just a little easier. I look forward to introducing this legislation and working with my colleagues to make it law.

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