Rubio, Rosen, Ernst, Colleagues Introduce Legislation to Expand Child Care Availability

Press Release

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) introduced the Small Business Child Care Investment Act. This bipartisan and bicameral legislation would make small non-profit child care providers eligible to participate in all loan programs available through the Small Business Administration (SBA) -- the same opportunity currently provided to for-profit providers -- thereby supporting these small businesses in expanding the availability of affordable, high-quality child care to more working families. Around half of families in the United States live in "child care deserts," with few options for licensed child care, especially for rural areas, low-income, and minority communities. Representatives Susie Lee (D-NV) and Pete Stauber (R-MN) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"American families should have easy access to affordable child care," Rubio said. "Working parents desperately need more child care options, and this legislation would help to achieve that."

"The COVID-19 pandemic has made access to quality, affordable child care all the more difficult; hindering parents -- particularly mothers -- from taking part in our workforce," Rosen said. "Even before the onset of COVID-19, half of U.S. families reported difficulty finding access to affordable child care -- hurting their financial stability and stunting our nation's economic growth. This bipartisan bill would help address this problem by investing in child care providers so that they can help increase the number of available child care slots, giving parents access to more affordable child care services they need and creating jobs in their communities."

"Iowa was already facing a child care crisis even before the pandemic, but those challenges for our families and communities have only become more severe since," Ernst said. "One key area of improvement we should focus on is expanding opportunities for new child care facilities. This bipartisan effort is a commonsense fix that takes existing programs and allows them to be used to help child care providers, including our non-profit centers, which will in turn help give our working parents greater access to quality and affordable care for their kids."

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