WASHINGTON — There is talk about a potential U.S. government shutdown as the funding battle inches closer to September 30th. That’s when Congress must agree on a spending bill for the 2025 fiscal year.
In that bill, lawmakers must decide how much more the federal government should spend on childcare and early learning programs.
I’ve followed the childcare crisis in the state and on the national stage since May. The Senate wants to increase funding by billions but it’s unclear if the house will agree.
Theresa Carlwood is in the absolute thick of it.
“Any working parent understands the struggle of juggling it all and you know it’s just not the same as it was 50 years ago. 50 years ago you had a community and now you’re kind of winging it.”
With two kids — she’s now a stay-at-home mom, but that wasn’t always the case.
“Like any parent, you don’t make this decision lately but when you start to work out the math and you realize how much it really costs to have a family and pay someone else to watch your child, you make different choices than you thought you would have,” she said.
Up in Washington, DC — the funding fight feels very familiar -- very 2023. So far, the bills lawmakers have been able to agree on as of Monday are for Defense, Homeland Security, Interior-Environment, Military Construction and Veterans Affairs and State-Foreign Operations, according to ABC news.
They have yet to decide whether to boost funding for childcare and early learning programs.
“Right now they are in the mist of those negotiations and what we’ve seen is the house of representatives have proposed a number, it’s a very small increase, it doesn’t even keep up with inflation,” said Anne Hedgepeth, the Chief of Policy for Child Care Aware of America. “Where the senate has proposed a number that is much larger.”
The senate passed its appropriations bill August 1st — the bill set aside an additional $2.3 billion for early learning programs and it provides more than $10 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant — $1.6 billion more than last year — that money flows directly to states which they decide how to divvy up between families, organizations and providers.
“It is not enough to get us to all families having access to affordable, and high quality childcare in their communities but it could be the difference between another several hundred or thousand families in a state gaining a scholarship, or a voucher or subsidy, grants going out to programs to keep their doors open, or an increase in compensation to support our teachers in communities,” said Hedgepeth.
Child Care Aware of America and partner organizations have urged Congress to provide at least an additional $4.3 billion for CCDBG in an FY25 Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Appropriations bill, for a total of at least $12.4 billion.
The First Five Year Fund released 2024 data that shows how the Child Care and Development Block Grant supports families in all 50 states. In Florida, 29% of kids 5 and under are eligible for support though the program but only 18% are actually able use it.
Hedgepeth said there’s many reasons eligible families aren’t able to access the support — not knowing it exists, application struggles, “There’s also a point in the process when there is not enough money the state has to put into these vouchers, these subsidies or the scholarships and families are not able to access one even if they make it through all of these steps,” said Hedgepeth.
She adds, “Let’s say you make it through these steps and you can’t find a spot for your child, you can’t use the voucher.”
Earlier this year — the chair of the Appropriations Committee for the U.S. Senate spoke about the lack of childcare facilities and her fight years ago as a mom of two as she tried to save her kids pre-school program. She recalled a state lawmaker that told her she couldn’t make a difference because she’s just a mom in tennis shoes.
“Well, this mom in tennis shoes is now the senate appropriations chair and Mr. President I think it makes a difference when you have a former pre-school teacher and someone who lived what it means to be a working mom with young kids holding the pen in our nations spending bills,” said Senator Patty Murray.
For Fiscal year 2024, Congress successfully sent a $1 billion increase for childcare and pre-kto the President’s desk.
But this year it’s back to the drawing board and the house and senate once again have to agree — and they have until September 30th to do that.
Carlwood wants to remind lawmakers — they work for the people.
“I would really think that if they were putting their ear to the ground and listening to what people in their communities need, they would feel differently,” said Carlwood.
If you have a childcare story you would like to share, please reach out to me! E-mail Heather.Leigh@wfts.com.
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