[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5658 Introduced in House (IH)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 5658
To establish universal child care and early learning programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 30, 2025
Ms. Sherrill (for herself, Ms. Jacobs, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms.
Chu, Mr. Horsford, Mr. Beyer, Ms. Bonamici, Ms. Sanchez, Mr. Thompson
of Mississippi, Ms. Scanlon, Mr. Vargas, Ms. Balint, Mr. Lynch, Ms.
Meng, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Jayapal, Mr. Morelle, Ms. Escobar, Mr. Evans of
Pennsylvania, Ms. Barragan, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, Mrs.
Ramirez, Mr. Deluzio, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Garcia of California,
Mr. Smith of Washington, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Mr. Garamendi, Mrs.
Dingell, Mr. Nadler, Mr. DeSaulnier, Ms. Tokuda, Mr. McGarvey, Mr.
Lieu, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Levin, Ms. Dean of Pennsylvania, Mr. Norcross,
Mrs. Trahan, Ms. Velazquez, Ms. Stansbury, and Ms. Brown) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education
and Workforce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish universal child care and early learning programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Child Care for Every Community
Act''.
TITLE I--CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING PROGRAMS
SEC. 101. STATEMENT OF PURPOSES.
The purposes of this title are--
(1) to provide all young children with a fair and full
opportunity to reach their full potential, by establishing and
expanding programs, to create universal, comprehensive child
care and early learning programs that are available to all
young children;
(2) to ensure that families can access affordable, high-
quality child care and early learning programs regardless of
circumstance;
(3) to promote the school readiness of all young children
by enhancing their cognitive, social, emotional, and physical
development--
(A) in a learning environment that supports
children's growth in language, literacy, mathematics,
science, cognitive abilities, social and emotional
functioning, creative arts, physical skills, and
approaches to learning; and
(B) through the provision to children and their
families of health, educational, nutritional, social,
and other services that are determined, based on family
needs assessments, to be necessary;
(4) to recognize and build upon the experience and success
gained through the Head Start program, the military child care
program, and similar efforts;
(5) to provide that decisions on the nature of such child
care and early learning programs be made at the community level
with the full involvement of parents, family members, and other
individuals and organizations in the community; and
(6) to establish the legislative framework for child care
and early learning services.
SEC. 102. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this title:
(1) Child care and early learning program.--The term
``child care and early learning program'' means any program
that provides child care and early learning services in child
care and early learning centers (including schools) or in
family child care homes.
(2) Child with a disability.--The term ``child with a
disability'' means--
(A) a child with a disability, as defined in
section 602(3) of the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act (20 U.S.C. 1401(3)); and
(B) an infant or toddler with a disability, as
defined in section 632(5) of such Act (20 U.S.C.
1432(5)).
(3) Community.--The term ``community'' means a city,
county, or multicity or multicounty unit within a State, an
Indian reservation (including Indians in any nearby off-
reservation area designated by an appropriate Tribal government
in consultation with the Secretary), or a neighborhood or other
area (irrespective of boundaries or political subdivisions)
that provides a suitable organizational base and possesses the
commonality of interest needed to operate a child care and
early learning program.
(4) Covered child.--The term ``covered child'' means a
child who--
(A) is not yet required to attend school, under the
laws of compulsory school attendance of the State in
which the child resides; and
(B) meets the requirements of regulations issued
under section 124.
(5) Dual language learner.--The term ``dual language
learner'' means a child who is acquiring two or more languages
at the same time, or a child who is learning a second language
while continuing to develop the child's first language,
including a child who may also be identified by a State or
locality as ``bilingual'', ``an English language learner'',
``limited English proficient'', ``an English learner'', or a
child who speaks a ``language other than English''.
(6) Family literacy services.--The term ``family literacy
services'' means services that--
(A) are family literacy services, as defined in
section 637 of the Head Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9832); and
(B) meet the requirements of section 641A of such
Act (42 U.S.C. 9836a).
(7) Financial assistance.--The term ``financial
assistance'' includes assistance provided by grant, agreement,
or contract, for which payments may be made in installments and
in advance or by way of reimbursement with necessary
adjustments on account of overpayments or underpayments.
(8) Full-working-day.--The term ``full-working-day'' means
not less than 10 hours per day. Nothing in this paragraph shall
be construed to require an entity to provide services to a
child who has not reached the age of compulsory school
attendance for more than the number of hours per day permitted
by State law (including regulation) for the provision of
services to such a child.
(9) Health.--The term ``health'', when used to refer to
services or care provided to children enrolled in a child care
and early learning program, their parents, or their siblings,
shall be interpreted to refer to both physical and mental
health.
(10) Homeless child.--The term ``homeless child'' means an
individual described in section 725(2) of the McKinney-Vento
Homeless Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11434a(2)).
(11) Indian.--The term ``Indian'' means an individual who
is--
(A) a member of an Indian Tribe or band, as
membership is defined by the Tribe or band, including--
(i) any Tribe or band terminated since
1940; and
(ii) any Tribe or band recognized by the
State in which the Tribe or band resides;
(B) a descendant of an individual described in
subparagraph (A);
(C) considered by the Secretary of the Interior to
be an Indian for any purpose;
(D) an Eskimo, Aleut, or other Alaska Native; or
(E) a member of an organized Indian group that
received a grant under the Indian Education Act of 1988
as in effect on October 19, 1994.
(12) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' means the
governing body of any individually identified and federally
recognized Indian or Alaska Native Tribe, band, nation, pueblo,
village, or community (including an affiliated Tribal group or
component reservation) included on the list published pursuant
to section 104(a) of the Federally Recognized Indian Tribe List
Act of 1994 (25 U.S.C. 5131(a)).
(13) Institution of higher education.--The term
``institution of higher education'' has the meaning given the
term in section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 1001(a)).
(14) Local educational agency.--The term ``local
educational agency'' has the meaning given such term in section
8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20
U.S.C. 7801).
(15) Locality.--The term ``locality'' means any city,
municipality, county, or other political subdivision of a State
having general governmental powers, or any combination of such
political subdivisions.
(16) Low-income.--The term ``low-income'', used with
respect to a child or other individual, means an individual in
a family with a family income that is not more than 200 percent
of the poverty line.
(17) Migrant or seasonal child care and early learning
program.--The term ``migrant or seasonal child care and early
learning program'' means--
(A) with respect to services for migrant
farmworkers, a child care and early learning program
that serves families who are engaged in agricultural
labor and who have changed their residence from one
geographic location to another in the preceding 2-year
period; and
(B) with respect to services for seasonal
farmworkers, a child care and early learning program
that serves families who are engaged primarily in
seasonal agricultural labor and who have not changed
their residence to another geographic location in the
preceding 2-year period.
(18) Military child care program.--The term ``military
child care program'' means the program carried out under
subchapter II of chapter 88 of title 10, United States Code.
(19) Native hawaiian.--The term ``Native Hawaiian'' has the
meaning given the term in section 6207 of the Elementary and
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517).
(20) Poverty line.--The term ``poverty line'' means the
official poverty line (as defined by the Office of Management
and Budget) based on the most recent data available from the
Bureau of the Census--
(A) adjusted to reflect the percentage change in
the Consumer Price Index For All Urban Consumers,
issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, during the
annual or other interval immediately preceding the date
on which such adjustment is made; and
(B) adjusted for family size.
(21) Professional development.--The term ``professional
development'' means the career-pathway aligned mechanisms that
contribute to ensuring that a member of the early care and
education workforce, in any setting, has or is working towards
obtaining the degrees and other credentials needed to
demonstrate the necessary knowledge and competencies for
quality provision of child care and early learning services.
(22) Scientifically valid research.--The term
``scientifically valid research'' includes applied research,
basic research, and field-initiated research, in which the
rationale, design, and interpretation are soundly developed in
accordance with principles of scientific research.
(23) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
of Health and Human Services.
(24) Stakeholder.--The term ``stakeholder'' means a
community-based employer of child care providers, a labor
organization representing child care providers, a joint labor-
management partnership advocating for child care standards, an
entity operating a trust fund that provides training and
education for child care providers, or a nonprofit organization
that represents parents of children eligible for services in a
program carried out under this title.
(25) State.--The term ``State'' means--
(A) a State, as defined in section 637 of the Head
Start Act; and
(B) the Republic of Palau--
(i) for each of fiscal years 2026 through
2030; and
(ii) (if legislation approving a new
agreement regarding United States assistance
for the Republic of Palau has not been enacted
by September 30, 2028), for each subsequent
fiscal year for which such legislation has not
been enacted.
(26) Tribal land.--The term ``Tribal land'' means a
reservation, the land of an Indian Tribe, or land designated by
Hawaii as under the control of Native Hawaiians for purposes of
this title.
(27) Tribal organization.--The term ``Tribal organization''
means--
(A) the recognized governing body of any Indian
Tribe, and any legally established organization of
Indians which is controlled, sanctioned, or chartered
by such governing body or which is democratically
elected by the adult members of the Indian community to
be served by such organization and which includes the
maximum participation of Indians in all phases of its
activities, except that in any case where a contract is
let or grant made to an organization to perform
services benefitting more than one Indian Tribe, the
approval of each such Indian Tribe shall be a
prerequisite to the letting or making of such contract
or grant; and
(B) includes a Native Hawaiian organization, as
defined in section 6207 of the Elementary and Secondary
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7517) and a private
nonprofit organization established for the purpose of
serving youth who are Indians or Native Hawaiians.
SEC. 103. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS; APPROPRIATIONS.
(a) Appropriations.--There are authorized to be appropriated and
there are appropriated to carry out this title (other than the
activities described in subsection (b)), including meeting the
entitlement requirements of section 111(b), such sums as may be
necessary.
(b) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out activities under sections 135, 136, 137, 138,
151, 152, and such administrative activities as the Secretary
determines to be necessary and appropriate to carry out this title,
$500,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2036.
Subtitle A--Prime Sponsors and Providers
SEC. 111. FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR CHILD CARE AND EARLY LEARNING
PROGRAMS.
(a) In General.--The Secretary shall provide financial assistance
for carrying out child care and early learning programs under this
title to prime sponsors, to provide family-centered services to
children to promote their development and learning, pursuant to plans
and applications approved in accordance with the provisions of this
title.
(b) Entitlement.--Each covered child shall be entitled to
participate in a child care and early learning program that meets the
requirements of this title. The entitlement shall not be a capped
entitlement.
SEC. 112. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS; PAYMENTS.
(a) Allocation to Activities.--The Secretary shall allocate the
amounts appropriated for carrying out this title for any fiscal year
after fiscal year 2025, in the following manner:
(1) Child care and early learning programs.--The amount
made available under section 103(a) shall be used for the
purpose of providing financial assistance to carry out child
care and early learning programs under this title for covered
children, other than activities described in paragraph (2).
(2) Administrative and enhancement activities.--Of the
amounts appropriated under section 103(b)--
(A) such portion, but not less than 50 percent,
shall be used for the purpose of carrying out
activities under sections 135 and 136 and such
administrative activities as the Secretary determines
to be necessary and appropriate to carry out this
title;
(B) such portion, but not less than 20 percent,
shall be used for the purpose of carrying out
activities under section 151; and
(C) the remainder of such amounts shall be used for
the purpose of carrying out activities under sections
137, 138, and 152.
(3) Flexibility for emergency supplemental funding.--
Notwithstanding paragraph (2), the Secretary may, after
providing appropriate notice and written justification to
Congress, redirect any amounts appropriated under section
103(b) as the Secretary determines to be necessary and
appropriate to carry out section 151 for the purpose of
carrying out activities under section 151.
(b) Publication.--As soon as practicable after funds are
appropriated under section 103(b) for any fiscal year, the Secretary
shall publish in the Federal Register the amounts made available for
that fiscal year to carry out each of the activities described in
subsection (a)(2).
(c) Payments.--
(1) In general.--
(A) Authority for payments.--In accordance with
this subsection, the Secretary shall pay, from the
allocation under subsection (a)(1), the Federal share
of the costs of providing child care and early learning
programs, in accordance with plans under sections 113
and 114 that have been approved as provided in this
title.
(B) Manner and timing for payments.--The Secretary
may make such financial assistance as may be necessary
to carry out this title. The Secretary may also
withhold funds otherwise payable under this title in
order to recover any amounts expended in the current or
immediately prior fiscal year in violation of any