November 8, 2023 - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) joined Senators Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), along with U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (OR-1), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11), and Joaquin Castro (TX-20), who led a bicameral group of their colleagues, in urging congressional leadership to renew expired funding for child care in any supplemental funding package. Funding the lawmakers passed in the American Rescue Plan Act to allow parents to afford child care and keep their jobs during COVID expired in September, but the child care crisis continues. Without this funding, many child care providers are struggling with how they’re going to continue to operate and serve families. The lawmakers’ letter comes after President Biden’s supplemental funding request to Congress included $16 billion to address the child care crisis, which the members called for in August.

“We write today to urge you to include robust funding for child care in any supplemental funding package considered by the Appropriations Committee. Child care is unaffordable and hard to find for working families, and child care providers across the country are struggling to stay afloat,” wrote the lawmakers.

“The child care workforce has been one of the slowest sectors to recover from the pandemic, and wages for this critical workforce remain unacceptably low, further fueling the shortage of available child care options for families,” the members continued. “Families and child care providers are feeling increasingly squeezed following the expiration of COVID-19 relief funding for child care, as child care providers scramble to fill the gap in resources previously filled by federal funds.”

The lawmakers wrote, “It is essential that as supplemental funding to meet emergency needs is considered, Congress take action to address the child care crisis. We have an urgent need to further stabilize an industry that has been long underfunded, and Congress must provide robust funding for this sector through a supplemental package.”

In addition to Senators Markey, Kaine, Smith, Warren, Sanders, and Casey, the Senate letter is signed by Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawai'i), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Angus King (I-Maine), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawai'i), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), Reverend Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).

In addition to Representatives Bonamici (OR-1), Jacobs (CA-51), Sherill (NJ-11), and Castro (TX-20) the House letter was signed by Alma Adams (NC-12), Colin Allred (TX-32), Becca Balint (VT-AL), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Joyce Beatty (OH-3), Donald Beyer (VA-8), Earl Blumenauer (OR-3), Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL), Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Brendan Boyle (PA-2), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Shontel Brown (OH-11), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Cori Bush (MO-1), Yadira Caraveo (CO-8), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Tony Cárdenas (CA-29), André Carson (IN-7), Troy Carter (LA-2), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sean Casten (IL-6), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20), Judy Chu (CA-32), Yvette Clarke (NY-9), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-5), Steve Cohen (TN-9), Gerald Connolly (VA-11), Jose Luis Correa (CA-46), Angie Craig (MN-2), Jasmine Crockett (TX-30), Danny Davis (IL-7), Donald Davis (NC-1), Madeleine Dean (PA-4), Suzan DelBene (WA-1), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Debbie Dingell (MI-6), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-3), Bill Foster (IL-11), Valerie Foushee (NC-4), Lois Frankel (FL-22), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), Ruben Gallego (AZ-3), John Garamendi (CA-8), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-4), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Daniel Goldman (NY-10), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5), Raúl Grijalva (AZ-7), Jahana Hayes (CT-5), James Himes (CT-4), Chrissy Houlahan (PA-6), Val Hoyle (OR-4), Jonathan Jackson (IL-1), Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Pramila Jayapal (WA-7), Henry “Hank” Johnson (GA-4) Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), William Keating (MA-9), Robin Kelly (Il-2), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Daniel Kildee (MI-8), Andy Kim (NJ-3), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-8), Ann Kuster (NH-2), Greg Landsman (OH-1), Rick Larsen (WA-2), Barbara Lee (CA-12), Summer Lee (PA-12), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-3), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Stephen Lynch (MA-8), Seth Magaziner (RI-2), Kathy Manning (NC-6), Matsui, Doris (CA-07); McBath, Lucy (GA-7); McClellan, Jennifer (VA-4); McCollum, Betty (MN-4); McGarvey, Morgan (KY-3); McGovern, James (MA-2); Gregory Meeks (NY-5), Grace Meng (NY-6), Robert Menendez (NJ-8), Gwen Moore (WI-4), Seth Moulton (MA-6), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Grace Napolitano (CA-31), Joe Neguse (CO-2), Donald Norcross (NJ-1), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-5), Frank Pallone (NJ-6), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Chris Pappas (NH-1), Donald Payne Jr. (NJ-10), Scott Peters (CA-50), Brittany Pettersen (CO-7), Chellie Pingree (ME-1), Stacey Plaskett (VI-AL), Mark Pocan (WI-2), Katie Porter (CA-47), Ayanna Pressley (MA-7), Delia Ramirez (IL-3), Deborah Ross (NC-2), Patrick Ryan (NY-18), Gregoria Kilili Camacho Sablan (MP-AL), Andrea Salinas (OR-6), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), John Sarbanes (MD-3), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-5), Janice Schakowsky (IL-9), Adam Schiff (CA-30), Hillary Scholten (MI-3), Terri Sewell (AL-7), Elissa Slotkin (MI-7), Eric Sorensen (IL-17), Abigail Spanberger (VA-7), Melanie Stansbury (NM-1), Haley Stevens (MI-11), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Emilia Sykes (OH-13), Mark Takano (CA-39), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Dina Titus (NV-1), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-2), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Norma Torres (CA-35), Ritchie Torres (NY-15), Lori Trahan (MA-3), David Trone (MD-6), Juan Vargas (CA-52),  Gabe Vasquez (NM-2), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia Velázquez (NY-7), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Jennifer Wexton (VA-10), Susan Wild (PA-7), Nikema Williams (GA-5), and Frederica Wilson (FL-24).

The letter is endorsed by All Our Kin; American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); American Federation of Teachers (AFT); Campaign for a Family Friendly Economy; Caring Across Generations; Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP); Child Care for Every Family Network; Children’s Institute; Community Change Action; Early Care & Education Consortium (ECEC); Family Values @ Work; First Focus Campaign for Children; House Democratic Women’s Caucus; Mom Congress; Moms First; MomsRising; National Association for Family Child Care (NAFCC); National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC); National Education Association (NEA); National Women’s Law Center (NWLC); Oxfam America; Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Small Business Majority; YMCA USA; and ZERO TO THREE.

A copy of the Senate letter is available here. A copy of the House letter is available here.

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