Child Care Affordability and Accessibility for Military Families Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3808 To improve the affordability and accessibility of child care for military families, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 21, 2020 Mr. BLUMENTHAL (for himself and Mr. KAINE) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Armed Services A BILL To improve the affordability and accessibility of child care for military families, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Child Care Afford- 4 ability and Accessibility for Military Families Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. MILITARY CHILD CARE AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT 6 CENTER MATTERS. 7 (a) CENTER FEES MATTERS.—Section 1793 of title 8 10, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end 9 the following new subsections: 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:59 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3808.IS S3808 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3808 IS ‘‘(c) EXCLUSION OF BAH FROM FAMILY INCOME IN 1 CALCULATION OF FEES FOR CERTAIN MEMBERS.— 2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—In providing for the cal- 3 culation of fees charged under this section for a par- 4 ent who is member of the armed forces on active 5 duty in a grade specified in paragraph (2), the regu- 6 lations prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) shall 7 exclude from the family income of the family con- 8 cerned any basic allowance for housing (BAH) paid 9 to such parent under section 403 of title 37. 10 ‘‘(2) GRADES.—The grades specified in this 11 paragraph are as follows: 12 ‘‘(A) Officer grades O–1 and O–2. 13 ‘‘(B) Warrant officer grades W–1 and W– 14 2. 15 ‘‘(C) Enlisted grades E–1 through E–5. 16 ‘‘(d) LIBERAL ISSUANCE OF HARDSHIP WAIVERS.— 17 The regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection (a) 18 shall require that installation commanders issue waivers 19 of fees otherwise established under the regulations for in- 20 ability to pay (commonly referred to as ‘hardship waivers’) 21 on a liberal basis in a manner consistent (as specified by 22 the Secretary in such regulations) with ensuring that fees 23 collected pursuant to subsection (a) meet the operating ex- 24 penses of the child development centers concerned. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:59 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3808.IS S3808 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3808 IS ‘‘(e) FAMILY DISCOUNT.—In the case of a family 1 with two or more children attending a child development 2 center, the regulations prescribed pursuant to subsection 3 (a) shall require that installations commanders charge a 4 fee for attendance at the center of any child of the family 5 after the first child of the family in amount equal to 85 6 percent of the amount of the fee otherwise chargeable for 7 the attendance of such child at the center.’’. 8 (b) CHILD CARE FEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS 9 THROUGHOUT THE ARMED FORCES.— 10 (1) PROGRAMS REQUIRED.—Each Secretary of 11 a military department shall carry out a program for 12 each Armed Force under the jurisdiction of such 13 Secretary under which a member of the Armed 14 Forces who is obtaining child care services from a 15 civilian child care services provider located off a mili- 16 tary installation is paid (subject to any limitation es- 17 tablished by such Secretary) a monthly amount 18 equal to the amount, if any, by which— 19 (A) the monthly amount charged by such 20 provider for such services; exceeds 21 (B) the monthly amount the military de- 22 partment concerned pays or otherwise provides 23 members at such installation for child care serv- 24 ices on such installation. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:59 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3808.IS S3808 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3808 IS (2) MODEL.—The programs carried out pursu- 1 ant to paragraph (1) shall be modeled after the 2 Army Fee Assistance Program, and incorporate such 3 modifications to that Program as the Secretary of 4 the military department concerned considers appro- 5 priate. 6 (3) SECRETARY OF DEFENSE APPROVAL.—Any 7 program of an Armed Force under paragraph (1) 8 shall be subject to the approval of the Secretary of 9 Defense. 10 (c) ADDITIONAL ACTIONS TO OBTAIN QUALIFIED 11 CHILD CARE EMPLOYEES.— 12 (1) IN GENERAL.—Section 1792 of title 10, 13 United States Code, is amended— 14 (A) by redesignating subsection (d) as sub- 15 section (e); and 16 (B) by inserting after subsection (c) the 17 following new subsection (d): 18 ‘‘(d) ADDITIONAL ACTIONS TO OBTAIN QUALIFIED 19 EMPLOYEES.—Each Secretary of a military department 20 may, with the approval of the Secretary of Defense, take 21 actions in addition to actions authorized by subsection (c) 22 to provide military child development centers under the 23 jurisdiction of such Secretary with a qualified and stable 24 civilian workforce, including actions as follows: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:59 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3808.IS S3808 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3808 IS ‘‘(1) Enhanced marketing and recruitment for 1 employment. 2 ‘‘(2) Provision to employees of education-related 3 benefits, including tuition assistance and student 4 loan repayment programs. 5 ‘‘(3) Availability and enhancement of wellness 6 and physical fitness programs for employees. 7 ‘‘(4) Provision of such other competitive bene- 8 fits as the Secretary of the military department and 9 the Secretary of Defense jointly consider appro- 10 priate.’’. 11 (2) REPORTS ON INSTALLATIONS WITH EX- 12 TREME IMBALANCE BETWEEN DEMAND FOR AND 13 AVAILABILITY OF CHILD CARE.—Not later than one 14 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, 15 each Secretary of a military department shall submit 16 to Congress a report on the military installations 17 under the jurisdiction of such Secretary with an ex- 18 treme imbalance between demand for child care and 19 availability of child care. Each report shall include, 20 for the military department covered by such report, 21 the following: 22 (A) The name of the five installations of 23 the military department experiencing the most 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:59 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3808.IS S3808 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3808 IS extreme imbalance between demand for child 1 care and availability of child care. 2 (B) For each installation named pursuant 3 to subparagraph (A), the following: 4 (i) An assessment whether civilian em- 5 ployees at child development centers at 6 such installation have rates of pay and 7 benefits that are competitive with other ci- 8 vilian employees on such installation and 9 with the civilian labor pool in the vicinity 10 of such installation. 11 (ii) A description and assessment of 12 various incentives to encourage military 13 spouses to become providers under the 14 Family Child Care program at such instal- 15 lation. 16 (iii) Such recommendations at the 17 Secretary of the military department con- 18 cerned considers appropriate to address 19 the imbalance between demand for child 20 care and availability of child care at such 21 installation, including recommendations to 22 enhance the competitiveness of civilian 23 child care positions at such installation 24 with other civilian positions at such instal- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:59 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3808.IS S3808 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3808 IS lation and the civilian labor pool in the vi- 1 cinity of such installation. 2 (d) MILITARY MEDICAL TREATMENT FACILITY 3 AGREEMENTS FOR HOURLY CHILD CARE FOR MEMBERS 4 AND SPOUSES DURING MEDICAL APPOINTMENTS.— 5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The commander or head of 6 each military medical treatment facility shall seek to 7 enter into an agreement with one or more entities 8 described in paragraph (2) in the vicinity of such fa- 9 cility that provide child care services under which 10 agreement members of the Armed Forces and their 11 spouses who are attending an appointment at such 12 facility for medical or mental health care services 13 may obtain child care services for their children on 14 a hourly basis while attending such appointments. 15 (2) ENTITIES.—The entities described in this 16 paragraph are the following: 17 (A) Appropriate non-profit organizations 18 (such as the Armed Services YMCA). 19 (B) Private sector child development cen- 20 ters. 21 (C) Such other entities as the Secretary of 22 Defense considers appropriate for purposes of 23 this subsection. 24 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 10:59 Jun 14, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3808.IS S3808 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS