Child Care Is Essential Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3874 Making additional supplemental appropriations for disaster relief requirements for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 3, 2020 Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. SMITH, Ms. WARREN, Mr. CASEY, Mrs. GILLI- BRAND, Ms. HASSAN, Mr. KAINE, Ms. ROSEN, Mr. SANDERS, Ms. BALD- WIN, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. REED, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. BOOK- ER, Mr. WYDEN, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. MERKLEY, and Mr. JONES) intro- duced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Com- mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions A BILL Making additional supplemental appropriations for disaster relief requirements for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, 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. The following sums are appropriated, out 3 of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, 4 for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2020, and for 5 other purposes, namely: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3874 IS DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN 1 SERVICES 2 ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES 3 PAYMENTS TO STATES FOR THE CHILD CARE AND 4 DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT 5 For an additional amount for ‘‘Payments to States 6 for the Child Care and Development Block Grant’’, 7 $50,000,000,000, to remain available until September 30, 8 2021, for necessary expenses to carry out the Child Care 9 Stabilization Fund grants program, as authorized by sec- 10 tion 2 of this Act: Provided, That such funds shall be 11 available without regard to the requirements in subpara- 12 graphs (C) through (E) of section 658E(c)(3) or section 13 658G of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 14 of 1990: Provided further, That funds appropriated under 15 this heading in this Act may be made available to restore 16 amounts, either directly or through reimbursement, for ob- 17 ligations incurred prior to the date of enactment of this 18 Act for the purposes provided in this Act: Provided further, 19 That such amount is designated by Congress as being for 20 an emergency requirement pursuant to section 21 251(b)(2)(A)(i) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency 22 Deficit Control Act of 1985 and shall be available only 23 if the President subsequently so designates such amount 24 and transmits such designation to Congress. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3874 IS SEC. 2. (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 1 (1) CCDBG TERMS.—The terms ‘‘eligible child 2 care provider’’, ‘‘Indian tribe’’, ‘‘lead agency’’, ‘‘trib- 3 al organization’’, ‘‘Secretary’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the 4 meanings given the terms in section 658P of the 5 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 6 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n) except as otherwise pro- 7 vided in this section. 8 (2) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 9 The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emergency’’ 10 means the public health emergency declared by the 11 Secretary of Health and Human Services under sec- 12 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 13 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect to 14 COVID–19, including any renewal of the declara- 15 tion. 16 (b) GRANTS.—From funds appropriated to carry out 17 this section and under the authority of section 658O of 18 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 19 (42 U.S.C. 9858m) and this section, the Secretary shall 20 establish a Child Care Stabilization Fund grants program, 21 through which the Secretary shall award child care sta- 22 bilization grants to the lead agency of each State (as de- 23 fined in that section 658O), territory described in sub- 24 section (a)(1) of such section, Indian tribe, and tribal or- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3874 IS ganization from allotments and payments made under 1 subsection (c)(2), not later than 30 days after the date 2 of enactment of this Act. 3 (c) SECRETARIAL RESERVATION AND ALLOT- 4 MENTS.— 5 (1) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall reserve 6 not more than 1 percent of the funds appropriated 7 to carry out this section for the Federal administra- 8 tion of grants described in subsection (b). 9 (2) ALLOTMENTS.—The Secretary shall use the 10 remainder of the funds appropriated to carry out 11 this section to award allotments to States, as defined 12 in section 658O of the Child Care Development 13 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858m), and 14 payments to territories, Indian tribes, and tribal or- 15 ganizations in accordance with paragraphs (1) and 16 (2) of subsection (a), and subsection (b), of section 17 658O of the Child Care and Development Block 18 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858m). 19 (d) STATE RESERVATIONS AND SUBGRANTS.— 20 (1) RESERVATION.—A lead agency for a State 21 that receives a child care stabilization grant pursu- 22 ant to subsection (b) shall reserve not more than 10 23 percent of such grant funds— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3874 IS (A) to administer subgrants made to quali- 1 fied child care providers under paragraph (2), 2 including to carry out data systems building 3 and other activities that enable the disburse- 4 ment of payments of such subgrants; 5 (B) to provide technical assistance and 6 support in applying for and accessing the 7 subgrant opportunity under paragraph (2), to 8 eligible child care providers (including to family 9 child care providers, group home child care pro- 10 viders, and other non-center-based child care 11 providers and providers with limited administra- 12 tive capacity), either directly or through re- 13 source and referral agencies or staffed family 14 child care networks; 15 (C) to publicize the availability of sub- 16 grants under this section and conduct wide- 17 spread outreach to eligible child care providers, 18 including family child care providers, group 19 home child care providers, and other non-cen- 20 ter-based child care providers and providers 21 with limited administrative capacity, either di- 22 rectly or through resource and referral agencies 23 or staffed family child care networks, to ensure 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3874 IS eligible child care providers are aware of the 1 subgrants available under this section; 2 (D) to carry out the reporting require- 3 ments described in subsection (f); and 4 (E) to carry out activities to improve the 5 supply and quality of child care during and 6 after the COVID–19 public health emergency, 7 such as conducting community needs assess- 8 ments, carrying out child care cost modeling, 9 making improvements to child care facilities, in- 10 creasing access to licensure or participation in 11 the State’s tiered quality rating system, and 12 carrying out other activities described in section 13 658G(b) of the Child Care and Development 14 Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e(b)), 15 to the extent that the lead agency can carry out 16 activities described in this subparagraph with- 17 out preventing the lead agency from fully con- 18 ducting the activities described in subpara- 19 graphs (A) through (D). 20 (2) SUBGRANTS TO QUALIFIED CHILD CARE 21 PROVIDERS.— 22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The lead agency shall 23 use the remainder of the grant funds awarded 24 pursuant to subsection (b) to make subgrants 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 3874 IS to qualified child care providers described in 1 subparagraph (B), to support the stability of 2 the child care sector during and after the 3 COVID–19 public health emergency. The lead 4 agency shall provide the subgrant funds in ad- 5 vance of provider expenditures for costs de- 6 scribed in subsection (e), except as provided in 7 subsection (e)(2). 8 (B) QUALIFIED CHILD CARE PROVIDER.— 9 To be qualified to receive a subgrant under this 10 paragraph, a provider shall be an eligible child 11 care provider that— 12 (i) was providing child care services 13 on or before March 1, 2020; and 14 (ii) on the date of submission of an 15 application for the subgrant, was either— 16 (I) open and available to provide 17 child care services; or 18 (II) closed due to the COVID–19 19 public health emergency. 20 (C) SUBGRANT AMOUNT.—The lead agency 21 shall make subgrants, from amounts awarded 22 pursuant to subsection (b), to qualified child 23 care providers, and the amount of such a 24 subgrant to such a provider shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 3874 IS (i) be based on the provider’s stated 1 average operating expenses during the pe- 2 riod (of not longer than 6 months) before 3 March 1, 2020, and at minimum cover 4 such operating expenses for the intended 5 length of the subgrant; 6 (ii) account for increased costs of pro- 7 viding or preparing to provide child care as 8 a result of the COVID–19 public health 9 emergency, such as provider and employee 10 compensation and existing benefits (exist- 11 ing as of March 1, 2020) and the imple- 12 mentation of new practices related to sani- 13 tization, group size limits, and social 14 distancing; 15 (iii) be adjusted for payments or reim- 16 bursements made to an eligible child care 17 provider to carry out the Child Care and 18 Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 19 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) or the Head Start 20 Act (42 U.S.C. 9831 et seq.); and 21 (iv) be adjusted for payments or reim- 22 bursements made to an eligible child care 23 provider through the Paycheck Protection 24 Program set forth in section 7(a)(36) of 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 3874 IS the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 1 636(a)(36)), as added by section 1102 of 2 the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic 3 Security Act (Public Law 116–136). 4 (D) APPLICATION.— 5 (i) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to re- 6 ceive a subgrant under this paragraph, a 7 child care provider shall submit an applica- 8 tion to a lead agency at such time and in 9 such manner as the lead agency may re- 10 quire. Such application shall include— 11 (I) a good-faith certification that 12 the ongoing operations of the child 13 care provider have been impacted as a 14 result of the COVID–19 public health 15 emergency; 16 (II) for a provider described in 17 subparagraph (B)(ii)(I), an assurance 18 that, for the duration of the COVID– 19 19 public health emergency— 20 (aa) the provider will give 21 priority for available slots (in- 22 cluding slots that are only tempo- 23 rarily available) to— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 3874 IS (AA) children of essen- 1 tial workers (such as health 2 care sector employees, emer- 3 gency responders, sanitation 4 workers, farmworkers, child 5 care employees, and other 6 workers determined to be es- 7 sential during the response 8 to coronavirus by public offi- 9 cials), children of workers 10 whose places of employment 11 require their attendance, 12 children experiencing home- 13 lessness, children with dis- 14 abilities, children at risk of 15 child abuse or neglect, and 16 children in foster care, in 17 States where stay-at-home 18 or related orders are in ef- 19 fect; or 20 (BB) children of work- 21 ers whose places of employ- 22 ment require their attend- 23 ance, children experiencing 24 homelessness, children with 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 3874 IS disabilities, children at risk 1 of child abuse or neglect, 2 children in foster care, and 3 children whose parents are 4 in school or a training pro- 5 gram, in States where stay- 6 at-home or related orders 7 are not in effect; 8 (bb) the provider will imple- 9 ment policies in line with guid- 10 ance from the Centers for Dis- 11 ease Control and Prevention and 12 the corresponding State and local 13 authorities, and in accordance 14 with State and local orders, for 15 child care providers that remain 16 open, including guidance on sani- 17 tization practices, group size lim- 18 its, and social distancing; 19 (cc) for each employee, the 20 provider will pay the full com- 21 pensation described in subsection 22 (e)(1)(C), including any benefits, 23 that was provided to the em- 24 ployee as of March 1, 2020 (re- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 3874 IS ferred to in this clause as ‘‘full 1 compensation’’), and will not take 2 any action that reduces the week- 3 ly amount of the employee’s com- 4 pensation below the weekly 5 amount of full compensation, or 6 that reduces the employee’s rate 7 of compensation below the rate of 8 full compensation; and 9 (dd) the provider will pro- 10 vide relief from copayments and 11 tuition payments for the families 12 enrolled in the provider’s pro- 13 gram and prioritize such relief 14 for families struggling to make 15 either type of payment; 16 (III) for a provider described in 17 subparagraph (B)(ii)(II), an assur- 18 ance that— 19 (aa) for the duration of the 20 provider’s closure due to the 21 COVID–19 public health emer- 22 gency, for each employee, the 23 provider will pay full compensa- 24 tion, and will not take any action 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:11 Jun 04, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3874.IS S3874 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 3874 IS that reduces the weekly amount 1 of the employee’s compensation 2 below the weekly amount of full 3 compensation, or that reduces 4 the employee’s rate of compensa- 5 tion below the rate of full com- 6 pensation; 7 (bb) children enrolled as of 8 March 1, 2020, will maintain 9 their slots, unless their families 10 choose to disenroll the children; [Text truncated for display. Full text available on Congress.gov.]