ACCESS Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7683 To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to make projects that directly or indirectly increase the accessibility of affordable, quality child care eligible for certain grants, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 20, 2020 Ms. FINKENAUER (for herself and Mr. HAGEDORN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infra- structure, and in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to make projects that directly or indirectly increase the accessibility of affordable, quality child care eligible for certain grants, 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 ‘‘Affordable Child Care 4 for Economic Strategies and Success Act’’ or the ‘‘AC- 5 CESS Act’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7683.IH H7683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7683 IH SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND ECONOMIC DE- 1 VELOPMENT. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the Public Works 3 and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141) 4 is amended— 5 (1) in subsection (a)— 6 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘; and’’ 7 and inserting a semicolon; 8 (B) in paragraph (2) by striking the period 9 and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 10 (C) by adding at the end the following: 11 ‘‘(3) planning, developing, or creating a project 12 or facility that will directly or indirectly increase the 13 accessibility of affordable, quality child care.’’; and 14 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 15 (A) in subparagraph (B) by striking ‘‘; or’’ 16 and inserting a semicolon; 17 (B) in subparagraph (C) by striking the 18 semicolon and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 19 (C) by adding at the end the following: 20 ‘‘(D) increase the accessibility of afford- 21 able, quality child care;’’. 22 (b) REGULATIONS.—Not later than 120 days after 23 the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 24 Commerce, in consultation with the Secretary of Health 25 and Human Services, shall issue such regulations as are 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7683.IH H7683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7683 IH necessary to establish criteria for whether a project di- 1 rectly or indirectly increases the accessibility of affordable, 2 quality child care. Such criteria shall consider: 3 (1) The availability, validity, and accessibility of 4 timely data. 5 (2) The extent to which a project contributes to 6 a family’s financial security. 7 (3) The extent to which a project address child 8 care needs in child care deserts or areas otherwise 9 recognized as being in shortage. 10 (c) CHILD CARE DESERT DEFINED.—In this section, 11 the term ‘‘child care desert’’ means— 12 (1) an area— 13 (A) within a census tract; and 14 (B) in which the number of children who 15 are under age 5 (as determined using the most 16 recent American Community Survey 1-year Es- 17 timates, as published by the Bureau of the Cen- 18 sus) is more than 3 times the number of slots 19 provided by child care providers who are li- 20 censed or registered by the State involved; or 21 (2) a community that the State or tribal entity 22 involved determines has a low supply of quality, af- 23 fordable child care. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7683.IH H7683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7683 IH SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PLANNING AND GRANTS FOR ADMIN- 1 ISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 2 Section 203(b)(4) of the Public Works and Economic 3 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3143(b)(4)) is 4 amended to read as follows: 5 ‘‘(4) formulating and implementing an economic 6 development program that includes systematic ef- 7 forts to— 8 ‘‘(A) reduce unemployment and increase 9 incomes; or 10 ‘‘(B) increase the accessibility of afford- 11 able, quality child care.’’. 12 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR TRAINING, RESEARCH, AND TECH- 13 NICAL ASSISTANCE. 14 Section 207(a)(2) of the Public Works and Economic 15 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3147(a)(2)) is 16 amended— 17 (1) in subparagraph (H) by striking ‘‘; and’’; 18 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as sub- 19 paragraph (J); and 20 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol- 21 lowing: 22 ‘‘(I) the planning, development, or creation 23 of a project or facility that will directly or indi- 24 rectly increase the accessibility of affordable, 25 quality child care; and’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7683.IH H7683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 7683 IH SEC. 5. COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 1 STRATEGIES. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(a)(3)(A) of the Pub- 3 lic Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 4 U.S.C. 3162(a)(3)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(includ- 5 ing by directly or indirectly increasing the accessibility of 6 affordable, quality child care)’’ after ‘‘promotes economic 7 development and opportunity’’. 8 (b) GUIDANCE.—In carrying out the amendment 9 made under subsection (a), the Secretary of Commerce, 10 in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 11 Services, shall issue guidance on how to include the acces- 12 sibility of affordable, quality child care in a comprehensive 13 economic development strategy developed under section 14 302 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act 15 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3162). 16 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 21:03 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7683.IH H7683 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS