Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act of 2023

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 3922 To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out an initiative to develop, expand, and improve rural childcare, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 7, 2023 Ms. PEREZ (for herself, Mr. MANN, Ms. CARAVEO, and Mrs. CHAVEZ- DEREMER) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Agriculture A BILL To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out an initiative to develop, expand, and improve rural childcare, 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 ‘‘Expanding Childcare 4 in Rural America Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. EXPANDING CHILDCARE IN RURAL AMERICA INI- 6 TIATIVE. 7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 8 (1) CHILDCARE.— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3922.IH H3922 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 3922 IH (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘childcare’’ 1 means any program that— 2 (i) provides quality care and early 3 education for young children who— 4 (I) are in kindergarten; or 5 (II) have not yet entered kinder- 6 garten; and 7 (ii) is operated by— 8 (I) an eligible childcare provider 9 described in section 658P(6)(A) of the 10 Child Care and Development Block 11 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12 9858n(6)(A)); or 13 (II) a childcare provider that, on 14 the date of enactment of this Act— 15 (aa) is licensed, regulated, 16 or registered in the State, terri- 17 tory, or Indian Tribe in which 18 the provider is located; and 19 (bb) meets applicable State, 20 Tribal, territorial, and local 21 health and safety requirements. 22 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘childcare’’ 23 includes— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3922.IH H3922 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 3922 IH (i) a school-based program described 1 in subparagraph (A); 2 (ii) a facility used for a program de- 3 scribed in subparagraph (A); and 4 (iii) a service provided under a pro- 5 gram described in subparagraph (A). 6 (2) INITIATIVE.—The term ‘‘Initiative’’ means 7 the Expanding Childcare in Rural America Initiative 8 established under subsection (b). 9 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 10 the Secretary of Agriculture. 11 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 12 an initiative, to be known as the ‘‘Expanding Childcare 13 in Rural America Initiative’’, under which the Secretary 14 shall provide, for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028, 15 priority in accordance with subsection (c) to address the 16 availability, quality, and cost of childcare in agricultural 17 and rural communities. 18 (c) CHILDCARE PRIORITIES.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other 20 provision of law, in selecting recipients of loans and 21 grants under a program described in paragraph (2), 22 the Secretary shall give priority to any qualified ap- 23 plicant that proposes to use the loan or grant to ad- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3922.IH H3922 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 3922 IH dress the availability, quality, or cost of childcare in 1 an agricultural or rural community. 2 (2) DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAMS.—The pro- 3 grams referred to in paragraph (1) are the following: 4 (A) The essential community facilities loan 5 and grant programs authorized under section 6 306(a) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural 7 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)). 8 (B) The technical assistance and training 9 grant program authorized under section 306(a) 10 of that Act (7 U.S.C. 1926(a)). 11 (C) The rural business development grant 12 program authorized under section 310B(c) of 13 that Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(c)). 14 (D) The business and industry direct and 15 guaranteed loan program authorized under sec- 16 tion 310B(g) of that Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(g)). 17 (E) The rural microentrepreneur assist- 18 ance program authorized under section 379E of 19 that Act (7 U.S.C. 2008s). 20 (F) The rural innovation stronger economy 21 (RISE) grant program authorized under section 22 379I of that Act (7 U.S.C. 2008w). 23 (d) REQUIREMENTS.—In providing funding in ac- 24 cordance with the Initiative, the Secretary shall— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3922.IH H3922 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •HR 3922 IH (1) give priority to communities in farming-de- 1 pendent counties, as described in the 2015 county 2 typology codes published by the Economic Research 3 Service (as revised); and 4 (2) ensure a balanced geographical distribution 5 of the benefits under the Initiative. 6 (e) USE OF INTERMEDIARIES.—In providing funding 7 in accordance with the Initiative, the Secretary may make 8 awards through a childcare resource and referral organiza- 9 tion, a staffed family childcare network, a community de- 10 velopment financial institution, a nonprofit organization, 11 or a network of nonprofit organizations, with dem- 12 onstrated expertise in— 13 (1) providing technical or financial assistance 14 for the acquisition, construction, renovation, or im- 15 provement of childcare facilities; 16 (2) providing technical, financial, or managerial 17 assistance to childcare providers; or 18 (3) securing private sources of capital financing 19 for childcare or other low-income community devel- 20 opment. 21 (f) EVALUATION; REPORT.— 22 (1) EVALUATION.—Not later than 2 years after 23 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary 24 shall conduct a comprehensive quantitative and qual- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3922.IH H3922 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •HR 3922 IH itative evaluation of the projects carried out using 1 assistance provided under the Initiative, including— 2 (A) a description of— 3 (i) the types of projects carried out; 4 (ii) the communities in which the 5 projects are carried out; 6 (iii) the organizations and entities 7 participating in the projects; and 8 (iv) the types of partnerships devel- 9 oped to carry out the projects; and 10 (B) the economic and social impacts of the 11 investments in the projects. 12 (2) REPORT.—Not later than 3 years after the 13 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall 14 submit to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 15 and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on 16 Agriculture of the House of Representatives a report 17 describing the evaluation conducted under paragraph 18 (1), including a thorough analysis of the outcomes of 19 the evaluation. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:26 Jul 07, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H3922.IH H3922 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB