Press Releases
Kuster Joins Colleagues In Pushing To Renew Expired Funding For Child Care
Washington,
November 9, 2023
**The full letter can be found here** Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Annie Kuster (NH-02) joined 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.” ### |