Child Care for Economic Recovery Act
Latest action. Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on appropriationA law permitting federal agencies to spend money. The Constitution forbids any spending without one, Congress's 'power of the purse'.Read the full definition (opens a new tab).
Child Care for Economic Recovery Act
DIVISION A--EMERGENCY CHILD CARE SUPPORT APPROPRIATIONS
Emergency Child Care Support Appropriations Act, 2020
This division provides appropriations for emergency child care support for FY2020.
TITLE I--DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
This title provides additional appropriations for Internal Revenue Service taxpayer services.
TITLE II--DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
This title provides additional appropriations for the Social Services Block Grant program and the Child Care and Development Fund.
TITLE III--GENERAL PROVISIONS
(Sec. 301) This title sets forth provisions governing FY2020 appropriations made by this bill and amounts designated as emergency requirements.
DIVISION B--WORKER ACCESS TO CHILD AND FAMILY CARE
Worker Access to Child and Family Care Act
(Sec. 402) This section increases and makes refundable the child and dependent care tax credit. It adjusts for inflation the increased amounts of this credit for taxable years beginning after 2020.
(Sec. 403) This section increases the tax exclusion for employer-paid dependent care assistance and adjusts the increased amounts for inflation for taxable years beginning after 2020.
(Sec. 404) This section allows employers impacted by the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic a payroll tax credit for 50% of qualified fixed expenses of child care facilities for each calendar quarter. Qualified fixed expenses means mortgage and rent obligations and utility expenses.
(Sec. 405) This section allows employers a payroll tax credit for 30% of their qualified employee dependent care expenses in a calendar quarter. The amount of the credit for each employee may not exceed $2,500 for any calendar quarter.
(Sec. 406) This section allows a carryover of unused benefits in a dependent care flexible spending arrangements to the next plan year.
(Sec. 407) This section expands the employee retention tax credit to include the employment of domestic workers.
(Sec. 408) This section increases funding for child care stabilization funds for FY2020-FY2024.
(Sec. 409) This section increases funding for the family care expenses of essential workers (i.e., health sector employees, emergency response workers, child care workers, sanitation workers, and workers at a business serving the public during an emergency).
The summary continues for 3 more paragraphs. Read it in full on Congress.gov
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Passed House" stage on July 29, 2020. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 30, 2020: Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Appropriations.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 116th Congress (2019-20), 344 of the 14,345 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 2.4 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
NITA LOWEY (D-NY) introduced it on June 25, 2020, and 33 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 33 Democrats.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on June 25, 2020, 2268 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 2233 days ago, on July 30, 2020.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 116th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2021 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers