[Congressional Bills 117th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3943 Introduced in House (IH)]
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117th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 3943
To establish a commission to make recommendations for modernizing
Federal financing of early care and education programs.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 16, 2021
Mr. Owens (for himself and Mr. Estes) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in
addition to the Committee on Ways and Means, 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 committee
concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To establish a commission to make recommendations for modernizing
Federal financing of early care and education programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Modernizing Financing of Early Care
and Education in America Act of 2021''.
SEC. 2. MODERNIZING FINANCING OF EARLY CARE AND EDUCATION IN AMERICA.
(a) Purpose and Objectives.--The purpose of this section is to
establish a commission to make recommendations for modernizing Federal
financing of early care and education programs in order to promote--
(1) access to high quality child care and early education
settings that support healthy development and well-being of
young children;
(2) affordability of high quality early learning and
education opportunities for children living in poverty and in
disadvantaged communities;
(3) parent choice and flexibility that respects the role
parents play in choosing child care that is best suited to fit
their child's needs; and
(4) a more streamlined, equitable, and sustainable Federal
financing framework to support the success of future
generations.
(b) Bipartisan Commission on Early Childhood Education Financing.--
(1) Establishment.--There is established a commission to be
known as the Bipartisan Commission on Early Childhood Education
Financing (in this subsection referred to as the
``Commission'').
(2) Membership.--
(A) Qualifications.--The Commission members shall
be knowledgeable in federally and state-funded early
care and education programs, including individuals
representing State and local governments and
organizations knowledgeable in public regulatory and
funding mechanisms for early care and education
programs, and shall be balanced by area of expertise
and balanced geographically to the extent consistent
with maintaining the highest level of expertise on the
Commission.
(B) Number; appointment.--The Commission shall be
composed of 12 members appointed, within 90 days after
the effective date of this Act, from among individuals
who meet the requirements of subparagraph (A), as
follows:
(i) 1 member shall be appointed by the
Majority Leader of the Senate.
(ii) 1 member shall be appointed by the
Minority Leader of the Senate.
(iii) 1 member shall be appointed by the
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(iv) 1 member shall be appointed by the
Minority Leader of the House of
Representatives.
(v) 1 member shall be appointed by the
Chairman of the Committee on Finance of the
Senate.
(vi) 1 member shall be appointed by the
ranking minority member of the Committee on
Finance of the Senate.
(vii) 1 member shall be appointed by the
Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of
the House of Representatives.
(viii) 1 member shall be appointed by the
ranking minority member of the Committee on
Ways and Means of the House of Representatives.
(ix) 1 member shall be appointed by the
Chairman of the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
(x) 1 member shall be appointed by the
ranking minority member of the Committee on
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the
Senate.
(xi) 1 member shall be appointed by the
Chairman of the Committee on Education and
Labor of the House of Representatives.
(xii) 1 member shall be appointed by the
ranking minority member of the Committee on
Education and Labor of the House of
Representatives.
(C) Vacancies.--A vacancy on the Commission shall
be filled in the same manner in which the vacating
member was appointed.
(3) Powers.--In carrying out the functions of the
Commission under this subsection, the Commission--
(A) may secure directly from any Federal agency or
department any information the Commission deems
necessary to carry out the functions, and, on the
request of the Commission, each such agency or
department may cooperate with the Commission and, to
the extent permitted by law, furnish the information to
the Commission; and
(B) may enter into contracts, subject to the
availability of appropriations, and employ such staff
experts and consultants as may be necessary to carry
out the duties of the Commission, subject to section
3109 of title 5, United States Code.
(4) Staff.--The Commission may, without regard to the civil
service laws and regulations, appoint and terminate an
Executive Director and such other additional personnel as may
be necessary for the Commission to perform the duties of the
Commission. The Executive Director shall be compensated at a
rate not to exceed the rate payable for Level V of the
Executive Schedule under section 5136 of title 5, United States
Code. The employment and termination of an Executive Director
shall be subject to confirmation by a majority of the members
of the Commission.
(5) Meetings.--
(A) In general.--All meetings of the Commission
shall be open to the public. The Commission shall
permit interested persons to appear at Commission
meetings and present oral or written statements on the
subject matter of the meeting.
(B) Advance public notice.--The Commission shall
provide timely notice, in advance, in the Federal
Register, of the time, place, and subject of each
Commission meeting.
(C) Documentation.--The Commission shall keep
minutes of each Commission meeting, which shall contain
a record of the people present, a description of the
discussion that occurred, and copies of all statements
filed. Subject to section 552 of title 5, United States
Code, the minutes and records of all meetings and other
documents that were made available to, or prepared for,
the Commission shall be available for public inspection
and copying at a single location in the offices of the
Commission.
(D) Initial meeting.--The Commission shall hold its
first meeting within 30 days after all Commission
members are appointed.
(6) Report.--
(A) In general.--Within 18 months after the date of
the enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall
prepare a report of its findings and recommendations
regarding modernizing Federal financing of early care
and education programs to streamline and reduce
duplicate funding streams.
(B) Contents.--The report required by subparagraph
(A) shall include the following:
(i) An inventory and accounting of the
total amount of Federal funds available for
early care and education programs, including--
(I) programs under the Child Care
and Development Block Grant Act of 1990
(42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.);
(II) the child care stabilization
grant program under section 2202 of the
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (42
U.S.C. 9858 note);
(III) the child care entitlement
program under section 418 of the Social
Security Act (42 U.S.C. 618);
(IV) programs under the Head Start
Act (42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.);
(V) the program of block grants to
States for temporary assistance for
needy families under part A of title IV
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C.
601-619);
(VI) the Preschool Development
Grants program under section 9212 of
the Every Student Succeeds Act (42
U.S.C. 9831 note);
(VII) the Child Care Access Means
Parents in School program under section
419N of the Higher Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1070e); and
(VIII) and any other early care or
education program identified by the
Commission.
(ii) A comprehensive review and assessment
of the funding structure and allocation formula
used to finance each program referred to in
clause (i), including a bifurcation of programs
indicating whether Federal funds are provided
directly to States or to other grantees, and
how that affects the coordination of programs
at the State and local levels and the delivery
of services to families.
(iii) A description of congressional
jurisdiction over, and Federal agency
administration of, each such program.
(iv) An explanation of how each such
program interacts with State and local public
funding and financing for early care and
education, including publicly-funded pre-
kindergarten, which shall include an accounting
of the total amount of State and local funds
available for such purposes.
(v) An identification of barriers in the
governance and funding structures of programs
that limit the most efficient use of local,
State, and Federal resources.
(C) Matters required to be addressed in the report
to the congress.--In the report to the Congress, the
Commission shall make specific recommendations,
including delineation of specific statutory and
regulatory changes, to address each of the following:
(i) How to modernize and more effectively
use Federal funds to strengthen the delivery of
child care and early education, and improve the
financing framework and governance structure at
the Federal level to improve access for
families and accountability for taxpayer
dollars.
(ii) The pros and cons of streamlining or
combining Federal programs and funding streams
in order to improve the overall participation
of children in a mixed delivery system, while
maintaining availability of high quality
services, expanding parental choice, and
enhancing access for children from low-income
communities.
(iii) Options for Federal alternative
financing framework or governance models that
better leverage the Federal investment in child
care and early education funding, including
ideas that are outside the current framework or
that re-envision existing programs.
(iv) Options for expanding the use of
public and private partnerships to help
maximize the Federal investment in early care
and education.
(D) Distribution.--The Commission shall make the
report publicly available, and shall submit a copy of
the report to the Chairman and ranking minority member
of each of the Committees on Finance and on Health,
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, and the
Committees on Ways and Means and on Education and Labor
of the House of Representatives, and to the President.
(7) Termination.--The Commission shall terminate 60 days
after the Commission submits the report required by paragraph
(6).
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