Scott, Sanders, Bonamici, 71 Lawmakers Slam Trump Administration for Making Child Care More Expensive

Scott, Sanders, Bonamici, 71 Lawmakers Slam Trump Administration for Making Child Care More Expensive

WASHINGTON - House Committee on Education and Workforce Ranking Member Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (D-VA-03), Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education Subcommittee Ranking Member Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01) led 71 of their House and Senate Democratic colleagues in a letter slamming Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.'s new rule that would make child care more expensive and less accessible for working families.

Specifically, the proposed rule would repeal Biden-era regulations that place a seven percent cap on child care co-payments for families and require child care providers to be paid based on enrollment rather than attendance. By removing these guardrails, child care will be more expensive for working families who receive subsidies and destabilize funding for child care providers.

"Across the country, working families are demanding high-quality, affordable child care. However, child care has been hard to find and expensive for families for years, while many child care providers struggle to stay afloat," wrote the lawmakers. "An estimated 4.2 million children lack access to a formal care slot in their local community. In many states, depending on the age of the child and child care setting, the cost of child care exceeds annual, average in-state cost of college tuition, rent payments, or even mortgage payments."

"The proposed rule pushes the child care sector in exactly the wrong direction," continued the lawmakers. "At a time when our child care system is struggling to stay afloat, this proposal could bring many working families and providers to the brink. We urge you to withdraw the proposed rule and retain policies to actually help children, families, and child care providers."

Prior to the 2024 Biden Administration rule, families who were already living paycheck to paycheck faced co-payments as high as 27 percent of their family income. By repealing the Biden-era rule, the Trump Administration threatens to further exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis by forcing families to grapple with increased child care costs.

In the House, the letter was signed by: Representatives Robert C. "Bobby" Scott (VA-03), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Wesley Bell (MO-01), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Judy Chu (CA-28), Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Frederica S. Wilson (FL-24), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-AL), Mark Takano (CA-39), Daniel S. Goldman (NY-10), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Christopher Deluzio (PA-17), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Adam Smith (WA-09), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Seth Moulton (MA-06), April McClain Delaney (MD-06), and Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Summer L. Lee (PA-12), Katherine M. Clark (MA-05), Adelita S. Grijalva (AZ-07), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Haley M. Stevens (MI-11), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Maxwell Alejandro Frost (FL-10), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Emily Randall (WA-06), Yvette D. Clarke (NY-09), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Lucy McBath (GA-06), Timothy M. Kennedy (NY-26), Scott H. Peters (CA-50), Kristen McDonald Rivet (MI-08), William R. Keating (MA-09), Gabe Amo (RI-01), and Donald S. Beyer (VA-08).

In the Senate, the letter was signed by: Senators Bernard Sanders (D-VT), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Charles E. Schumer (D-NY), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Angela D. Alsobrooks (D-MD), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), Andy Kim (D-NJ), Raphael G. Warnock (D-GA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), and Cory A. Booker (D-NJ).

To read the full letter, click here.

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