Kaine, Colleagues Reintroduce Bill to Improve Child Care Accessibility for Working Families

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA), a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Todd Young (R-IN), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) reintroduced legislation to improve access to affordable child care for families with parents working nontraditional hours. The After Hours Child Care Act would support expanding legitimate existing child care programs, or establishing new facilities in some cases, so parents can remain in the workforce and provide for their families while working outside of the hours of the traditional work hours of 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

"Everywhere I go in Virginia, I hear from families about how tough it is to find proper and affordable child care," said Kaine. "Sadly, I've heard stories of many hardworking parents who are unable to continue in the workforce because they can't find child care suited to their costs. That's why my colleagues and I have introduced this bipartisan bill that will help ease the worries of hardworking parents across Virginia and the country."

If enacted, the After Hours Child Care Act would:

• Expand capacity for an existing, legitimate child care program to serve families working nontraditional hours;
• Support efforts to establish an on-site child care program at a workplace;
• Ensure that federal funds supplement current efforts by requiring 25 percent match;
• And require a report every two years on the bill's effectiveness in improving child care availability.

Kaine has long pushed to expand access to child care. Last year, he introduced the bipartisan Child Care Availability and Affordability Act and the Child Care Workforce Act-bipartisan, bicameral legislation that form a bold proposal to make child care more affordable and accessible by strengthening existing tax credits to lower child care costs and increase the supply of child care providers. Provisions from the legislation were signed into law in July 2025. In July, he led the reintroduction of the Child Care for Working Families Act to expand access to child care, raise wages for providers, and lower costs for families by ensuring no family pays more than 7 percent of their income on child care. In 2023, Kaine introduced the Child Care Stabilization Act to expand vital child care funding to help providers keep their doors open. He has also introduced bipartisan legislation to develop, administer, and evaluate early childhood education apprenticeships.

In addition to Kaine, Young, and Hassan, this bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and John Hickenlooper (D-CO). U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01) and Ashley Hinson (R-IA-02) introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Full text of the legislation can be found here.

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