II 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 4383 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 to 

make projects that directly or indirectly increase the accessibility of 

affordable, quality child care eligible for certain grants, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 30, 2020 

Ms. ERNST introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Works and Economic Development 

Act of 1965 to make projects that directly or indirectly 

increase the accessibility of affordable, quality child care 

eligible for certain grants, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Affordable Child Care 

5 for Economic Strategies and Success Act’’ or the ‘‘AC6 CESS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. GRANTS FOR PUBLIC WORKS AND ECONOMIC DE2 VELOPMENT. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201 of the Public Works 

4 and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141) 

5 is amended— 

6 (1) in subsection (a)— 

7 (A) in paragraph (1) by striking ‘‘and’’ 

8 after the semicolon at the end; 

9 (B) in paragraph (2), by striking the pe10 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

11 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) planning, developing, or creating a project 

13 or facility that will directly or indirectly increase the 

14 accessibility of affordable, quality child care.’’; and 

15 (2) in subsection (b)(1)— 

16 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking ‘‘or’’ 

17 at the end; 

18 (B) in subparagraph (C), by inserting ‘‘or’’ 

19 after the semicolon at the end; and 

20 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘(D) increase the accessibility of afford22 able, quality child care;’’. 

23 (b) REGULATIONS.— 

24 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 120 days 

25 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Sec26 retary of Commerce, in consultation with the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4383.IS S4383

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1 retary of Health and Human Services, shall issue 

2 such regulations as are necessary to establish cri3 teria for whether, for purposes of section 201 of the 

4 Public Works and Economic Development Act of 

5 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3141), a project directly or indi6 rectly increases the accessibility of affordable, qual7 ity child care. 

8 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—The criteria referred to 

9 in paragraph (1) shall take into consideration the 

10 following: 

11 (A) The availability, validity, and accessi12 bility of timely data. 

13 (B) The extent to which a project contrib14 utes to the financial security of a family. 

15 (C) The extent to which a project address 

16 child care needs in child care deserts or areas 

17 otherwise recognized as experiencing a child 

18 care shortage. 

19 (3) CHILD CARE DESERT DEFINED.—In this 

20 subsection, the term ‘‘child care desert’’ means— 

21 (A) an area— 

22 (i) within a census tract; and 

23 (ii) in which the number of children 

24 who are under age 5 (as determined using 

25 the most recent American Community SurVerDate Sep 11 2014 20:14 Aug 13, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S4383.IS S4383

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1 vey 1-year Estimates, as published by the 

2 Bureau of the Census) is more than 3 

3 times the number of slots provided by child 

4 care providers who are licensed or reg5 istered by the applicable State; or 

6 (B) a community that has a low supply of 

7 quality, affordable child care, as determined by 

8 the applicable State or Tribal entity. 

9 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PLANNING AND GRANTS FOR ADMIN10 ISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 

11 Section 203(b) of the Public Works and Economic 

12 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3143(b)) is amended 

13 by striking paragraph (4) and inserting the following: 

14 ‘‘(4) formulating and implementing an economic 

15 development program that includes systematic ef16 forts— 

17 ‘‘(A) to reduce unemployment and increase 

18 incomes; or 

19 ‘‘(B) to increase the accessibility of afford20 able, quality child care.’’. 

21 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR TRAINING, RESEARCH, AND TECH22 NICAL ASSISTANCE. 

23 Section 207(a)(2) of the Public Works and Economic 

24 Development Act of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3147(a)(2)) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘and’’ 

2 after the semicolon at the end; 

3 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as sub4 paragraph (J); and 

5 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol6 lowing: 

7 ‘‘(I) the planning, development, or creation 

8 of a project or facility that will directly or indi9 rectly increase the accessibility of affordable, 

10 quality child care; and’’. 

11 SEC. 5. COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

12 STRATEGIES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(a)(3)(A) of the Pub14 lic Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

15 U.S.C. 3162(a)(3)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(includ16 ing by directly or indirectly increasing the accessibility of 

17 affordable, quality child care)’’ after ‘‘promotes economic 

18 development and opportunity’’. 

19 (b) GUIDANCE.—In carrying out the amendment 

20 made by subsection (a), the Secretary of Commerce, in 

21 consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 

22 Services, shall issue guidance on how to include the acces23 sibility of affordable, quality child care in a comprehensive 

24 economic development strategy developed under section 


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1 302 of the Public Works and Economic Development Act 

2 of 1965 (42 U.S.C. 3162). 

Æ 


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