I 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2221 

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

make projects that directly or indirectly increase the accessibility of 

child care eligible for certain grants, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2021 

Mrs. HINSON (for herself and Mr. TRONE) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, and 

in addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 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 amend the Public Works and Economic Development 

Act of 1965 to make projects that directly or indirectly 

increase the accessibility of 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 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 adding ‘‘or’’ 

19 after the semicolon at the end; and 

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

21 ‘‘(D) increase the accessibility of child 

22 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 04:39 May 25, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2221.IH H2221

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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 child care. 

7 (2) CONSIDERATIONS.—The criteria referred to 

8 in paragraph (1) shall take into consideration the 

9 following: 

10 (A) The availability, validity, and accessi11 bility of timely data. 

12 (B) The extent to which a project contrib13 utes to the financial security of a family. 

14 (C) The extent to which a project address15 es child care needs in areas recognized as expe16 riencing a child care shortage. 

17 SEC. 3. GRANTS FOR PLANNING AND GRANTS FOR ADMIN18 ISTRATIVE EXPENSES. 

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

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

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

22 ‘‘(4) formulating and implementing an economic 

23 development program that includes systematic ef24 forts— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to reduce unemployment and increase 

2 incomes; or 

3 ‘‘(B) to increase the accessibility of child 

4 care.’’. 

5 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR TRAINING, RESEARCH, AND TECH6 NICAL ASSISTANCE. 

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

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

9 amended— 

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

11 after the semicolon at the end; 

12 (2) by redesignating subparagraph (I) as sub13 paragraph (J); and 

14 (3) by inserting after subparagraph (H) the fol15 lowing: 

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

17 of a project or facility that will directly or indi18 rectly increase the accessibility of child care; 

19 and’’. 

20 SEC. 5. COMPREHENSIVE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 

21 STRATEGIES. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 302(a)(3)(A) of the Pub23 lic Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

24 U.S.C. 3162(a)(3)(A)) is amended by inserting ‘‘(includ25 ing by directly or indirectly increasing the accessibility of 


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1 child care)’’ after ‘‘promotes economic development and 

2 opportunity’’. 

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

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

5 consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human 

6 Services, shall issue guidance on how to include the acces7 sibility of child care in a comprehensive economic develop8 ment strategy developed under section 302 of the Public 

9 Works and Economic Development Act of 1965 (42 

10 U.S.C. 3162). 

Æ 


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