I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7778 

To provide for grants to support access to child care through the 

establishment and operation of child care programs by businesses. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 24, 2020 

Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Education and Labor 

A BILL 

To provide for grants to support access to child care through 

the establishment and operation of child care programs 

by businesses. 

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 ‘‘Expanding Child Care 

5 Access Grants Act of 2020’’. 

6 SEC. 2. EXPANDING CHILD CARE ACCESS GRANTS. 

7 (a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to sup8 port the recovery of the United States economy by pro9 viding grants to businesses to aid in opening child care 

10 programs or establishing partnerships with existing proVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7778.IH H7778

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1 viders to meet the demand for child care across the coun2 try as parents return to work. 

3 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 (1) COVID–19 PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY.— 

5 The term ‘‘COVID–19 public health emergency’’ 

6 means the public health emergency declared by the 

7 Secretary of Health and Human Services under sec8 tion 319 of the Public Health Service Act (42 

9 U.S.C. 247d) on January 31, 2020, with respect to 

10 COVID–19, including any renewal of such declara11 tion. 

12 (2) ELIGIBLE BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘eligible 

13 business’’ means a business that does not currently 

14 provide child care services for the children of such 

15 business’ employees, offer care or oversight for the 

16 school age children of such employees, or partner 

17 with an eligible child care provider for such services. 

18 (3) ELIGIBLE CHILD CARE PROVIDER.—The 

19 term ‘‘eligible child care provider’’ means— 

20 (A) an eligible child care provider as de21 fined in section 658P(6)(A) of the Child Care 

22 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

23 U.S.C. 9858n(6)(A)); and 

24 (B) a child care provider that— 


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1 (i) is license-exempt and operating le2 gally in the State; 

3 (ii) is not providing child care services 

4 to relatives; and 

5 (iii) satisfies State and local require6 ments, including those referenced in sec7 tion 658E(c)(2)(I) of the Child Care and 

8 Development Block Grant Act of 1990 

9 ((42 U.S.C. 9858c)(c)(2)(I)). 

10 (4) INDIAN TRIBE; TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.— 

11 The terms ‘‘Indian tribe’’ and ‘‘tribal organization’’ 

12 have the meanings given the terms in section 658P 

13 of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 

14 of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). 

15 (5) LEAD AGENCY.—The term ‘‘lead agency’’ 

16 has the meaning given the term in section 658P of 

17 the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 

18 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n). 

19 (6) QUALIFIED BUSINESS.—The term ‘‘quali20 fied business’’ means an eligible business with an 

21 application approved under subsection (g) for the 

22 program involved. 

23 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of Health and Human Services. 


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1 (8) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ has the mean2 ing given the term in section 658P of the Child Care 

3 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

4 U.S.C. 9858n). 

5 (c) GRANTS FOR BUSINESSES TO PROVIDE CHILD

6 CARE SERVICES.—From the funds appropriated to carry 

7 out this Act, the Secretary shall make Expanding Child 

8 Care Access grants to States, Indian tribes, and tribal or9 ganizations, that submit notices of intent to provide assur10 ances under subsection (d)(2). The grants shall provide 

11 for subgrants to businesses for a transition period of not 

12 more than 9 months to assist in paying for the establish13 ment and operation of child care services. 

14 (d) PROCESS FOR ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.— 

15 (1) NOTICE.—Not later than 7 days after funds 

16 are appropriated to carry out this Act, the Secretary 

17 shall provide to States, Indian tribes, and tribal or18 ganizations a notice of funding availability for Ex19 panding Child Care Access grants under subsection 

20 (c) from allotments and payments under subsection 

21 (e)(2). The Secretary shall issue a notice of the 

22 funding allocations for each State, Indian tribe, and 

23 tribal organization not later than 14 days after 

24 funds are appropriated to carry out this Act. 


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1 (2) NOTICE OF INTENT.—Not later than 14 

2 days after issuance of a notice of funding allocations 

3 under paragraph (1), a State, Indian tribe, or tribal 

4 organization that seeks such a grant shall submit to 

5 the Secretary a notice of intent to provide assur6 ances for such grant. The notice of intent shall in7 clude a certification that the State, Indian tribe, or 

8 tribal organization will repay the grant funds if such 

9 State, Indian tribe, or tribal organization fails to 

10 provide assurances that meet the requirements of 

11 subsection (f) or to comply with such an assurance. 

12 (3) GRANTS TO LEAD AGENCIES.—The Sec13 retary may make grants under subsection (c) to the 

14 lead agency of each State, Indian tribe, or tribal or15 ganization, upon receipt of the notice of intent to 

16 provide assurances for such grant. 

17 (4) PROVISION OF ASSURANCES.—Not later 

18 than 15 days after receiving the grant, the State, In19 dian tribe, or tribal organization shall provide assur20 ances that meet the requirements of subsection (f). 

21 (e) FEDERAL RESERVATION; ALLOTMENTS AND PAY22 MENTS.— 

23 (1) RESERVATION.—The Secretary shall reserve 

24 not more than 1 percent of the amount appropriated 

25 to carry out this Act to pay for the costs of the FedVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7778.IH H7778

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1 eral administration of this section. The amount ap2 propriated to carry out this Act and reserved under 

3 this paragraph shall remain available through fiscal 

4 year 2021. 

5 (2) ALLOTMENTS AND PAYMENTS.—The Sec6 retary shall use the remaining portion of such 

7 amount to make allotments and payments, to States, 

8 Indian tribes, and tribal organizations that submit 

9 such a notice of intent to provide assurances, in ac10 cordance with paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection 

11 (a), and subsection (b), of section 658O of the Child 

12 Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

13 U.S.C. 9858m) for the grants described in sub14 section (c). 

15 (f) ASSURANCES.—A State, Indian tribe, or tribal or16 ganization that receives a grant under subsection (c) shall 

17 provide to the Secretary assurances that the lead agency 

18 will— 

19 (1) require as a condition of subgrant funding 

20 under subsection (g) that each business applying for 

21 a subgrant from the lead agency— 

22 (A)(i) will use subgrant funds for the sole 

23 purpose of establishing a child care program 

24 and providing child care services for the chil25 dren of such business’ employees; or 


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1 (ii) will operate in partnership with an eli2 gible child care provider serving children 

3 through a child care program prior to March 1, 

4 2020; 

5 (B) agree to follow all applicable State, 

6 local, and tribal health and safety requirements 

7 and, if applicable, enhanced protocols for child 

8 care services related to COVID–19 or another 

9 health or safety condition; 

10 (C) agree to comply with the documenta11 tion and reporting requirements under sub12 section (h); and 

13 (D) certify in good faith that the child care 

14 program of the business will remain open for 

15 not less than 1 year after receiving such a 

16 subgrant unless such program is closed due to 

17 extraordinary circumstances, including a state 

18 of emergency declared by the Governor or a 

19 major disaster or emergency declared by the 

20 President under section 401 or 501, respec21 tively, of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

22 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

23 5170, 5191); 

24 (2) ensure eligible businesses in urban, subur25 ban, and rural areas can readily apply for and acVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:13 Aug 28, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7778.IH H7778

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1 cess funding under this section, which shall include 

2 the provision of technical assistance either directly 

3 or through resource and referral agencies; 

4 (3) through at least December 31, 2020, con5 tinue to expend funds provided under the Child Care 

6 and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 

7 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) for the purpose of continuing 

8 payments and assistance to qualified child care pro9 viders on the basis of tiered reimbursements prior to 

10 March 2020; 

11 (4) give priority for subgrant awards according 

12 to geographically based child care service needs 

13 across the State or tribal community; 

14 (5) undertake a review of burdensome State, 

15 local, and tribal regulations and requirements that 

16 hinder the opening of new licensed child care pro17 grams to meet the needs of the working families in 

18 the State or tribal community, as applicable; and 

19 (6) make available to the public, which shall in20 clude, at a minimum, posting to an internet website 

21 of the lead agency— 

22 (A) notice of funding availability through 

23 subgrants for qualified businesses under this 

24 section; and 


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1 (B) the criteria for awarding subgrants for 

2 qualified businesses. 

3 (g) LEAD AGENCY USE OF FUNDS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—A lead agency that receives 

5 an Expanding Child Care Access grant under this 

6 section— 

7 (A) shall use a portion that is not less 

8 than 97 percent of the grant funds to award 

9 subgrants to qualified businesses as described 

10 in the lead agency’s assurances pursuant to 

11 subsection (f); 

12 (B) shall reserve not more than 3 percent 

13 of the funds to— 

14 (i) use not less than 1 percent of the 

15 funds to provide technical assistance and 

16 support in applying for and accessing 

17 funding through such subgrants to eligible 

18 businesses; and 

19 (ii) use the remainder of the reserved 

20 funds to— 

21 (I) administer subgrants to quali22 fied businesses under paragraph (3), 

23 which shall include monitoring the 

24 compliance of qualified businesses 


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1 with applicable State, local, and tribal 

2 health and safety requirements; and 

3 (II) comply with the reporting 

4 and documentation requirements de5 scribed in subsection (h); and 

6 (C)(i) shall not make more than 1 

7 subgrant under paragraph (3) to a qualified 

8 business. 

9 (2) OBLIGATION AND RETURN OF FUNDS.— 

10 (A) OBLIGATION.—The lead agency shall 

11 obligate at least 80 percent of the grant funds 

12 in the portion described in paragraph (1)(A) for 

13 subgrants to qualified businesses by the date 

14 that is 6 months after the date of enactment of 

15 this Act. 

16 (B) RETURN OF FUNDS.—Not later than 

17 the date that is 12 months after a grant is 

18 awarded to a lead agency in accordance with 

19 this section, the lead agency shall return to the 

20 Secretary any of the grant funds that are not 

21 obligated by the lead agency by such date. The 

22 Secretary shall return any funds received under 

23 this subparagraph to the Treasury of the 

24 United States. 

25 (3) SUBGRANTS.— 


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1 (A) IN GENERAL.—A lead agency that re2 ceives a grant under subsection (c) shall make 

3 subgrants to qualified businesses to assist in 

4 paying for the establishment and operation of 

5 child care services, including fixed costs and op6 erating expenses, for a transition period of not 

7 more than 9 months, so that parents have a 

8 safe place for their children to receive child care 

9 as the parents return to the workplace. 

10 (B) USE OF FUNDS.—A qualified business 

11 may use subgrant funds for carrying out activi12 ties related to establishing a child care program 

13 or contracting with an eligible child care pro14 vider to offer child care services for the employ15 ees of such business. 

16 (C) SUBGRANT APPLICATION.—To be 

17 qualified to receive a subgrant under this para18 graph, an eligible business shall submit an ap19 plication to the lead agency in such form and 

20 containing such information as the lead agency 

21 may reasonably require, including— 

22 (i) a plan for offering access to child 

23 care services for the employees of such 

24 business that includes— 


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1 (I) information describing how 

2 the eligible business will use the 

3 subgrant funds to cover slots for the 

4 children of their employees; 

5 (II) if applicable, the amount of 

6 tuition or copayments employees will 

7 be expected to pay; 

8 (III) child care enrollment and 

9 attendance projections; and 

10 (IV) a demonstration of how the 

11 eligible business will sustain its oper12 ations after the cessation of funding 

13 under this section; 

14 (ii) assurances that the eligible busi15 ness will— 

16 (I) report to the lead agency data 

17 on current average enrollment and at18 tendance; 

19 (II) provide the necessary docu20 mentation under subsection (h) to the 

21 lead agency, including providing docu22 mentation of expenditures of subgrant 

23 funds; and 

24 (III) implement all applicable 

25 State, local, and tribal health and 


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1 safety requirements and, if applicable, 

2 enhanced protocols for child care serv3 ices and related to COVID–19 or an4 other health or safety condition; and 

5 (iii) a certification in good faith that 

6 the child care program will remain open 

7 for not less than 1 year after receiving a 

8 subgrant under this paragraph unless such 

9 program is closed due to extraordinary cir10 cumstances described in subsection 

11 (f)(1)(D). 

12 (D) SUBGRANT DISBURSEMENT.—In pro13 viding funds through a subgrant under this 

14 paragraph— 

15 (i) the lead agency shall disburse such 

16 subgrant funds to a qualified business in 

17 an initial payment, with additional install18 ments for maintained operation, as appli19 cable; 

20 (ii) the lead agency may, notwith21 standing subparagraph (D)(i), disburse an 

22 initial subgrant installment to a provider 

23 in a greater amount than that subpara24 graph provides for, as applicable. 


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1 (E) REPAYMENT OF SUBGRANT FUNDS.— 

2 A qualified business that receives a subgrant 

3 under this paragraph shall be required to repay 

4 the subgrant funds if the lead agency deter5 mines that the business fails to provide the as6 surances described in subparagraph (C)(ii)(II), 

7 or to comply with such an assurance. 

8 (4) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—Amounts 

9 made available to carry out this section shall be used 

10 to supplement and not supplant other Federal, 

11 State, tribal, and local public funds expended to pro12 vide child care services, including funds provided 

13 under the Child Care and Development Block Grant 

14 Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) and State and 

15 tribal child care programs. 

16 (h) DOCUMENTATION AND REPORTING REQUIRE17 MENTS.— 

18 (1) DOCUMENTATION.—A State, Indian tribe, 

19 or tribal organization receiving a grant under sub20 section (c) shall provide documentation of any State 

21 or tribal expenditures from grant funds received 

22 under subsection (c) in accordance with section 

23 658K(b) of the Child Care Development Block 

24 Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858i(b)), and to the 

25 independent entity described in that section. 


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1 (2) REPORTS.— 

2 (A) LEAD AGENCY REPORT.—A lead agen3 cy receiving a grant under subsection (c) shall, 

4 not later than 12 months after receiving such 

5 grant, submit a report to the Secretary that in6 cludes for the State or tribal community in7 volved a description of the program of sub8 grants carried out to meet the objectives of this 

9 section, including— 

10 (i) a description of how the lead agen11 cy determined— 

12 (I) the criteria for awarding sub13 grants for qualified businesses, includ14 ing the methodology the lead agency 

15 used to determine and disburse funds 

16 in accordance with subparagraph (D) 

17 of subsection (g)(3); and 

18 (II) the types of businesses that 

19 received priority for the subgrants, in20 cluding considerations related to geo21 graphically based child care service 

22 needs across the State or tribal com23 munity; 

24 (ii) the number of qualified businesses 

25 that received a subgrant under subsection 


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1 (g)(3), disaggregated by age of children 

2 served, geography, region, the average and 

3 range of the amounts of the subgrants 

4 awarded, and whether such businesses 

5 were operating their own child care pro6 gram or partnering with an eligible child 

7 care provider; and 

8 (iii) information concerning how quali9 fied businesses receiving subgrants under 

10 subsection (g)(3) used the subgrant fund11 ing received. 

12 (B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

13 than 90 days after receiving the lead agency re14 ports required under subparagraph (A), the 

15 Secretary shall make publicly available and pro16 vide to the Committee on Health, Education, 

17 Labor, and Pensions of the Senate and the 

18 Committee on Education and Labor of the 

19 House of Representatives a report summarizing 

20 the findings of the lead agency reports. 

21 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

22 authorized to be appropriated $1,000,000,000 to carry out 

23 this Act. 

Æ 


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