I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 3943 
To establish a commission to make recommendations for modernizing Federal 
financing of early care and education programs. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 16, 2021 
Mr. OWENS (for himself and Mr. ESTES) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition 
to the Committee on Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently 
determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provi-
sions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish a commission to make recommendations for 
modernizing Federal financing of early care and edu-
cation programs. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Modernizing Financing 
of Early Care and Education in America Act of 2021’’. 
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SEC. 2. MODERNIZING FINANCING OF EARLY CARE AND 
EDUCATION IN AMERICA. 
(a) PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVES.—The purpose of this 
section is to establish a commission to make recommenda-
tions for modernizing Federal financing of early care and 
education programs in order to promote— 
(1) access to high quality child care and early 
education settings that support healthy development 
and well-being of young children; 
(2) affordability of high quality early learning 
and education opportunities for children living in 
poverty and in disadvantaged communities; 
(3) parent choice and flexibility that respects 
the role parents play in choosing child care that is 
best suited to fit their child’s needs; and 
(4) a more streamlined, equitable, and sustain-
able Federal financing framework to support the 
success of future generations. 
(b) BIPARTISAN COMMISSION ON EARLY CHILDHOOD 
EDUCATION FINANCING.— 
(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established a 
commission to be known as the Bipartisan Commis-
sion on Early Childhood Education Financing (in 
this subsection referred to as the ‘‘Commission’’). 
(2) MEMBERSHIP.— 
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(A) QUALIFICATIONS.—The Commission 
members shall be knowledgeable in federally 
and state-funded early care and education pro-
grams, including individuals representing State 
and local governments and organizations knowl-
edgeable in public regulatory and funding mech-
anisms for early care and education programs, 
and shall be balanced by area of expertise and 
balanced geographically to the extent consistent 
with maintaining the highest level of expertise 
on the Commission. 
(B) NUMBER; APPOINTMENT.—The Com-
mission shall be composed of 12 members ap-
pointed, within 90 days after the effective date 
of this Act, from among individuals who meet 
the requirements of subparagraph (A), as fol-
lows: 
(i) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the Majority Leader of the Senate. 
(ii) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the Minority Leader of the Senate. 
(iii) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the Speaker of the House of Representa-
tives. 
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(iv) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the Minority Leader of the House of Rep-
resentatives. 
(v) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the Chairman of the Committee on Fi-
nance of the Senate. 
(vi) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the ranking minority member of the Com-
mittee on Finance of the Senate. 
(vii) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the Chairman of the Committee on Ways 
and Means of the House of Representa-
tives. 
(viii) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the ranking minority member of the Com-
mittee on Ways and Means of the House 
of Representatives. 
(ix) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the Chairman of the Committee on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the 
Senate. 
(x) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the ranking minority member of the Com-
mittee on Health, Education, Labor, and 
Pensions of the Senate. 
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(xi) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the Chairman of the Committee on Edu-
cation and Labor of the House of Rep-
resentatives. 
(xii) 1 member shall be appointed by 
the ranking minority member of the Com-
mittee on Education and Labor of the 
House of Representatives. 
(C) VACANCIES.—A vacancy on the Com-
mission shall be filled in the same manner in 
which the vacating member was appointed. 
(3) POWERS.—In carrying out the functions of 
the Commission under this subsection, the Commis-
sion— 
(A) may secure directly from any Federal 
agency or department any information the 
Commission deems necessary to carry out the 
functions, and, on the request of the Commis-
sion, each such agency or department may co-
operate with the Commission and, to the extent 
permitted by law, furnish the information to the 
Commission; and 
(B) may enter into contracts, subject to 
the availability of appropriations, and employ 
such staff experts and consultants as may be 
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necessary to carry out the duties of the Com-
mission, subject to section 3109 of title 5, 
United States Code. 
(4) STAFF.—The Commission may, without re-
gard to the civil service laws and regulations, ap-
point and terminate an Executive Director and such 
other additional personnel as may be necessary for 
the Commission to perform the duties of the Com-
mission. The Executive Director shall be com-
pensated at a rate not to exceed the rate payable for 
Level V of the Executive Schedule under section 
5136 of title 5, United States Code. The employ-
ment and termination of an Executive Director shall 
be subject to confirmation by a majority of the mem-
bers of the Commission. 
(5) MEETINGS.— 
(A) IN
GENERAL.—All meetings of the 
Commission shall be open to the public. The 
Commission shall permit interested persons to 
appear at Commission meetings and present 
oral or written statements on the subject matter 
of the meeting. 
(B) ADVANCE PUBLIC NOTICE.—The Com-
mission shall provide timely notice, in advance, 
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in the Federal Register, of the time, place, and 
subject of each Commission meeting. 
(C) DOCUMENTATION.—The Commission 
shall keep minutes of each Commission meet-
ing, which shall contain a record of the people 
present, a description of the discussion that oc-
curred, and copies of all statements filed. Sub-
ject to section 552 of title 5, United States 
Code, the minutes and records of all meetings 
and other documents that were made available 
to, or prepared for, the Commission shall be 
available for public inspection and copying at a 
single location in the offices of the Commission. 
(D) INITIAL MEETING.—The Commission 
shall hold its first meeting within 30 days after 
all Commission members are appointed. 
(6) REPORT.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Within 18 months after 
the date of the enactment of this subsection, 
the Commission shall prepare a report of its 
findings and recommendations regarding mod-
ernizing Federal financing of early care and 
education programs to streamline and reduce 
duplicate funding streams. 
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(B) CONTENTS.—The report required by 
subparagraph (A) shall include the following: 
(i) An inventory and accounting of the 
total amount of Federal funds available for 
early care and education programs, includ-
ing— 
(I) programs under the Child 
Care and Development Block Grant 
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858 et seq.); 
(II) the child care stabilization 
grant program under section 2202 of 
the American Rescue Plan Act of 
2021 (42 U.S.C. 9858 note); 
(III) the child care entitlement 
program under section 418 of the So-
cial Security Act (42 U.S.C. 618); 
(IV) programs under the Head 
Start Act (42 U.S.C. 9801 et seq.); 
(V) the program of block grants 
to States for temporary assistance for 
needy families under part A of title IV 
of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 
601–619); 
(VI) the Preschool Development 
Grants program under section 9212 
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of the Every Student Succeeds Act 
(42 U.S.C. 9831 note); 
(VII) the Child Care Access 
Means Parents in School program 
under section 419N of the Higher 
Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 
1070e); and 
(VIII) and any other early care 
or education program identified by the 
Commission. 
(ii) A comprehensive review and as-
sessment of the funding structure and allo-
cation formula used to finance each pro-
gram referred to in clause (i), including a 
bifurcation of programs indicating whether 
Federal funds are provided directly to 
States or to other grantees, and how that 
affects the coordination of programs at the 
State and local levels and the delivery of 
services to families. 
(iii) A description of congressional ju-
risdiction over, and Federal agency admin-
istration of, each such program. 
(iv) An explanation of how each such 
program interacts with State and local 
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public funding and financing for early care 
and education, including publicly-funded 
pre-kindergarten, which shall include an 
accounting of the total amount of State 
and local funds available for such pur-
poses. 
(v) An identification of barriers in the 
governance and funding structures of pro-
grams that limit the most efficient use of 
local, State, and Federal resources. 
(C) MATTERS
REQUIRED
TO
BE
AD-
DRESSED IN THE REPORT TO THE CONGRESS.— 
In the report to the Congress, the Commission 
shall make specific recommendations, including 
delineation of specific statutory and regulatory 
changes, to address each of the following: 
(i) How to modernize and more effec-
tively use Federal funds to strengthen the 
delivery of child care and early education, 
and improve the financing framework and 
governance structure at the Federal level 
to improve access for families and account-
ability for taxpayer dollars. 
(ii) The pros and cons of streamlining 
or combining Federal programs and fund-
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ing streams in order to improve the overall 
participation of children in a mixed deliv-
ery system, while maintaining availability 
of high quality services, expanding parental 
choice, and enhancing access for children 
from low-income communities. 
(iii) Options for Federal alternative fi-
nancing framework or governance models 
that better leverage the Federal investment 
in child care and early education funding, 
including ideas that are outside the current 
framework or that re-envision existing pro-
grams. 
(iv) Options for expanding the use of 
public and private partnerships to help 
maximize the Federal investment in early 
care and education. 
(D) 
DISTRIBUTION.—The 
Commission 
shall make the report publicly available, and 
shall submit a copy of the report to the Chair-
man and ranking minority member of each of 
the Committees on Finance and on Health, 
Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate, 
and the Committees on Ways and Means and 
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on Education and Labor of the House of Rep-
resentatives, and to the President. 
(7) TERMINATION.—The Commission shall ter-
minate 60 days after the Commission submits the 
report required by paragraph (6). 
Æ 
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