HR 8453
Rural Child Care Facility Expansion Act
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Sign in to take action- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- To President
- Became Law
Bill overview
This bill establishes a low-interest loan program to help rural child care providers renovate, expand, or adapt existing facilities. The goal is to increase the availability of child care, particularly in ‘child care deserts’ – areas with a high need for care relative to the available slots. The program targets child care providers who meet specific licensing and background check requirements and are located in designated rural communities.
Key provisions
- Creates a low-interest loan program for rural child care facilities.
- Loans are available for renovation, expansion, and adaptation of existing structures.
- Prioritizes projects in ‘child care deserts’ – areas with a high need for care.
- Eligible child care providers must meet specific licensing and background check requirements.
- The Secretary of Agriculture will administer the program.
- Loans can be used for up to 10% of the total for pre-development activities.
- Loan terms can be up to 25 years.
- The Secretary must report annually to Congress on the program's impact.
Who is affected
- Rural child care providers
- Families in rural communities needing child care
- State licensing agencies
- The Department of Agriculture
- Low-income families and dual language learners
Notable changes
- Establishes a dedicated funding source for rural child care expansion.
Sponsors
Official sponsors from legislative records.
Primary sponsor
Cosponsors
Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] Norton
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119th CONGRESS — 2d Session
H. R. 8453
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
A BILL
To establish a low-interest loan program to support the renovation, retrofit, expansion, and adaptation of structures to increase the availability of child care in rural communities.
This Act may be cited as the Rural Child Care Facility Expansion Act
.
In this Act:
a child care service provider who—
is primarily engaged in providing child care services for children from birth to compulsory school age;
provides child care services for school-age children outside of school hours or outside of the school year; or
offers pre-school or pre-kindergarten educational programs;
is in compliance with the licensing requirements for child care services providers of the State in which the provider is located; and
any other child care service provider that the Secretary deems to be qualified to receive a loan under this section.
The term child care desert means a census tract in which—
the number of residents who are children is not less than 3 times the number of children for whom the licensed child care providers in the census tract are capable of providing child care; or
there are no licensed child care providers.
The term rural community means any census designated place with a population of less than 20,000, subject to subparagraph (B).
The Secretary may, as the Secretary deems necessary, modify the definition set forth in subparagraph (A).
The term Secretary means the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development.
An entity desiring a loan under this section may submit to the Secretary an application for the loan, at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary deems appropriate.
Within 30 days after receipt of an application for a loan under this section, the Secretary shall provide to the applicant a written notice as to whether the application is complete or additional information is needed to complete the application.
The Secretary may approve an application for a loan under this section for a project if the Secretary determines that—
the applicant is a covered child care provider; and
the application demonstrates that completion of the project will increase the availability of child care in a child care desert in a rural community.
Such an entity may use not more than 10 percent of the loan to facilitate the pre-development phase of a new facility, including planning and design.
Within 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a written report regarding implementation of this section, which shall—
specify the number of loans awarded under this section;
describe the activities funded under this section;