{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/bonamici-jacobs-colleagues-lead-over-half-house-democratic-caucus-push-double", "Bonamici, Jacobs, Colleagues Lead Over Half the House Democratic Caucus in Push to Double Child Care Funding in Omnibus", "2022-12-02", "2022", "2022-12", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Suzanne Bonamici", "B001278", "bonamici.house.gov", "bonamici", "https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2014 Congresswoman Sara Jacobs (CA-53); and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Chair of the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services; are leading more than half of the House Democratic Caucus \u2013 121 House colleagues \u2013 in a push to double the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) funding in the end-of-year omnibus package. In a letter to House and Senate Appropriations leaders, the lawmakers called for a total funding increase of $6.17 billion to CCDBG to address the nation\u2019s child care crisis, characterized by a lack of providers, rising costs, and limited availability of subsidies to meet the needs of eligible children.\n\nThe letter is co-led by Rep. Marc Veasey (TX-33), Rep. Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), and Rep. Joaquin Castro (TX-20) and is endorsed by AFSCME, Center for American Progress (CAP), the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), The Century Foundation (TCF), Early Care & Education Consortium (ECEC), First Focus Campaign for Children, MomsRising, National Education Association (NEA), National Women's Law Center (NWLC), and ZERO to THREE.\n\nRead the Letter Here\n\n\u201cChild care is essential, but it is often out of reach,\u201d said Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici. \u201cMany families struggle to balance paying for child care with covering food, rent, and other necessities. The Child Care and Development Block Grant is a powerful tool to make child care more accessible and affordable, but it\u2019s not enough to meet the demand. We must fund it at the highest possible level in the coming year.\u201d\n\n\u201cOur child care infrastructure is hanging by a thread. In San Diego and across the country, parents can\u2019t find or afford child care and providers have too little pay, benefits, and support to do their incredibly important work,\u201d said Congresswoman Sara Jacobs. \u201cBy failing to devote the weight of our country\u2019s resources to address this crisis, we\u2019re holding back our economy, families, and the next generation from their fullest potential. I will keep doing everything I can \u2013 including pushing to double child care funding in this year\u2019s omnibus \u2013 until every family has access to high-quality, affordable child care and early learning opportunities.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the first eighteen months of the pandemic, Bexar County lost 20% of the childcare providers that working parents depended on,\u201d said Congressman Joaquin Castro. \u201cAs Texas rebuilds from the challenges of the last three years, we need more investments in childcare to support overworked and underpaid providers and help parents \u2013 especially women \u2013 rejoin the workforce. I urge the House Appropriations Committee to include the highest possible funding amount for the Child Care and Development Block Grant in the FY2023 appropriations package to make sure all children can get high-quality care.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:32:05Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/bonamici-jacobs-colleagues-lead-over-half-house-democratic-caucus-push-double"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.086594071239233, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}