{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/bonamici-landsman-introduce-commonsense-legislation-increase-funding-child", "Bonamici, Landsman Introduce Commonsense Legislation to Increase Funding for Child Care Providers, Improve Child Care Nutrition", "2023-09-19", "2023", "2023-09", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Suzanne Bonamici", "B001278", "bonamici.house.gov", "bonamici", "https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, DC \u2013 Today, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR-01) and Congressman Greg Landsman (D-OH-01) introduced commonsense legislation endorsed by more than 40 national organizations to increase funding for child care providers and improve child care nutrition.\n\nTheir Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Actwould address financial challenges faced by child care providers across the country who utilize the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) \u2013 a key federal program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture that reimburses child care providers for meals and snacks they serve to more than 4.2 million children each day in participating family child care homes, child care centers, Head Start programs, and after school programs.\n\nChild care providers are facing significant financial barriers in operating the Child and Adult Care Food Program owing to insufficient reimbursement rates and outdated policies \u2013 issues that further exacerbate the ongoing child care crisis in the country. For example, some family child care providers currently receive as little as 59 cents in reimbursement through the Child and Adult Care Food Program for each breakfast they serve to children in their care. The Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act would increase the reimbursement for that breakfast to $1.75.\n\nIncreasing reimbursements is essential to filling the gap between food preparation costs that child care providers incur and the reimbursements they currently receive through the Child and Adult Care Food Program.\n\nIn real dollars, the Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act would mean:\n\nA family child care provider serving 7 children could receive an additional $475 a month or $5,700 a year in reimbursements\n\nA Head Start program or child care center serving 100 children could receive an additional $600 a month or $7,200 a year in reimbursements\n\nTo achieve these results, the Child Nutrition Enhancement Act would modify the Child and Adult Care Food Program by:\n\nEliminating a two-tiered reimbursement rate system for family child care providers where reimbursement rates vary depending on the level of local poverty\n\nProviding a 10-cent increase \u2013 tied to inflation \u2013 to existing reimbursement rates for all eligible meals and snacks provided through the program\n\nAllowing family child care providers to serve reimbursable meals and snacks to their own children when serving meals and snacks to children in their care\n\n\u201cChild care providers play an essential role in feeding millions of children healthy meals and snacks,\u201d said Congresswoman Bonamici. \u201cUnfortunately, outdated policies and the rising cost of food are cutting into the funds child care providers need to stay open and offer quality care. The Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act is a commonsense way to support child care providers as we face a national crisis in care and help more children access healthy foods.\u201d\n\n\u201cWe are facing a child care crisis in this country, and we need commonsense leadership and solutions to address these challenges,\u201d said Congressman Landsman. \u201cWorking with more than 40 national organizations that are dedicated to improving children\u2019s lives and outcomes, we\u2019re putting forward a responsible legislative solution that will invest real dollars that will help child care providers remain open, while improving the meals we serve to children every single day.\u201d\n\n\"The National CACFP Sponsors Association applauds Congressman Greg Landsman and Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici for introducing this important legislation supporting the Child and Adult Care Food Program community,\u201d said Lisa Mack, President and CEO of the National CACFP Sponsors Association. \u201cThe CACFP is critical for the infrastructure and nutrition security of child and adult care. Eliminating tiering and increasing reimbursement is needed to mitigate the challenges of the increased food and operational costs facing providers and will help combat food insecurity and support small business. Without these changes, providers will likely continue to drop out of the program, close their child care altogether or pass the meal burden on to parents.\"\n\n\"Rising costs are putting immense pressure on our already strained child care system, leading many providers to consider closing their doors,\u201d said Lee Saunders, President of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME). \u201cThe Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act can ease the burden. The bill will boost funding for essential programs like the Child and Adult Care Food Program, getting providers the investments and reimbursements they need to continue to deliver nutritious meals to our children. Thank you to Congressman Landsman and Congresswoman Bonamici for leading on this crucial legislation to get much-needed relief to our hardworking child care providers and the families they serve.\"\n\n\u201cFRAC applauds the introduction of the Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act, introduced by Congressman Landsman and Congresswoman Bonamici,\u201d said Luis Guardia, President of the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). \u201cThe bill would help strengthen the support provided by the federal Child and Adult Care Food Program to child care centers, homes and Head Start. This would be a game changer for improving nutritional and health outcomes for infants and young children. FRAC urges Congress to pass this bill to ensure that all children, especially in households with low incomes, have access to quality care and nutritious meals and snacks.\u201d\n\n\u201cChild care providers, at risk afterschool programs, adult day health programs, and emergency shelters work hard to provide meals through CACFP,\u201d said Samantha Marshall, Director of Programs and Policy for CACFP Roundtable. \u201cThe partial reimbursement is not enough to keep pace with the continued rising cost of food, gas, and labor. We often hear that the meals served in these settings are the only meals the children and adults receive. Eliminating tiering and adding the 10 cents as proposed in this legislation will ensure the nutritional quality of the meals served and create a pathway for increased participation as directors can better justify the program participation in their budgets and family child care providers are less likely to pay out of pocket for the meals served in their care. Thank you, Congressman Landsman and Congresswoman Bonamici, for championing this impactful legislation.\u201d\n\n\u201cGroceries simply cost so much more than the current partial reimbursement, and families and child care providers are struggling to ensure that children are not hungry while in care,\u201d said Alexandra Patterson, Director of Policy and Strategy at Home Grown. The two-tier payment system has been deeply damaging to the field, and contributed to a historic reduction in the number of family child care homes participating in CACFP. Eliminating payment disparities and increasing the subsidy is essential to keeping family child care homes open and addressing the child care crisis. We are thrilled to have Congressman Landsman and Congresswoman Bonamici championing this important change.\u201d\n\nThe Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act has been endorsed by 40+ national organizations:\n\nAbriendo Puertas\n\nAll Our Kin\n\nAmerican Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)\n\nCACFP Roundtable\n\nCaring Across Generations\n\nCenter for Law and Social Policy\n\nChild Care Aware of America\n\nChild Welfare League of America\n\nChildren\u2019s Defense Fund\n\nCoalition on Human Needs\n\nCommunity Change Action\n\nCouncil of Administrators of Special Education\n\nDivision for Early Childhood of the Council for Exceptional Children\n\nEarly Care and Education Consortium\n\nEarly Learning Ventures\n\nEducare Learning Network\n\nFirst Children\u2019s Finance\n\nFirst Focus Campaign for Children\n\nFood Research and Action Center\n\nHome Grown\n\nIDEA Infant and Toddler Coordinators Association\n\nKidKare by Minute Menu\n\nKinderCare Learning Companies\n\nNational Association for Family Child Care\n\nNational Association for the Education of Young Children\n\nNational Association of Counties\n\nNational Black Child Development Institute\n\nNational CACFP Forum\n\nNational CACFP Sponsors Association\n\nNational Child Care Association\n\nNational Education Association\n\nNational Health Care for the Homeless Council\n\nNational Women\u2019s Law Center\n\nNurture\n\nOpportunities Exchange\n\nParentChild+\n\nRESULTS\n\nSave the Children\n\nSchool Nutrition Association\n\nService Employees International Union (SEIU)\n\nStart Early\n\nZERO TO THREE\n\nThe full text of Congressman Landsman and Congresswoman Bonamici\u2019s Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act can be found here.", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T00:37:48Z"]], "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-landsman-introduce-commonsense-legislation-increase-funding-child"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8525331504642963, "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"}