Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB535 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 535
5	5	To reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990,
6	6	to improve access to relative caregivers, and for other purposes.
7	7	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
8	8	FEBRUARY12, 2025
9	9	Mr. B
10	10	ANKSintroduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred
11	11	to the Committee on Finance
12	12	A BILL
13	13	To reauthorize the Child Care and Development Block Grant
14	14	Act of 1990, to improve access to relative caregivers,
15	15	and for other purposes.
16	16	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
17	17	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
18	18	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
19	19	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Respect Parents’ 4
20	20	Childcare Choices Act’’. 5
21	21	SEC. 2. AMENDMENTS TO THE CHILD CARE AND DEVELOP-6
22	22	MENT BLOCK GRANT ACT OF 1990. 7
23	23	(a) A
24	24	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—Section 8
25	25	658B of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act 9
26	26	of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858) is amended by striking ‘‘this 10
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29	29	•S 535 IS
30	30	subchapter’’ and all that follows and inserting the fol-1
31	31	lowing: ‘‘this subchapter, $14,000,000,000 for each of fis-2
32	32	cal years 2026 through 2031.’’. 3
33	33	(b) A
34	34	PPLICATION AND PLAN.—Section 658E(c) of 4
35	35	the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 5
36	36	(42 U.S.C. 9858c(c)) is amended— 6
37	37	(1) in paragraph (2)— 7
38	38	(A) by striking subparagraph (A) and in-8
39	39	serting the following: 9
40	40	‘‘(A) P
41	41	ARENTAL CHOICE OF PROVIDERS .— 10
42	42	Provide assurances that— 11
43	43	‘‘(i) the parent or parents of each eli-12
44	44	gible child within the State, who receives 13
45	45	or is offered child care services for which 14
46	46	financial assistance is provided under this 15
47	47	subchapter, are given the option to receive 16
48	48	a child care certificate as defined in section 17
49	49	658P(2); and 18
50	50	‘‘(ii) all direct services authorized in 19
51	51	this subchapter will be provided via child 20
52	52	care certificates.’’; 21
53	53	(B) in subparagraph (F)— 22
54	54	(i) in clause (i), by inserting ‘‘(not in-23
55	55	cluding in-home child care providers and 24
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59	59	relative caregivers)’’ after ‘‘within the 1
60	60	State’’; and 2
61	61	(ii) in clause (ii), by inserting ‘‘(other 3
62	62	than in-home child care providers and rel-4
63	63	ative caregivers)’’ after ‘‘described in 5
64	64	clause (i)’’; 6
65	65	(C) in subparagraph (G)— 7
66	66	(i) in clause (i)— 8
67	67	(I) in the first sentence, by in-9
68	68	serting ‘‘(if any)’’ after ‘‘within the 10
69	69	State’’; and 11
70	70	(II) in the second sentence, by 12
71	71	inserting ‘‘, except that such require-13
72	72	ments shall not apply to in-home child 14
73	73	care providers and relative caregivers’’ 15
74	74	before the period; and 16
75	75	(ii) in clause (ii)(I), by striking 17
76	76	‘‘(which may include encouraging the pur-18
77	77	suit of postsecondary education),’’; 19
78	78	(D) in subparagraph (K)(i)(II)— 20
79	79	(i) in item (aa), by inserting ‘‘(not in-21
80	80	cluding in-home child care providers and 22
81	81	relative caregivers or their facilities)’’ be-23
82	82	fore the semicolon; and 24
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86	86	(ii) in item (bb), by inserting ‘‘(not in-1
87	87	cluding in-home child care providers and 2
88	88	relative caregivers or their facilities)’’ after 3
89	89	‘‘facility in the State’’; 4
90	90	(E) in subparagraph (M), by adding at the 5
91	91	end the following flush sentence: 6
92	92	‘‘Nothing in this subchapter shall be construed 7
93	93	to imply that States are required to provide a 8
94	94	portion of the delivery of direct services through 9
95	95	grants or contracts.’’; 10
96	96	(F) in subparagraph (N)— 11
97	97	(i) by striking ‘‘(N)’’ and all that pre-12
98	98	cedes clause (i) and inserting the following: 13
99	99	‘‘(N) P
100	100	ROTECTION FOR WORKING AND 14
101	101	NEWLY MARRIED PARENTS .—’’; 15
102	102	(ii) in clause (i)(I)— 16
103	103	(I) by striking ‘‘85 percent of’’; 17
104	104	and 18
105	105	(II) by striking ‘‘of the same 19
106	106	size’’ and inserting ‘‘with the same 20
107	107	number of children and parents as 21
108	108	prescribed in section 658P(4)’’; 22
109	109	(iii) in clause (iii)— 23
110	110	(I) by inserting before ‘‘At the 24
111	111	option’’ the following: 25
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115	115	‘‘(I) CESSATION OF WORK , 1
116	116	TRAINING, OR EDUCATION.—’’; and 2
117	117	(II) by adding at the end the fol-3
118	118	lowing: 4
119	119	‘‘(II) M
120	120	ARRIAGE OF AN UNMAR -5
121	121	RIED PARENT.—The plan shall certify 6
122	122	that the State will not terminate as-7
123	123	sistance provided to carry out this 8
124	124	subchapter based on a factor con-9
125	125	sisting of an unmarried parent’s mar-10
126	126	riage which causes the family income 11
127	127	to rise above the State median income 12
128	128	for a family with the same number of 13
129	129	children and parents as prescribed in 14
130	130	section 658P(4), without continuing 15
131	131	the assistance for at least 6 months 16
132	132	after such marriage.’’; 17
133	133	(iv) in clause (iv)— 18
134	134	(I) by striking ‘‘for children of 19
135	135	parents’’ and inserting the following: 20
136	136	‘‘for children of— 21
137	137	‘‘(I) parents’’; and 22
138	138	(II) by striking ‘‘85 percent of 23
139	139	the State median income for a family 24
140	140	of the same size’’ and inserting the 25
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144	144	following: ‘‘the State median income 1
145	145	for a family with the same number of 2
146	146	children and parents as prescribed in 3
147	147	section 658P(4); or 4
148	148	‘‘(II) parents who married fol-5
149	149	lowing the initial determination or 6
150	150	most recent redetermination whose 7
151	151	family income now exceeds the State’s 8
152	152	income limit to qualify for such assist-9
153	153	ance due to the addition of their 10
154	154	spouse’s income.’’; and 11
155	155	(G) by adding at the end the following: 12
156	156	‘‘(W) N
157	157	OTIFICATION OF PROGRAM COV -13
158	158	ERAGE FOR RELATIVE CAREGIVERS .—The plan 14
159	159	shall certify that the State will— 15
160	160	‘‘(i) clearly post on the State’s website 16
161	161	described in subparagraph (E)(III); and 17
162	162	‘‘(ii) annually notify the parents of 18
163	163	each eligible child receiving a child care 19
164	164	certificate under this subchapter that such 20
165	165	certificates may be used— 21
166	166	‘‘(I) as a payment to a relative 22
167	167	caregiver including the child’s grand-23
168	168	parent, great grandparent, adult sib-24
169	169	ling, aunt, or uncle; or 25
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173	173	‘‘(II) as a disbursement to mar-1
174	174	ried parents in which at least one par-2
175	175	ent is acting as a relative caregiver to 3
176	176	the parent’s own eligible child, so long 4
177	177	as such families are in compliance 5
178	178	with the income and work require-6
179	179	ments described in section 7
180	180	658P(4)(C)(iii). 8
181	181	‘‘(X) R
182	182	EVIEW OF REQUIREMENTS ON REL -9
183	183	ATIVE CAREGIVERS.—The plan shall include 10
184	184	certification that the State will (at least once 11
185	185	every 5 years) review State and local regula-12
186	186	tions, requirements, and licensing standards ap-13
187	187	plicable to relative caregivers to identify bur-14
188	188	densome or redundant requirements that are 15
189	189	unnecessary to protect the health and safety of 16
190	190	children and that— 17
191	191	‘‘(i) limit or lower the number of rel-18
192	192	ative caregivers who care for eligible chil-19
193	193	dren under this subchapter; or 20
194	194	‘‘(ii) prevent parents from choosing to 21
195	195	have a relative caregiver provide childcare 22
196	196	for their eligible child.’’; 23
197	197	(2) in paragraph (3)(E)(ii), by striking ‘‘70 24
198	198	percent to fund direct services (provided by the 25
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202	202	State) in accordance with paragraph (2)(A)’’ and in-1
203	203	serting ‘‘90 percent to fund direct services (provided 2
204	204	by the State) via child care certificates’’; and 3
205	205	(3) in paragraph (4)— 4
206	206	(A) by redesignating subparagraph (C) as 5
207	207	subparagraph (D); and 6
208	208	(B) by inserting after subparagraph (B), 7
209	209	the following: 8
210	210	‘‘(C) P
211	211	AYMENT RATE.—The State plan 9
212	212	shall certify that the payment rate to relative 10
213	213	caregivers is not less than 75 percent of the 11
214	214	rate for family child care providers for children 12
215	215	of the same age and in the same geographic lo-13
216	216	cation.’’. 14
217	217	(c) L
218	218	IMITATIONS.—Section 658F(b)(2) of the Child 15
219	219	Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 16
220	220	U.S.C. 9858d(b)(2)) is amended— 17
221	221	(1) in the paragraph heading, by striking ‘‘S
222	222	EC-18
223	223	TARIAN’’ and inserting ‘‘RELIGIOUS’’; and 19
224	224	(2) by striking ‘‘sectarian’’ and inserting ‘‘reli-20
225	225	gious’’. 21
226	226	(d) I
227	227	MPROVING THEQUALITY OFCHILDCARE.—Sec-22
228	228	tion 658G of the Child Care and Development Block 23
229	229	Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858e) is amended— 24
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233	233	(1) in subsection (a), by striking paragraphs 1
234	234	(2) and (3) and inserting the following: 2
235	235	‘‘(2) A
236	236	MOUNT OF RESERVATIONS .—Such State 3
237	237	shall reserve and use— 4
238	238	‘‘(A) not more than 9 percent of the funds 5
239	239	described in paragraph (1) each year to carry 6
240	240	out the activities described in paragraph (1); 7
241	241	and 8
242	242	‘‘(B) in addition to the funds reserved 9
243	243	under subparagraph (A), 3 percent of the funds 10
244	244	described in paragraph (1) to carry out the ac-11
245	245	tivities described in paragraph (1) and sub-12
246	246	section (b)(4), as such activities relate to the 13
247	247	quality of care for infants and toddlers.’’; and 14
248	248	(2) in subsection (b)(1)— 15
249	249	(A) in subparagraph (F), by adding ‘‘and’’ 16
250	250	at the end; 17
251	251	(B) in subparagraph (G), by striking ‘‘; 18
252	252	and’’ and inserting a period; and 19
253	253	(C) by striking subparagraph (H). 20
254	254	(e) R
255	255	EPORTS.—Section 658K(a) of the Child Care 21
256	256	and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 22
257	257	9858i(a)) is amended— 23
258	258	(1) in paragraph (1)(B)(vii), by striking ‘‘home 24
259	259	care’’ and inserting ‘‘in-home care’’; and 25
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263	263	(2) in paragraph (2)(C), by striking ‘‘con-1
264	264	tracts,’’. 2
265	265	(f) H
266	266	OTLINE ANDWEBSITE.—Section 658L(b)(2)(B) 3
267	267	of the Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 4
268	268	1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858j(b)(2)(B)) is amended— 5
269	269	(1) in clause (iv), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end; 6
270	270	(2) in clause (v), by striking the period and in-7
271	271	serting ‘‘; and’’; and 8
272	272	(3) by adding at the end the following: 9
273	273	‘‘(vi) notice that the parents of eligible 10
274	274	children may use child care certificates— 11
275	275	‘‘(I) as a payment to a relative 12
276	276	caregiver including the child’s grand-13
277	277	parent, great grandparent, adult sib-14
278	278	ling, aunt, or uncle; or 15
279	279	‘‘(II) as a disbursement to mar-16
280	280	ried parents in which at least one par-17
281	281	ent is acting as a relative caregiver to 18
282	282	the parent’s own eligible child, so long 19
283	283	as such families are in compliance 20
284	284	with the income and work require-21
285	285	ments described in section 22
286	286	658P(4)(C)(iii).’’. 23
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290	290	(g) SECTARIANACTIVITIES.—Section 658M of the 1
291	291	Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 2
292	292	U.S.C. 9858k) is amended— 3
293	293	(1) by striking subsection (a); and 4
294	294	(2) by striking ‘‘(b) T
295	295	UITION.—With’’ and in-5
296	296	serting ‘‘With’’. 6
297	297	(h) N
298	298	ONDISCRIMINATION.—Section 658N of the 7
299	299	Child Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 8
300	300	U.S.C. 9858l) is amended— 9
301	301	(1) in subsection (a)— 10
302	302	(A) in paragraph (1)(B), by striking ‘‘sec-11
303	303	tarian’’ and inserting ‘‘religious’’; 12
304	304	(B) in paragraph (3)— 13
305	305	(i) by striking subparagraph (A); and 14
306	306	(ii) by redesignating subparagraphs 15
307	307	(B) and (C) as subparagraphs (A) and 16
308	308	(B), respectively; and 17
309	309	(C) by striking paragraph (4) and insert-18
310	310	ing the following: 19
311	311	‘‘(4) P
312	312	ROTECTIONS FOR RELIGIOUS CHILD CARE 20
313	313	PROVIDERS.— 21
314	314	‘‘(A) I
315	315	N GENERAL.—A State receiving 22
316	316	funds under this subchapter shall ensure that— 23
317	317	‘‘(i) in licensing child care providers, 24
318	318	the State shall not impose any requirement 25
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321	321	•S 535 IS
322	322	on a religious organization that results in 1
323	323	the imposition of a greater burden on the 2
324	324	religious organization when compared to 3
325	325	the related burden imposed on any private 4
326	326	nonreligious organization; 5
327	327	‘‘(ii) in licensing child care providers, 6
328	328	the State shall not impose a requirement 7
329	329	on a religious organization to provide or 8
330	330	comply with any document, agreement, 9
331	331	covenant, memorandum of understanding, 10
332	332	policy, or regulation, or to provide an as-11
333	333	surance or notice, unless the State also im-12
334	334	poses that requirement on nonreligious or-13
335	335	ganizations; and 14
336	336	‘‘(iii) a religious organization receiving 15
337	337	funds under this subchapter that provides 16
338	338	child care services shall retain its inde-17
339	339	pendence from State and local govern-18
340	340	ments, including retaining the autonomy, 19
341	341	right of expression, religious character or 20
342	342	affiliation, authority over internal govern-21
343	343	ance, or other aspects of the independence 22
344	344	of such organization. 23
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348	348	‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS.—A religious organi-1
349	349	zation receiving funds under this subchapter 2
350	350	that provides child care services may— 3
351	351	‘‘(i) retain religious terms in the orga-4
352	352	nization’s name; 5
353	353	‘‘(ii) continue to carry out the organi-6
354	354	zation’s mission, including the definition, 7
355	355	development, practice, and expression of its 8
356	356	religious beliefs; 9
357	357	‘‘(iii) use the organization’s facilities 10
358	358	to provide a program without concealing, 11
359	359	removing, or altering religious art, icons, 12
360	360	scriptures, or other symbols from the fa-13
361	361	cilities; 14
362	362	‘‘(iv) select, promote, or dismiss the 15
363	363	members of the organization’s governing 16
364	364	body, and the organization’s employees, on 17
365	365	the basis of their acceptance of or adher-18
366	366	ence to the religious tenets of the organiza-19
367	367	tion; and 20
368	368	‘‘(v) include religious references in the 21
369	369	organization’s mission statement and other 22
370	370	chartering or governing documents. 23
371	371	‘‘(C) R
372	372	ELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS .—A reli-24
373	373	gious organization’s exemptions, as provided in 25
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376	376	•S 535 IS
377	377	title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 1
378	378	U.S.C. 2000e et seq.) (including exemptions 2
379	379	from prohibitions of employment discrimination 3
380	380	in section 702(a) of that Act (42 U.S.C. 2000e– 4
381	381	1(a))), title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 5
382	382	(42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.), title IX of the Edu-6
383	383	cation Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et 7
384	384	seq.), the Americans with Disabilities Act of 8
385	385	1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.), the Religious 9
386	386	Freedom Restoration Act of 1993 (42 U.S.C. 10
387	387	2000bb et seq.), the Religious Land Use and 11
388	388	Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (42 12
389	389	U.S.C. 2000cc et seq.), or any other provision 13
390	390	in law providing an exemption for a religious 14
391	391	organization, shall not be waived because of the 15
392	392	religious organization’s receipt of funds under 16
393	393	this subchapter. 17
394	394	‘‘(D) P
395	395	RIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.—Any re-18
396	396	ligious organization that alleges a violation of 19
397	397	its rights under this paragraph and seeks to en-20
398	398	force such rights— 21
399	399	‘‘(i) may bring an action in a court of 22
400	400	competent jurisdiction and assert that vio-23
401	401	lation as a claim, or assert that violation 24
402	402	as a defense in a civil action; and 25
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405	405	•S 535 IS
406	406	‘‘(ii) may obtain appropriate relief, in-1
407	407	cluding attorney’s fees, against an entity 2
408	408	or agency that committed such violation.’’; 3
409	409	and 4
410	410	(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘sectarian’’ 5
411	411	each place it appears and inserting ‘‘religious’’. 6
412	412	(i) D
413	413	EFINITIONS.—Section 658P of the Child Care 7
414	414	and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 8
415	415	9858n) is amended— 9
416	416	(1) by striking paragraph (2) and inserting the 10
417	417	following: 11
418	418	‘‘(2) C
419	419	HILD CARE CERTIFICATE.— 12
420	420	‘‘(A) I
421	421	N GENERAL.—The term ‘child care 13
422	422	certificate’ means a certificate (that may be a 14
423	423	check or other disbursement) that is issued by 15
424	424	a State or local government under this sub-16
425	425	chapter directly to a parent who may use such 17
426	426	certificate— 18
427	427	‘‘(i) as payment for child care serv-19
428	428	ices; 20
429	429	‘‘(ii) as a deposit for child care serv-21
430	430	ices if such a deposit is required of other 22
431	431	children being cared for by the provider; or 23
432	432	‘‘(iii) as a disbursement to married 24
433	433	parents described in paragraph (4)(C)(iii) 25
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436	436	•S 535 IS
437	437	in which at least one parent is acting as a 1
438	438	relative caregiver to the parent’s own child, 2
439	439	so long as such disbursement is not less 3
440	440	than the payment rate set for other rel-4
441	441	ative caregivers for children of the same 5
442	442	age and in the same geographic location. 6
443	443	‘‘(B) R
444	444	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—Nothing 7
445	445	in this subchapter shall be construed to allow 8
446	446	State or Federal agencies to preclude the use of 9
447	447	such certificates for child care services provided 10
448	448	by a religious child care provider if such serv-11
449	449	ices are freely chosen by the parent. Such cer-12
450	450	tificates may be expended by providers for any 13
451	451	religious purpose or activity that is a part of 14
452	452	the child care services, including religious wor-15
453	453	ship and instruction. 16
454	454	‘‘(C) N
455	455	OT GRANTS OR CONTRACTS .—For 17
456	456	purposes of this subchapter, child care certifi-18
457	457	cates shall not be considered to be grants or 19
458	458	contracts.’’; 20
459	459	(2) in paragraph (4), by striking subparagraphs 21
460	460	(B) and (C) and inserting the following: 22
461	461	‘‘(B) whose family assets do not exceed 23
462	462	$1,000,000 (as certified by a member of such 24
463	463	family); and 25
464	464	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
465	465	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 17
466	466	•S 535 IS
467	467	‘‘(C) who— 1
468	468	‘‘(i) resides in a family that is headed 2
469	469	by an unmarried person who is the child’s 3
470	470	parent, who is working or attending a job 4
471	471	training or educational program, and that 5
472	472	has a family income that does not exceed 6
473	473	85 percent of the State median income for 7
474	474	a family with the same number of children 8
475	475	headed by an unmarried person, based on 9
476	476	the most recent data that is published by 10
477	477	the Bureau of the Census; 11
478	478	‘‘(ii) resides in a family that is headed 12
479	479	by two married persons who are the child’s 13
480	480	parents, who are both working or attend-14
481	481	ing a job training or educational program, 15
482	482	and that has a family income that does not 16
483	483	exceed 70 percent of the State median in-17
484	484	come for a family with the same number of 18
485	485	children headed by two married persons, 19
486	486	based on the most recent data that is pub-20
487	487	lished by the Bureau of the Census; 21
488	488	‘‘(iii) resides in a family that is head-22
489	489	ed by two married persons who are the 23
490	490	child’s parents, and who work a combined 24
491	491	total of at least 40 hours per week and 25
492	492	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00017 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
493	493	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 18
494	494	•S 535 IS
495	495	that has one or both parents acting as a 1
496	496	relative caregiver for the child, with a fam-2
497	497	ily income that does not exceed 70 percent 3
498	498	of the State median income for a family 4
499	499	with the same number of children headed 5
500	500	by two married persons, based on the most 6
501	501	recent data that is published by the Bu-7
502	502	reau of the Census; or 8
503	503	‘‘(iv) is receiving, or needs to receive, 9
504	504	protective services and resides with a par-10
505	505	ent or parents not described in clause (i), 11
506	506	(ii), or (iii).’’; 12
507	507	(3) in paragraph (6)— 13
508	508	(A) in subparagraph (A), by striking ‘‘a 14
509	509	group home child care provider’’; and 15
510	510	(B) by striking subparagraph (B) and in-16
511	511	serting the following: 17
512	512	‘‘(B) a relative caregiver or in-home child 18
513	513	care provider, if such caregiver or other pro-19
514	514	vider complies with any applicable requirements 20
515	515	that govern child care provided by the type of 21
516	516	provider involved.’’; 22
517	517	(4) in paragraph (7)— 23
518	518	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00018 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
519	519	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 19
520	520	•S 535 IS
521	521	(A) by striking ‘‘one individual who pro-1
522	522	vides’’ and inserting ‘‘one or more individuals 2
523	523	who provide’’; and 3
524	524	(B) by striking ‘‘as the sole caregiver, 4
525	525	and’’; 5
526	526	(5) by redesignating paragraphs (8), (9), (10), 6
527	527	(11), (12), (13), (14), and (15) as paragraphs (9), 7
528	528	(10), (11), (13), (14), (15), (16), and (17), respec-8
529	529	tively; 9
530	530	(6) by inserting after paragraph (7), the fol-10
531	531	lowing: 11
532	532	‘‘(8) I
533	533	N-HOME CHILD CARE PROVIDER .—The 12
534	534	term ‘in-home child care provider’ means an indi-13
535	535	vidual who provides child care services (excluding 14
536	536	services provided by a family child care provider) in 15
537	537	the child’s own home.’’; and 16
538	538	(7) by inserting after paragraph (11) (as so re-17
539	539	designated), the following: 18
540	540	‘‘(12) R
541	541	ELATIVE CAREGIVER.—The term ‘rel-19
542	542	ative caregiver’ means a child care provider that is 20
543	543	18 years of age or older who provides child care 21
544	544	services only to eligible children who are, by affinity 22
545	545	or consanguinity, or by court decree, the child (if the 23
546	546	parent or parents acting as a relative caregiver are 24
547	547	married and work a combined total of at least 40 25
548	548	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00019 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
549	549	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 20
550	550	•S 535 IS
551	551	hours per week), grandchild, great grandchild, sib-1
552	552	ling, niece, or nephew of such provider.’’. 2
553	553	(j) P
554	554	ARENTALRIGHTS.—Section 658Q of the Child 3
555	555	Care and Development Block Grant Act of 1990 (42 4
556	556	U.S.C. 9858o) is amended— 5
557	557	(1) by striking ‘‘(a) I
558	558	NGENERAL.—’’; and 6
559	559	(2) by striking subsection (b). 7
560	560	(k) F
561	561	RAUDPREVENTION ANDINCREASEDRELATIVE 8
562	562	C
563	563	AREGIVING.—The Child Care and Development Block 9
564	564	Grant Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9857 et seq.) is amended 10
565	565	by adding at the end the following: 11
566	566	‘‘SEC. 658T. PILOT GRANT PROGRAM TO PREVENT FRAUD. 12
567	567	‘‘(a) I
568	568	NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 13
569	569	date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 14
570	570	establish and implement a 2-year pilot program to award 15
571	571	grants to States to increase the State’s ability to— 16
572	572	‘‘(1) verify that children receiving assistance 17
573	573	under this subchapter meet eligibility criteria at the 18
574	574	time of eligibility determination and redetermination; 19
575	575	‘‘(2) prevent payments to ineligible children; 20
576	576	‘‘(3) verify the relationship of relative caregivers 21
577	577	to eligible children; 22
578	578	‘‘(4) identify cases of fraud and intentional pro-23
579	579	gram violation by child care providers; and 24
580	580	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00020 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
581	581	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 21
582	582	•S 535 IS
583	583	‘‘(5) recover payments that are the result of 1
584	584	fraud. 2
585	585	‘‘(b) A
586	586	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 3
587	587	is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 to carry out 4
588	588	this section. 5
589	589	‘‘SEC. 658U. INCREASING RELATIVE CAREGIVING. 6
590	590	‘‘(a) I
591	591	NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 7
592	592	date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 8
593	593	submit to Congress and make publicly available a report 9
594	594	on regulations that prevent family members from acting 10
595	595	as relative caregivers to eligible children under this sub-11
596	596	chapter. 12
597	597	‘‘(b) C
598	598	ONTENTS.—The report required under this 13
599	599	section shall include the following: 14
600	600	‘‘(1) A list of the provisions under this sub-15
601	601	chapter and other Federal laws that decrease the 16
602	602	number of relative caregivers. 17
603	603	‘‘(2) A description of State or local government 18
604	604	policies, regulations, or licensing standards that de-19
605	605	crease the number of relative caregivers or that 20
606	606	place burdensome requirements upon such caregivers 21
607	607	beyond basic health and safety requirements. 22
608	608	‘‘(3) Recommendations and legislative proposals 23
609	609	for Congress, State legislatures, and State lead 24
610	610	agencies to lessen or remove unnecessary, burden-25
611	611	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00021 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
612	612	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 22
613	613	•S 535 IS
614	614	some regulations that prevent family members (in-1
615	615	cluding parents, grandparents, adult siblings, aunts, 2
616	616	and uncles) from providing child care for eligible 3
617	617	children under this subchapter. 4
618	618	‘‘(c) P
619	619	ILOTPROGRAMS.—Not later than 1 year after 5
620	620	the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary 6
621	621	shall establish and implement a 2-year pilot program to 7
622	622	award grants to States to carry out innovative State pro-8
623	623	grams to promote child care provided by relative care-9
624	624	givers and to increase the number of relative caregivers 10
625	625	providing child care to eligible children under this sub-11
626	626	chapter. 12
627	627	‘‘(d) A
628	628	UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 13
629	629	is authorized to be appropriated $50,000,000 to carry out 14
630	630	this section.’’. 15
631	631	SEC. 3. REPEAL OF CREDIT FOR EXPENSES FOR HOUSE-16
632	632	HOLD AND DEPENDENT CARE SERVICES. 17
633	633	(a) I
634	634	NGENERAL.—Subpart A of part IV of sub-18
635	635	chapter A of chapter 1 of the Internal Revenue Code of 19
636	636	1986 is amended by striking section 21. 20
637	637	(b) C
638	638	ONFORMINGAMENDMENTS.— 21
639	639	(1) Section 23(f)(1) of the Internal Revenue 22
640	640	Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows: 23
641	641	‘‘(1) R
642	642	ULES FOR MARRIED COUPLES .— 24
643	643	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00022 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
644	644	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 23
645	645	•S 535 IS
646	646	‘‘(A) MARRIED COUPLES MUST FILE JOINT 1
647	647	RETURN.—If the taxpayer is married at the 2
648	648	close of the taxable year, the credit shall be al-3
649	649	lowed under subsection (a) only if the taxpayer 4
650	650	and his spouse file a joint return for the taxable 5
651	651	year. 6
652	652	‘‘(B) M
653	653	ARITAL STATUS.—An individual le-7
654	654	gally separated from his spouse under a decree 8
655	655	of divorce or of separate maintenance shall not 9
656	656	be considered as married. 10
657	657	‘‘(C) C
658	658	ERTAIN MARRIED INDIVIDUALS LIV -11
659	659	ING APART.—If— 12
660	660	‘‘(i) an individual who is married and 13
661	661	who files a separate return— 14
662	662	‘‘(I) maintains as his home a 15
663	663	household which constitutes for more 16
664	664	than one-half of the taxable year the 17
665	665	principal place of abode of a quali-18
666	666	fying individual, and 19
667	667	‘‘(II) furnishes over half of the 20
668	668	cost of maintaining such household 21
669	669	during the taxable year, and 22
670	670	‘‘(ii) during the last 6 months of such 23
671	671	taxable year such individual’s spouse is not 24
672	672	a member of such household, 25
673	673	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00023 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
674	674	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 24
675	675	•S 535 IS
676	676	such individual shall not be considered as mar-1
677	677	ried.’’. 2
678	678	(2) Section 35(g)(6) of such Code is amended 3
679	679	to read as follows: 4
680	680	‘‘(6) M
681	681	ARITAL STATUS; CERTAIN MARRIED IN -5
682	682	DIVIDUALS LIVING APART .—Rules similar to the 6
683	683	rules of subparagraphs (B) and (C) of section 7
684	684	23(f)(1) shall apply for purposes of this section.’’. 8
685	685	(3) Section 129(a)(2)(C) of such Code is 9
686	686	amended to read as follows: 10
687	687	‘‘(C) M
688	688	ARITAL STATUS.—For purposes of 11
689	689	this paragraph, marital status shall be deter-12
690	690	mined under the rules of subparagraphs (B) 13
691	691	and (C) of section 23(f)(1).’’. 14
692	692	(4) Section 129(b)(2) of such Code is amended 15
693	693	to read as follows: 16
694	694	‘‘(2) S
695	695	PECIAL RULES FOR SPOUSE WHO IS A 17
696	696	STUDENT OR INCAPABLE OF CARING FOR SELF .—In 18
697	697	the case of a spouse who is a student or an indi-19
698	698	vidual described in subsection (e)(1)(B)(ii)(III) (de-20
699	699	termined without regard to the amount of time spent 21
700	700	in the taxpayer’s household), for purposes of para-22
701	701	graph (1), such spouse shall be deemed for each 23
702	702	month during which such spouse is a full-time stu-24
703	703	dent at an educational institution, or is an individual 25
704	704	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00024 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
705	705	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 25
706	706	•S 535 IS
707	707	so described in subsection (e)(1)(B)(ii)(III), to be 1
708	708	gainfully employed and to have earned income of not 2
709	709	less than— 3
710	710	‘‘(A) $250 if there is 1 individual described 4
711	711	in subclauses (I) through (III) of subsection 5
712	712	(e)(1)(B) with respect to the taxpayer for the 6
713	713	taxable year, or 7
714	714	‘‘(B) $500 if there are 2 or more such in-8
715	715	dividuals with respect to the taxpayer for the 9
716	716	taxable year. 10
717	717	In the case of any husband and wife, this paragraph 11
718	718	shall apply with respect to only one spouse for any 12
719	719	month.’’. 13
720	720	(5) Section 129(e)(1) of such Code is amend-14
721	721	ed— 15
722	722	(A) by striking ‘‘The term’’ and inserting 16
723	723	the following: 17
724	724	‘‘(A) I
725	725	N GENERAL.—The term’’, 18
726	726	(B) by striking ‘‘under section 21(b)(2) 19
727	727	(relating to expenses for household and depend-20
728	728	ent care services necessary for gainful employ-21
729	729	ment)’’, and 22
730	730	(C) by adding at the end the following: 23
731	731	‘‘(B) E
732	732	MPLOYMENT-RELATED EX -24
733	733	PENSES.— 25
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736	736	•S 535 IS
737	737	‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘employ-1
738	738	ment-related expenses’ means amounts 2
739	739	paid for the following expenses, but only if 3
740	740	such expenses are incurred to enable the 4
741	741	taxpayer to be gainfully employed for any 5
742	742	period for which there are 1 or more quali-6
743	743	fying individuals with respect to the tax-7
744	744	payer: 8
745	745	‘‘(I) Expenses for household serv-9
746	746	ices, and 10
747	747	‘‘(II) Expenses for the care of a 11
748	748	qualifying individual. 12
749	749	Such term shall not include any amount 13
750	750	paid for services outside the taxpayer’s 14
751	751	household at a camp where the qualifying 15
752	752	individual stays overnight. 16
753	753	‘‘(ii) E
754	754	XCEPTION.—Employment-re-17
755	755	lated expenses described in clause (i) which 18
756	756	are incurred for services outside the tax-19
757	757	payer’s household shall be taken into ac-20
758	758	count only if incurred for the care of— 21
759	759	‘‘(I) a dependent of the taxpayer 22
760	760	(as defined in section 152(a)(1)) who 23
761	761	has not attained age 13, 24
762	762	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00026 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
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764	764	•S 535 IS
765	765	‘‘(II) a dependent of the taxpayer 1
766	766	(as defined in section 152, determined 2
767	767	without regard to subsections (b)(1), 3
768	768	(b)(2), and (d)(1)(B)) who is phys-4
769	769	ically or mentally incapable of caring 5
770	770	for himself or herself, who has the 6
771	771	same principal place of abode as the 7
772	772	taxpayer for more than one-half of 8
773	773	such taxable year, and who regularly 9
774	774	spends at least 8 hours each day in 10
775	775	the taxpayer’s household, or 11
776	776	‘‘(III) the spouse of the taxpayer, 12
777	777	if the spouse is physically or mentally 13
778	778	incapable of caring for himself or her-14
779	779	self, has the same principal place of 15
780	780	abode as the taxpayer for more than 16
781	781	one-half of such taxable year, and reg-17
782	782	ularly spends at least 8 hours each 18
783	783	day in the taxpayer’s household. 19
784	784	‘‘(iii) D
785	785	EPENDENT CARE CENTERS .— 20
786	786	Employment-related expenses described in 21
787	787	clause (i) which are incurred for services 22
788	788	provided outside the taxpayer’s household 23
789	789	by a dependent care center shall be taken 24
790	790	into account only if— 25
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792	792	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 28
793	793	•S 535 IS
794	794	‘‘(I) such center complies with all 1
795	795	applicable laws and regulations of a 2
796	796	State or unit of local government, and 3
797	797	‘‘(II) The requirements of clause 4
798	798	(ii) are met. 5
799	799	‘‘(iv) D
800	800	EPENDENT CARE CENTER DE -6
801	801	FINED.—For purposes of this paragraph, 7
802	802	the term ‘dependent care center’ means 8
803	803	any facility which— 9
804	804	‘‘(I) provides care for more than 10
805	805	six individuals (other than individuals 11
806	806	who reside at the facility), and 12
807	807	‘‘(II) receives a fee, payment, or 13
808	808	grant for providing services for any of 14
809	809	the individuals (regardless of whether 15
810	810	such facility is operated for profit).’’. 16
811	811	(6) Section 213 of such Code is amended by 17
812	812	striking subsection (e). 18
813	813	(7) Section 6213(g)(2) of such Code is amend-19
814	814	ed— 20
815	815	(A) in subparagraph (H), by striking ‘‘sec-21
816	816	tion 21 (relating to expenses for household and 22
817	817	dependent care services necessary for gainful 23
818	818	employment) or’’, and 24
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820	820	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 29
821	821	•S 535 IS
822	822	(B) in subparagraph (L), by striking 1
823	823	‘‘21,’’. 2
824	824	(c) E
825	825	FFECTIVEDATE.—The amendments made by 3
826	826	this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 4
827	827	the date of the enactment of this Act. 5
828	828	Æ
829	829	VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:38 Mar 01, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00029 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S535.IS S535
830	830	kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB