The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
September 15, 2023

Democrats Push For $16 Billion in Childcare Funding as Pandemic Relief Runs Out
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Capitol Hill, Democrats have introduced legislation to provide $16
billion in emergency childcare funds annually for the next five years.
This comes just two weeks before billions of dollars in pandemic-era
funding for daycares is set to expire - potentially forcing tens of
thousands of childcare programs to shut down, impacting over 3 million
children. Senator Patty Murray co-authored the bill.

Sen. Patty Murray: "We have a childcare crisis in America. And that
crisis could soon go from bad to worse as essential relief for the
sector expires at the end of this month. So we are here today to sound
the alarm and put forward a commonsense solution before childcare
providers might have to close their doors, before kids lose their
childcare slots, and before parents could face higher costs - or simply
be forced to leave their jobs to take care of their kids."



.