Bipartisan Senate group releases new bill to help increase affordable child care

Alleviating the rising cost of child care for millions of American families is an area Republicans and Democrats in Washington believe they can find common ground.

WASHINGTON — Amid intense polarization, alleviating the rising cost of child care for millions of American families is an area Republicans and Democrats in Washington believe they can find common ground.

A bipartisan group of senators is unveiling a new bill Wednesday, shared first with NBC News, that would expand a key grant program for child care that hasn’t been touched in more than a decade.

“This is something that we need to work on together,” Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., said in an interview in the Capitol. “We can’t just have one party or another try to take control, try to push something that won’t work in other parts of the nation.”

Fischer joined forces with Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., John Hickenlooper, D-Colo., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, to update the Child Care and Development Block Grant to strengthen child care services and help increase the supply of providers at a time when costs are significantly growing for parents.

More than 40% of families in the U.S. can’t access affordable child care, according to a recent report from the Economic Policy Institute, which also shows that child care for just one infant costs more than rent in 17 states. It’s why the bill would give states the opportunity to help families above the current income eligibility (85% of the state’s average income) through a waiver process.