Next Steps: Package of Child Care Bills Introduced in Assembly

Last week, a package of child care bills was introduced in the Assembly that aligned with those introduced in the Senate by Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz in early May. These bills address child care access and affordability, taking an important step forward to reimagine child care in New Jersey. The bills include:

• A4178/S2475: Establishes a Department of Early Childhood (Primary Sponsor: Assemblywoman Lopez)
• A4179/S2476: Establishes Thriving by Three competitive grant program for infant and toddler child care programs (Primary Sponsor: Speaker Coughlin)
• A4175/S2477: Requires eligible school districts to provide the majority of preschool pupil placements at licensed child care provider programs that are collaborating with the district to implement state-funded preschool (Primary Sponsor: Assemblywoman Timberlake)
• A4177/S2478: Extends the duration of the law requiring certain providers receiving subsidy payments for child care services to continue receiving payments based on enrollment and not attendance (Primary Sponsor: Assemblywoman Mosquera)
• A252/S2479: Provides a temporary corporation business tax and gross income tax credits for certain employer-provided child care expenditures (Primary Sponsor: Assemblywoman Munoz)
• A4176/S2480: Extends child care subsidies to families earning up to 300% of the federal poverty level (Primary Sponsor: Assemblywoman Park)

Two child care bills from the last legislative session were re-introduced this session:

• A1469/S1099: Allows gross income tax credit for certain child care staff and registered family day care providers
• A1471/S2465: Requires the Department of Human Services to establish a quality-based reimbursement system for registered family day care providers participating in Grow NJ Kids, New Jersey's Quality Rating and Improvement System

Stay tuned! ACNJ will provide updates as additional information on each of the bills becomes available. For further information, contact Cynthia Rice at crice@acnj.org.

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