Senator Murray Joins Families, Workers, and Advocates to Highlight Nation’s Child Care Crisis, Announces Reintroduction of Comprehensive Child Care and Early Learning Bill

Senator Murray, a former preschool teacher and longtime champion for early childhood education, recently reintroduced her Child Care for Working Families Act, which would ensure high-quality, affordable child care for all 

At Seattle’s Jose Marti Child Development Center, Senator Murray joined parents, advocates, and early learning professionals to hear how our nation’s child care crisis is impacting them, highlight importance and urgency of passing #ChildCare4All 

Senator Murray also toured Voices of Tomorrow East African Development Center where she learned more about how the South Seattle community is working to strengthen local access to child care, train early learning professionals 

Since Senator Murray first introduced the Child Care for Working Families Act in 2017, Republicans and Democrats in Congress have agreed to largest increase in child care funding ever 

ICYMI—Senator Murray on MomsRising blog: “High-quality, affordable child care for every working family is an ambitious progressive vision—but if we keep making our voices heard, it will become a reality” – LINK

#CHILDCARE4ALL IN SEATTLE: Announcing the reintroduction of her comprehensive child care and early learning bill, the Child Care for Working Families Act, Senator Murray made visits to Seattle’s Jose Marti Child Development Center (top left, right) and the Voices of Tomorrow East African Development Center in South Seattle (bottom left, right) to meet with families, workers, center directors and advocates about their experiences navigating the child care crisis.

(Seattle)  – U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), top Democrat on the Senate education committee, visited child care centers in the Seattle area this week to meet with parents, families, early childhood educators and workers, and advocates to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act. On Monday, Senator Murray visited El Centro de la Raza’s Jose Marti Child Development Center in Seattle, where she highlighted some of the stories she’s heard from parents in Washington state who are struggling to find and afford high-quality care, and urged parents and advocates to keep making their voices heard and fighting to make child care a reality for all families. On Tuesday, Senator Murray visited Voices of Tomorrow East African Development Center, where she met with the center’s directors to learn more about their bilingual preschool program and innovative training model for child care and early learning professionals. Senator Murray also sat in on a classroom activity with the center’s children, before joining parents and educators for a roundtable discussion on how the East African community in South Seattle is navigating the many challenges in finding and affording high-quality child, including cultural and language barriers, burdensome costs, and finding licensed care.

“No matter where I go, I hear from parents who share their stories about how the lack of affordable, high-quality child care is holding them back from focusing on their jobs, or taking promotions, and some are even being forced to quit their jobs altogether,” said Senator Murray. “Thankfully, these parents organized, advocated, and because they refused to give up, our nation’s child care crisis has finally been brought to the forefront of our national conversation, and Republicans and Democrats in Congress have made historic increases in child care investments. Our work is not done, and that’s why I’m fighting to pass the Child Care for Working Families Act, so every family has access to high-quality child care that doesn’t break the bank. This isn’t just good for parents and children, it’s a smart investment in our economy and our future.”

Senator Murray has traveled extensively throughout Washington state and heard from parents, child care workers, child care providers and early learning professionals to learn more about their challenges accessing affordable, high-quality child care. Back in Washington D.C., Senator Murray has successfully fought to shore up bipartisan support for early childhood funding and strengthen federal investments for child care and early learning by increasing funding for both Head Start and the Child Care Development Block Grant by $50 million each, after securing a historic $2.37 billion increase to the Child Care Development Block Grant the previous year.

The Child Care for Working Families Act would significantly expand access to child care and early learning for low and middle-income families by bringing down rising child care costs, ensuring that no family under 150 percent of the state median income pays more than seven percent of their income on child care. Additionally, the bill would make major investments in training and compensation for child care workers, and would significantly expand access to high-quality preschool for low- and middle-income 3 and 4 year olds. First unveiled in 2017, Senator Murray reintroduced the bill last month with strong, bicameral support—35 Senate co-sponsors and 116 cosponsors on the House companion bill.

For more information on the Child Care for Working Families Act, click here. For bill text, click here.