S. 3874: Child Care Is Essential Act

116th Congress · introduced 2020-06-03 · Families · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2020-06-03 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Child Care Is Essential Act

Plain summary

Child Care Is Essential Act This bill establishes and provides $50 billion in appropriations for the Child Care Stabilization Fund to award grants to child care providers during and after the COVID-19 (i.e., coronavirus disease 2019) public health emergency. The bill establishes the fund within the existing Department of Health and Human Services Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) program, and the grants must be administered by the existing CCDBG lead agencies of states, tribes, or territories. Child care providers that are currently open or temporarily closed due to COVID-19 are eligible to receive grant awards, which are based on the provider's operating costs before the COVID-19 public health emergency and adjusted to account for the increased costs of providing child care as a result of COVID-19.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Child Care Is Essential Act

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] · 36 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Tina Smith (D-MN), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Kirsten E. Gillibrand (D-NY), Margaret Wood Hassan (D-NH), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Jacky Rosen (D-NV), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI), Brian Schatz (D-HI), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Edward J. Markey (D-MA), Michael F. Bennet (D-CO), Christopher A. Coons (D-DE), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Angus S. King, Jr. (I-ME)

Sponsor's campaign money: Sen. Murray, Patty [D-WA] reported raising $3.6 million (2025–2026). Details. Shown for context only; it does not mean any donor supported this bill.

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (2)

Appropriation: Money a legislature sets aside by law for a specific purpose. Government agencies may spend public money only as it has been appropriated.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116s3874.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/s>

Record fed-us-cong116-s3874 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116