PRINTER'S NO. 486
No. 51 Session of 2007
INTRODUCED BY ORIE, RHOADES, WASHINGTON, KASUNIC, ERICKSON,
GREENLEAF, LOGAN, BOSCOLA, C. WILLIAMS, MELLOW, STACK,
KITCHEN, RAFFERTY, FONTANA, TARTAGLIONE, MUSTO, COSTA AND
BROWNE, MARCH 14, 2007
REFERRED TO PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE, MARCH 14, 2007
A RESOLUTION
1 Memorializing the Congress of the United States to enact
2 legislation reauthorizing the Federal program of block grants
3 to states for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF)
4 and improving access to quality child care so long as the
5 final bill includes no less than $6 billion in new child care
6 resources for low-income working families and families
7 attempting to transition from welfare to work.
8 WHEREAS, The Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG)
9 currently provides $4.8 billion annually to states for child
10 care services, $2.7 billion in mandatory funding annually for
11 the period of reauthorization and $2.1 billion in discretionary
12 funding, subject to annual renewal by Congress; and
13 WHEREAS, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania currently receives
14 approximately $177 million each year through CCDBG, connecting
15 100,000 children - one-fourth of all eligible Pennsylvania
16 children - to child care assistance; and
17 WHEREAS, Affordable, safe and quality child care is a core
18 ingredient to ensure that parents connect to and retain
19 employment and that children are ready for school; and
1 WHEREAS, Many more families in the Commonwealth of
2 Pennsylvania request child care assistance than can receive it,
3 resulting in a waiting list that has hovered between 1,000 and
4 2,500 children for the past 18 months; and
5 WHEREAS, A number of pending congressional TANF proposals
6 would increase mandatory child care funding by $1 billion over
7 five years, an amount widely regarded as insufficient to meet
8 increasing demands for child care for families leaving welfare
9 or for the child care subsidy for income-eligible families; and
10 WHEREAS, On March 9, 2005, the Finance Committee of the
11 United States Senate adopted a bipartisan bill including $6
12 billion in mandatory child care dollars, echoing the will of the
13 full Senate which voted 78-20 in March 2004 to include more than
14 $6 billion in child care resources for America's families; and
15 WHEREAS, Since Federal funds make up 74% of the Commonwealth
16 of Pennsylvania's child care spending, an increase in mandatory
17 CCDBG funds would provide a stable funding source to expand
18 subsidy for Pennsylvania families, build program quality and
19 school readiness and improve parent services; therefore be it
20 RESOLVED, That the Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
21 memorialize the Congress to enact legislation reauthorizing TANF
22 block grants to states to improve access to quality child care
23 and setting forth at least $6 billion in new child care
24 resources; and be it further
25 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
26 the President pro tempore of the United States Senate, the
27 Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the
28 Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation.
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