	Introduction

"Child care reauthorization" is composed of two parts: legislation to reauthorize the ChildCare and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act and legislation to extend mandatory fundingappropriated under Section 418 of the Social Security Act. The 108th Congress did not complete action to reauthorize either the CCDBG Act itself, orthe mandatory child care funding appropriated under the Social Security Act (along with theTemporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant). Both expired at the end of FY2002. However, funding for the CCDBG has been continued via a series of temporary extensions (in thecase of the mandatory funding) and annual appropriations law (for the discretionary funding portion). In terms of reauthorization legislation, the House passed a consolidated bill, H.R. 4 (Personal Responsibility and IndividualDevelopment for Everyone Act [PRIDE]) included mandatory funding for child care, while theSenate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee's reported bill, S. 880 (TheCaring for Children Act of 2003), included all provisions pertaining to discretionary fundingauthorization, and would have amended the CCDBG Act itself. Both the House versionof H.R. 4 (The Personal Responsibility, Work, and Family Promotion Act of 2003), and S. 880 (The Caring for Children Act of 2003) proposed to authorize discretionaryfunding at $2.3 billion in FY2004, rising by $200 million each year, up to $3.1 billion in FY2008. 4 reported by the Senate Finance Committeecontained the same $1 billion increase in mandatory child care funding over five years; however,Senator Snowe expressed plans at the time of voting for the committee bill to offer an amendmentfor a greater child care increase when the bill was brought to the Senate floor. The amendment would have provided anadditional $6 billion (over five years) in mandatory child care funding, above the $1 billion ($200million in each of five years) provided in the underlying bill, H.R. 4 would have allowed states to transfer up to 50% of theirannual TANF grants to the CCDBG. 4 proposed to maintaincurrent law. Quality Activities

Quality Set-Aside. 4 and S. 880 proposed to eliminate thefederal maximum of 85% of state median income (SMI) from the CCDBG law, replacing it with aprovision allowing states to set income eligibility levels (with no federal ceiling), with prioritiesbased on need. Both the House version of H.R. 4 and the HELP Committee's S. 880 would have amended current law to require that additional elements be certified in their stateplans. S. 880 would have retained the quarterly reporting in current law, but wouldhave amended the list of data elements that states would be required to collect on a monthly basis. Title II of the bill contained provisions to enhance securityat child care centers in federal facilities, and Title III would have established a small business childcare grant program, through which competitive grants would have been awarded to states forestablishment and operation of employer-operated child care programs. Detailed Comparison of Child Care Provisions of both House and Senate Versions of H.R. 4, S. 880, and Current Law

Table 1 provides a detailed comparison of the child care provisions included in theHouse-passed and Senate Finance Committee-reported versions of H.R.
The 108th Congress did not complete action to reauthorize child care legislation that expiredat the end of FY2002, but funding has continued via a series of temporary measures, and annualappropriations. "Child care reauthorization" is composed of two parts: legislation to reauthorize theChild Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act and legislation to extend mandatoryfunding appropriated under Section 418 of the Social Security Act.
In February 2003, the House passed a consolidated bill, H.R. 4 , whichencompassed both parts of reauthorization by including provisions that would have addressedmandatory appropriations, discretionary funding authorization levels, and other amendments to theCCDBG Act. The Senate Finance Committee reported its own version of H.R. 4, whichincluded mandatory child care funding, and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions(HELP) Committee reported a separate bill, S. 880 , which included all provisionspertaining to discretionary funding authorization, and amended the CCDBG Act itself. The fullSenate began consideration of H.R. 4 on March 29, 2004, passing one amendment toit (to increase child care funding), but then failed to resume consideration of the bill.
Both versions of H.R. 4 originally proposed to appropriate $2.917 billion inmandatory CCDBG funding for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008, which would have reflectedan increase of $1 billion over five years above current (FY2002) funding. (The amendment approvedon the Senate floor would have provided an additional $6 billion, on top of the $1 billion.) Discretionary funding levels are authorized within the CCDBG Act, and both the House version ofH.R. 4 and S. 880 proposed to authorize $2.3 billion in FY2004, rising up to$3.1 billion in FY2008. Also of note, H.R. 4 (House) would have allowed states to transferup to 50% of their TANF block grants to the CCDBG (rather than current law's limit of 30%).
Both H.R. 4 (House) and S. 880 would have revised and expandedthe CCDBG program goals to include and emphasize school readiness. Of the two bills, S.880 provided the greater detail in terms of defining the skills and development to befostered in efforts to prepare children for school. Both bills included provisions to increase theminimum quality set-aside from 4% to 6%, and to define "quality activities" in more detail.
Both bills proposed to eliminate the federal eligibility ceiling (85% of state median income);and to place new requirements on state plans to emphasize coordination, consumer education, andprogram quality. S. 880 would have also strengthened requirements (currently only inregulation) that states set provider payment rates in accordance with a recent market rate survey.Other provisions in S. 880 included amending the list of data elements collected on amonthly basis; enhancing security at federal child care facilities, and establishing a small businesschild care grant program. This report provides a side-by-side comparison of the proposed bills, andwill not be updated.