Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5363 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 5363

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out an initiative to
 develop, expand, and improve rural childcare, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           September 15, 2025

    Ms. Perez (for herself, Mr. Mann, Ms. Underwood, and Mr. Baird)
 introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
                              Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

To authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out an initiative to
 develop, expand, and improve rural childcare, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Expanding Childcare in Rural America
Act of 2025''.

SEC. 2. EXPANDING CHILDCARE IN RURAL AMERICA INITIATIVE.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Childcare.--
                    (A) In general.--The term ``childcare'' means any
                program that--
                            (i) provides quality care and early
                        education for young children who--
                                    (I) are in kindergarten; or
                                    (II) have not yet entered
                                kindergarten; and
                            (ii) is operated by--
                                    (I) an eligible childcare provider
                                described in section 658P(6)(A) of the
                                Child Care and Development Block Grant
                                Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 9858n(6)(A)); or
                                    (II) a childcare provider that, on
                                the date of enactment of this Act--
                                            (aa) is licensed,
                                        regulated, or registered in the
                                        State, territory, or Indian
                                        Tribe in which the provider is
                                        located; and
                                            (bb) meets applicable
                                        State, Tribal, territorial, and
                                        local health and safety
                                        requirements.
                    (B) Inclusions.--The term ``childcare'' includes--
                            (i) a school-based program described in
                        subparagraph (A);
                            (ii) a facility used for a program
                        described in subparagraph (A); and
                            (iii) a service provided under a program
                        described in subparagraph (A).
            (2) Initiative.--The term ``Initiative'' means the
        Expanding Childcare in Rural America Initiative established
        under subsection (b).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary
        of Agriculture.
    (b) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish an initiative, to
be known as the ``Expanding Childcare in Rural America Initiative'',
under which the Secretary shall provide, for each of fiscal years 2026
through 2030, priority in accordance with subsection (c) to address the
availability, quality, and cost of childcare in agricultural and rural
communities.
    (c) Childcare Priorities.--
            (1) In general.--Notwithstanding any other provision of
        law, in selecting recipients of loans and grants under a
        program described in paragraph (2), the Secretary shall give
        priority to any qualified applicant that proposes to use the
        loan or grant to address the availability, quality, or cost of
        childcare in an agricultural or rural community.
            (2) Description of programs.--The programs referred to in
        paragraph (1) are the following:
                    (A) The essential community facilities loan and
                grant programs authorized under section 306(a) of the
                Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C.
                1926(a)).
                    (B) The technical assistance and training grant
                program authorized under section 306(a) of that Act (7
                U.S.C. 1926(a)).
                    (C) The rural business development grant program
                authorized under section 310B(c) of that Act (7 U.S.C.
                1932(c)).
                    (D) The business and industry direct and guaranteed
                loan program authorized under section 310B(g) of that
                Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(g)).
                    (E) The rural microentrepreneur assistance program
                authorized under section 379E of that Act (7 U.S.C.
                2008s).
                    (F) The rural innovation stronger economy (RISE)
                grant program authorized under section 379I of that Act
                (7 U.S.C. 2008w).
    (d) Requirements.--In providing funding in accordance with the
Initiative, the Secretary shall--
            (1) give priority to communities in farming-dependent
        counties, as described in the 2015 county typology codes
        published by the Economic Research Service (as revised); and
            (2) ensure a balanced geographical distribution of the
        benefits under the Initiative.
    (e) Use of Intermediaries.--In providing funding in accordance with
the Initiative, the Secretary may make awards through a childcare
resource and referral organization, a staffed family child care
network, a community development financial institution, a nonprofit
organization, or a network of nonprofit organizations, with
demonstrated expertise in--
            (1) providing technical or financial assistance for the
        acquisition, construction, renovation, or improvement of
        childcare facilities;
            (2) providing technical, financial, or managerial
        assistance to childcare providers; or
            (3) securing private sources of capital financing for
        childcare or other low-income community development.
    (f) Evaluation; Report.--
            (1) Evaluation.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall conduct a
        comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the
        projects carried out using assistance provided under the
        Initiative, including--
                    (A) a description of--
                            (i) the types of projects carried out;
                            (ii) the communities in which the projects
                        are carried out;
                            (iii) the organizations and entities
                        participating in the projects; and
                            (iv) the types of partnerships developed to
                        carry out the projects; and
                    (B) the economic and social impacts of the
                investments in the projects.
            (2) Report.--Not later than 3 years after the date of
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the
        Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate
        and the Committee on Agriculture of the House Representatives a
        report describing the evaluation conducted under paragraph (1),
        including a thorough analysis of the outcomes of the
        evaluation.
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