Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) comes up for renewal every five years as an opportunity for Congress to examine the current law and make any improvements to the federal nutrition programs. The current law, the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-296), expired in 2015. When a reauthorization is delayed, Congress usually includes funding to maintain the programs as-is through the annual appropriations process, which allows them to continue to operate. However, this means we are about seven years overdue for changes to be implemented to strengthen federal child nutrition programs. 

Reconciliation (the Inflation Reduction Act) 

While the path to passing the Build Back Better (BBB) Act has come with its fair share of challenges and setbacks, there is still momentum in Congress to pass the investments in affordable, high-quality child care and mixed-delivery preschool.  

On Thursday, October 28, President Biden announced a new framework for the Build Back Better Act, which includes $400 billion for child care and early learning investments over the next 6 years. If the Build Back Better Act is signed into law, it will dramatically transform the child care and early learning system for nearly every family with young children, as well as for child care providers.