Late last week, Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Angus King (I-ME) introduced the Promoting Affordable Care for Everyone (PACE) Act of 2017. The goal of the PACE Act is to make these tax credits more generous for working and low-income families and reflect the rising cost of child care.

This legislation would update several Federal child care-related tax credits including the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA).

During the late hours of December 9, the Senate avoided a government shutdown and approved H.R. 2028, a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the Federal government until April 28, 2017. CRs, which are used is the absence of a final budget bill, are funded at the same levels appropriated for the previous fiscal year (2016). In addition to maintaining child care and early childhood development programs at FY 2016 levels, the CR also includes $4.1 billion for Hurricane Matthew recovery efforts.

Earlier today, the Department of Education published the final regulations to implement the "Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015."  The final ESSA regulations are designed to support states in maximizing their opportunities under the new law.

Yesterday, the Department of Education issued a non-regulatory guidance on the early learning opportunities in the "Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015." The guidance does not include any required actions that state and local education agencies must follow, rather, suggested activities to help strengthen early learning programs.

Building on her plan to help working families gain access to child care and lift themselves out of poverty, the Democratic nominee for President, Hillary Clinton, proposed to expand the child tax credit for families living in poverty and families with children under the age of four who qualify. According to the Clinton campaign, up to 15 million children would benefit from this plan.

Last month, the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) published the final rule for the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) based on the 2014 Child Care and Development Block Grant Act (CCDBG). This final rule updates CCDF regulations for the first time since 1998.