I work in the nonprofit sector. It is something I am incredibly passionate about, but I do not make a lot of money. I have twin boys that are just over a year-and-a-half old now. They are in child care and have been since they were infants. Fortunately, I was able to get an ABC voucher that greatly offsets the cost of their child care. (I currently pay $100 per week). If I didn't have an ABC voucher then I would be paying $1,600 per month or more for child care. There is no way I could afford that. There is no way that most people could afford that.

It's time for a call-in day to Congress while there still time to let them know that we need to prioritize child care funding in the FY 2018 budget.

On May 4, the House of Representatives barely passed H.R. 1628, the "American Health Care Act (AHCA) of 2017," on a party-line vote. H.R. 1628 would replace the "Affordable Care Act of 2010," and if enacted into law, it could result in more than 20 million people losing access to health insurance, as well as millions of children losing access to Medicaid coverage, over the next decade.

Earlier this week, Congress and the Administration agreed to a FY 2017 omnibus spending bill that will fund the federal government through September 30. The bill, which is expected to pass and be signed into law in the next couple of days, includes nearly $5 billion in new funding for early education and health programs. With regard to the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG), the program will receive a $95 million increase in FY 2017 ($2.856 billion), which is more than what was included in the House and Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education bills from last summer. While this increase is significant given the current legislative environment, it is still well short of what's needed to meet gaps in child care coverage, as well as support states with their implementation needs.

We were excited to have more than 300 attendees join us for this year’s Child Care Aware® of America Policy Summit on April 23-25 in Washington, D.C. Child care resource and referral (CCR&R) agencies and early child care professionals from various disciplines and settings joined us from across the nation to address policy, practice, and the future of the early childhood field. Attendees engaged in insightful sessions, profited from key takeaways, networked, and (most importantly) made their voices heard during our special Day on the Hill event, where child care advocates and allies had an opportunity to meet with their Congressional representatives and put child care initiatives at the forefront of the political conversation.

This week, the Trump Administration released a broad tax proposal to Congress which includes expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC) with the possibility of making it refundable.