FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, Contact: (202) 225-1025
March 9, 1999
No. HR-3
Congresswoman Nancy L. Johnson (R-CT), Chairman, Subcommittee on Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means, today announced that the Subcommittee will hold a hearing on Federal resources available for child care. The hearing will take place on Tuesday, March 16, 1999, in room B-318 Rayburn House Office Building, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
In view of the limited time available to hear witnesses, oral testimony at this hearing will be from invited witnesses only. Witnesses will include a representative from the Administration, researchers, State policymakers, and child care administrators. However, any individual or organization not scheduled for an oral appearance may submit a written statement for consideration by the Committee and for inclusion in the printed record of the hearing.
BACKGROUND:
The 1996 welfare reform law (P.L. 104-193) consolidated several overlapping child care programs, created a unified child care block grant, and provided an additional $4 billion for child care for poor and low-income working families. Since enactment of welfare reform, about 1.5 million families have left welfare. In every State, adults who leave welfare for work are provided with some child care assistance, often for a year or more. In addition, most States provide child care subsidies for low-income working families who have not been on welfare, although few States provide subsidies to all eligible families. States have had nearly two years of experience with the child care block grant and are now in a position to inform Congress about whether the block grant permits adequate flexibility in the use of Federal child care dollars, the extent to which families leaving welfare use child care, and whether barriers exist to funding a sufficiently broad array of services (off-hour care, family day care, and the use of vouchers) to meet the unique needs of families.
States currently have about $3 billion in obligated and $3 billion in unobligated funds remaining in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant. These funds could be used to purchase additional child care. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office is projecting that states will have an additional $15 billion in unspent TANF funds over the next five years. And yet, the President's budget included a request for $10.5 billion in additional spending for child care programs.
In announcing the hearing, Chairman Johnson stated: "The President wants to spend additional subsidies to provide child care over the next five years. But States already have significant funds built-up from existing welfare block grants. While we must address child care needs to help people move from welfare to work, those of us responsible for maintaining budget targets are trying to understand why the President wants to increase Federal spending even more when the States already have big block grant surpluses available for child care."
FOCUS OF THE HEARING:
The hearing will focus on two issues. First, the Subcommittee will examine the President's request for additional spending for child care programs, and seek to determine whether the substantial surplus TANF funds already available to States are adequate to meet the Federal responsibility for helping poor and low-income working families pay for child care. Second, the Subcommittee will examine how the substantial reforms in Federal child care programs enacted in 1996 are working at the State and local level.
DETAILS FOR SUBMISSION OF WRITTEN COMMENTS:
Any person or organization wishing to submit a written statement for the printed record of the hearing should submit six (6) single-spaced copies of their statement, along with an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette in WordPerfect 5.1 format, with their name, address, and hearing date noted on a label, by the close of business, Tuesday, March 30, 1999, to A.L. Singleton, Chief of Staff, Committee on Ways and Means, U.S. House of Representatives, 1102 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, D.C. 20515. If those filing written statements wish to have their statements distributed to the press and interested public at the hearing, they may deliver 200 additional copies for this purpose to the Subcommittee on Human Resources office, room B-317 Rayburn House Office Building, by close of business the day before the hearing.
FORMATTING REQUIREMENTS:
Each statement presented for printing to the Committee by a witness, any written statement or exhibit submitted for the printed record or any written comments in response to a request for written comments must conform to the guidelines listed below. Any statement or exhibit not in compliance with these guidelines will not be printed, but will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
1. All statements and any accompanying exhibits for printing must be submitted on an IBM compatible 3.5-inch diskette WordPerfect 5.1 format, typed in single space and may not exceed a total of 10 pages including attachments. Witnesses are advised that the Committee will rely on electronic submissions for printing the official hearing record.
2. Copies of whole documents submitted as exhibit material will not be accepted for printing. Instead, exhibit material should be referenced and quoted or paraphrased. All exhibit material not meeting these specifications will be maintained in the Committee files for review and use by the Committee.
3. A witness appearing at a public hearing, or submitting a statement for the record of a public hearing, or submitting written comments in response to a published request for comments by the Committee, must include on his statement or submission a list of all clients, persons, or organizations on whose behalf the witness appears.
4. A supplemental sheet must accompany each statement listing the name, company, address, telephone and fax numbers where the witness or the designated representative may be reached. This supplemental sheet will not be included in the printed record.
The above restrictions and limitations apply only to material being submitted for printing. Statements and exhibits or supplementary material submitted solely for distribution to the Members, the press, and the public during the course of a public hearing may be submitted in other forms.
The
Committee seeks to make its facilities accessible to persons with
disabilities. If you are in need of special accommodations, please
call 202-225-1721 or 202-226-3411 TTD/TTY in advance of the event
(four business days notice is requested). Questions with regard to
special accommodation needs in general (including availability of
Committee materials in alternative formats) may be directed to the
Committee as noted above.