Senator Britt pushes for affordable childcare, calls for pro-family GOP action

U.S. Senator Katie Britt took to the Senate floor on Tuesday to discuss the state of childcare in America and advocate for legislation she has helped to reintroduce that will allow more parents access to the invaluable resource at an affordable cost.

Britt (R-Montgomery) began her remarks by asking her fellow Republicans if they would rather foster the growth of American families or deter it.

“The cost is crushing for so many parents. It’s also prohibitive,” said Britt.

“How many married couples … think about having another child, they want to, and they start looking at the dollars and cents and feel like they can’t financially afford it? And how can we, as the party of life, the party of families, and the party of parents and the party of workers, neglect to make that easier? If our goal is creating a comprehensive culture of life, and that should absolutely be our goal, then we have a role to play in the child care space.”

She referenced data showing billions in losses to the national economy because of a lack of affordable child care.

“The amount of money that the American economy loses annually because of child care, the challenges we face as a result of the affordability and accessibility, are staggering,” Britt continued.

“Our economy loses $122 billion a year. 74% of mothers and 66% of fathers either have to leave work early, arrive late, or be absent because of last-minute changes in child care. 59% of part-time [and] non-working parents say they would go back to work, they want to go back to work. Unfortunately, they don’t have access to quality child care at a reasonable cost. That isn’t good for the broader economy, and it isn’t good for American workers . . .”

The Senator spoke in detail about the Child Care Availability and Affordability Act and all that it can accomplish for American couples and families.

“It consists of targeted investments in families and small businesses. It modernizes our existing tax credits so that our policy reflects our current economic reality. . . we are not creating or growing another entitlement, we are letting Americans keep more of their hard-earned taxpayer dollars in a manner that grows our economy and gives people an opportunity for their American Dream . . . We’ll help couples who want to have more children, we’ll help parents be able to re-enter the workforce after having kids, and we’ll help our job creators, especially small businesses, recruit and retain workers.”

“This legislation is pro-family, it’s pro-Main Street, it’s pro-growth.”

With conservatives now in power in Washington, D.C., Britt stressed that now is the time for action on the issue.

“For the first time in years, the Republican Party controls both chambers of Congress… and the White House,” she said. “We have an opportunity we can’t afford to waste. If we truly are the party of parents, families, and hardworking Americans, we have an opportunity to prove it.”

“Let’s address the child care crisis in this year’s tax package.”

The Bipartisan Policy Center Action has endorsed the bill and thanked Senator Britt for reintroducing it.

The child care crisis facing American families is not a Republican issue or a Democrat issue, it’s an American issue, and now is the time to address it. https://t.co/RdS32e1CIy

— Senator Katie Boyd Britt (@SenKatieBritt) March 5, 2025