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Amid COVID-19 Crisis, Stauber Introduces Bipartisan Legislation to Prevent Families from Losing Funds Saved for Childcare

May 22, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08) and Congresswoman Cindy Axne (IA-03) introduced the COVID-19 Dependent Care Flexible Spending Arrangement Rollover Act of 2020 to prevent parents across the nation from losing money saved for childcare because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This legislation would allow the funds already saved in the Dependent Care Assistance Plan (DCAP) to rollover from 2020 to 2021. The DCAP program allows working families to set aside pre-tax income for childcare expenses, but currently, accounts do not rollover from year to year.

Of this legislation, Congressman Stauber stated, "Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, countless parents across the nation have not had access to their usual childcare services. Without an answer as to when their children can safely return to school or daycare, many of these families risk losing all the money they have saved for this specific purpose. Hardworking families should not be punished for circumstances that are entirely out of their control. That's why I am proud to introduce bipartisan legislation that will allow DCAP funds to rollover into 2021 and ensure families are better prepared to foot this expense once this crisis is over."

Axne stated, "COVID-19 has shut down childcare facilities across this country, and as a result many parents who have saved money to pay for these services have still kept their children at home. We should not punish families who budgeted that money away in a DCAP account but now aren't likely to use those funds until facilities fully reopen. Families shouldn't be forced to start over at zero on January 1st, especially as financial uncertainty continues to hang over our middle class. My bipartisan bill is a commonsense fix to prevent hard-earned dollars from disappearing at the end of this year."

This legislation is already endorsed by the Early Care and Education Consortium (ECEC), Employers Council on Flexible Compensation (ECFC), Save the Children Action Network, National Child Care Association, and the First Five Years Fund.

Sarah Rittling, Executive Director of the First Five Years Fund stated, "As the coronavirus pandemic forces childcare centers to close, parents are stepping up to care for their children at home or finding alternative solutions within their communities. With no childcare to pay for, those families who have saved thousands of dollars in dependent care assistance plans are at risk of losing that unused money at the end of the year. Now more than ever, Congress must be focused on providing relief for working families. We are pleased to see Congresswoman Axne and Congressman Stauber working together on a bipartisan proposal that ensures parents will not be penalized for a national crisis outside their control. This pandemic drastically changed every aspect of our lives, and this commonsense legislation will give parents one less thing to worry about as we recover from this pandemic and return to normalcy."

This legislation is a follow-up to Stauber and Axne's bipartisan Improving Child Care for Working Families Act, which would increase the DCAP from $5,000 to $10,000 and allow families to set aside a larger portion of their pretax income for childcare expenses. Read more HERE.

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