Federal chits for child care already pay a variety of nearly 1.5 million caregivers nationwide, a group that includes loving aunts, licensed day cares and after-school programs run by nonprofits. Refundable tax payments — contained in a bill up this week in the House — could instantly return income to families for child care as the Internal Revenue Service begins processing returns this summer.
Murray, a former preschool teacher, aims to make care affordable, most immediately for school-age kids, while bolstering the nation’s brittle nonsystem of early education. But Murray faces stiff pressure from labor groups that press for greater school funding. That’s weighed against parents, desperate for school-age care, who have no lobbyist in Washington.
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