As Republicans deliver fresh tax breaks for billionaires and kick Americans off their health care, Democrats continue their fight to help families find and afford child care
July 22, 2025 - Washington, D.C. – On Monday, U.S. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) joined Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and over 100 of her Democratic colleagues in both the House of Representatives and the Senate to reintroduce the Child Care for Working Families Act, comprehensive legislation to ensure families across America can find and afford the high-quality child care they need.
“Working families in Nevada shouldn’t have to choose between quitting their jobs to look after their kids or footing the bill for unaffordable child care,” said Senator Cortez Masto. “This legislation would support families and spur economic growth by ensuring that all families across the country can access child care without breaking the bank.”
As President Trump and Republicans in Congress choose to spend trillions on new tax cuts for billionaires and the biggest corporations, Democrats in Congress are continuing their push to help working people make ends meet. The cost of child care nationwide continues to rise—and far from helping tackle it, President Trump is exacerbating the affordability crisis. The national average cost of child care is now $13,128—a 29% increase since 2020 that outpaces inflation. In Nevada, the average annual cost of childcare is more than average annual cost of housing and more than doubles the cost of in-state college tuition. The crisis costs the U.S. economy over $100 billion each year and costs the Nevada economy over $1 billion each year.
Specifically, Child Care for Working Families Act will:
- Make child care affordable for working families by providing more funding to states, localities, and Head Start agencies. No working family will pay more than seven percent of their income on child care.
- Improve the quality and supply of child care for all children and expand families’ child care options by providing grants to open and run new child care centers for underserved communities.
- Support higher wages for child care workers.
- Dramatically expand access to high-quality pre-K. States would receive funding to establish and expand a mixed-delivery system of high-quality preschool programs for 3- and 4-year-olds.
- Better support Head Start programs by providing the funding necessary to offer full-day, full-year programming and increasing wages for Head Start workers.
Senator Cortez Masto has consistently supported efforts to lower costs for hardworking Nevadans. She helped pass critical expansions to the Child Tax Credit in the American Rescue plan, and has been fighting to permanently increase this vital relief for working families. Cortez Masto also helped introduce the No Tax on Tips Act to exempt tipped wages from federal income tax. Additionally, Senator Cortez Masto supports raising the federal minimum wage and eliminating the minimum wage gap for tipped workers nationally.
Source: Senator Catherine Cortez Masto
