WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today introduced his legislation to improve access to quality child care in America as an amendment to the minimum wage bill. 

"As we debate the issue of minimum wage, we cannot forget the impact on the employers who hire these minimum wage workers," Roberts said. "In Kansas, small businesses employ the majority of hardworking families. I often hear from these employers, who agree their workers deserve a fair wage for a fair day’s work. They admit though, that they struggle to offer basic benefits to their employees such as child care. With a mandated increase in the minimum wage, that struggle only grows."

Small businesses pay 45 percent of the payroll in the United States and have created 60-80 percent of new jobs over the last decade.

The amendment creates a short-term, flexible grant program to encourage small businesses to work together or with other local child care agencies to provide child care services for employees. Small businesses will be eligible for grants up to $500,000 for start-up costs, training, scholarships, or other related activities. Businesses, however, will be required to match federal funds to encourage self-sustaining facilities well into the future. The program is authorized at $50 million over five years and sunsets in 2012.

The proposal has a record of strong bipartisan support. In 2005, Senator Roberts was able to get this legislation included in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) reauthorization bill. The HELP Committee then unanimously approved the larger bill in August 2005. However, the bill was not considered on the Senate floor before the close of the 109^th Congress.

"In many small Kansas towns such as Dodge City," Roberts said, "child care facilities can be scarce. This amendment would alleviate the strain on working families who often have to close the door on the opportunity to expand their income because of the lack of child care options in their communities."

As a new member of the Senate Committee on Finance and a member of the Senate Health, Education Labor and Pensions Committee, Senator Roberts looks forward to working with his colleagues on child care and other issues facing American families.