Above: Gottheimer announcing new legislation to make childcare more affordable for families.

HACKENSACK, NJ — Today, October 8, 2024, U.S. Congressman Gottheimer announced The Lowering Infant and Toddler Tuition for Learning and Education Act outside Little Learners Childcare Center. The LITTLE Act expands the child tax credit and lowers barriers for entrepreneurs to provide more childcare options for families.

Video of Gottheimer’s announcement can be found here.

This legislation builds on Gottheimer’s “Childcare Affordability Plan,” which also aims to make life more affordable by reinstating the full SALT deduction. 

Skyrocketing Childcare Costs: 

• New Jersey lost 250 childcare centers during the pandemic from 2020 to 2021 during the Pandemic 
• The US Department of Labor reports childcare prices can reach higher than $19,500 a year in New Jersey for infant care and more than $17,000 for four-year-olds. Since 2019, the average cost of childcare rose with New Jersey residents spending up to $442 a week on childcare – the second most expensive in the country.
• Childcare costs have increased 223% between 2000 and 2022, while the average family income has only increased 182%
• For a minimum wage earner in New Jersey, childcare can cost more than fifty percent of their annual salary.

Gottheimer’s New Legislation, the LITTLE Act, will:

• First, the LITTLE Act will more than double the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to $7,500 for one child, and $15,000 for two or more.
  • That’s up from $3,000 and $6,000, respectively. 
  • This refundable credit will also be tied to inflation. 
• Second, the LITTLE Act will create a new tax credit for start-up childcare centers to ensure families have access to more affordable childcare. 
• Third, this legislation continues the fight to make life more affordable by building on critical wins against the Congestion Tax, restoring SALT, and supporting local businesses with R&D tax credits.

“You can see why childcare costs have become a huge obstacle to working. When moms and dads can’t afford to work, it costs them and our economy. Jersey parents are expected to lose more than $378 million dollars in earnings as a result of being forced to cut work hours or leave the workforce altogether to care for their children,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “Imagine the upside for our parents and Jersey’s economy if we can find more affordable childcare for their children. The bottom line: we must do everything we can to make childcare — and life for parents — more affordable, so moms and dads can work and our kids can continue to thrive.”

“In March of 2020 Little Learners reached its highest capacity of 70, and with an additional 4 starting and 18 incredible, amazing staff members I had. Then covid 19 reached our area, and put things at a standstill, leaving us with no choice but to close for the safety and well-being of our families and the children and staff,” said Little Learners Owners Dawn Cleveland. “After being closed for 45 days, Little Learners reopened with only seven children and four staff members. Four years later, Little learners is still trying to recoup the huge loss to the program.” 

“Without continued investment in our childcare infrastructure from the federal government, the long term viability of our childcare industry is at risk. Thank you Congressman for listening to our concerns and taking action by proposing solutions to help solve this crisis that is having a negative impact on our children, families, the state, and our economy,” said Diane Dellanno of Advocates for Children of New Jersey.

“It’s time to prioritize solutions that ensure our children can thrive and parents can work without sacrificing their family’s well being. Thank you Congressman Gottheimer for leading the charge on all the important issues in our state, and it is a pleasure to have you on our side all the time” said Assemblywoman Shama Haider.

“Congressman Gottheimer’s supportive legislation will assist in reducing the cost of childcare, will give more parents like me, families like mine, the opportunity to grow and provide a better future for our children” said Liz Vasquez, a Mom from Little Learners Child Development Center. 

Congressman Gottheimer was joined by Assemblywoman Shama Haider (LD-37), Bergen County Commissioner Rafael Marte, Dawn Cleveland, Owner and Director at Little Learners Child Development Center, Diane Dellanno, Policy Analyst at Advocates for Children of New Jersey, and Elizabeth Vasquez, Mom from Little Learners Child Development Center.

Below: Gottheimer announcing new legislation to make childcare more affordable for families.

Gottheimer’s remarks as prepared for delivery below: 

Good morning. It’s great to join you again at the Little Learners Child Development Center here in Hackensack. Childcare centers like Little Learners continue to be the bedrock of our community. In April, I had the pleasure of hosting a childcare roundtable here with Dawn and childcare advocacy groups from around the state to discuss issues impacting childcare — including the Child Tax Credit and the accessibility of affordable childcare. 

Today, I’m here to announce new action to make childcare more affordable and help put dollars back into the pockets of hardworking Jersey families. This work builds on my “Childcare Affordability Plan” which included passing the expanded Child Tax Credit and making critical investments in Head Start for Jersey families.

The bottom line: we need to make life more affordable for families, so they can live, work, and raise a family in Jersey. And we know that childcare is one of the biggest expenses for any family. And it can be a pocketbook killer – up to 50 percent of a family’s monthly budget.  As a result, it can actually keep moms and dads from going to work, because, for many, paying for childcare actually costs more than they make on the job. 

That presumes they can even find a safe place to send their kids.  Since the pandemic, there simply aren’t enough childcare centers with well-trained people in Jersey — like Little Learners behind us — to provide quality, affordable childcare. During the pandemic, from 2020 to 2021, Jersey lost more than 250 childcare centers. The number of children folks are having didn’t drop, but the places to leave them for quality care did. That creates a simple supply and demand problem, and has also led to higher costs, and, with a tight labor market, it’s even harder to find well-trained people to work at our childcare centers. It’s the perfect recipe for higher costs. 

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, childcare can cost more than $17,460 a year right here in Bergen County. That’s $442 a week – the second most expensive in the country. For families with infants, this can be as high as $19,500. Since 2019, the average cost of childcare is up 32 percent.

For someone earning minimum wage in New Jersey, as I mentioned, childcare can cost more than fifty percent of their annual salary. Imagine spending half your paycheck on childcare — and that’s before factoring in the cost to commute, taxes, and other expenses like rent, food, and diapers. You can see why childcare costs have become a huge obstacle to working. When moms and dads can’t afford to work, it costs them and our economy. Jersey parents are expected to lose more than $378 million dollars in earnings as a result of being forced to cut work hours or leave the workforce altogether to care for their children. Imagine the upside for our parents and Jersey’s economy if we can find more affordable childcare for their children. 

Today, I’m excited to announce the Lowering Infant and Toddler Tuition for Learning and Education Act — or LITTLE Act for short — as the next step of my “Childcare Affordability Plan.” This act was inspired and informed by the important discussions I had here back in April, and from the countless conversations I’ve had with families in Jersey.  They’ve personally shared with me their struggles to provide their children with the care they deserve. And we all know that if we invest in our children when they are young, from childcare centers, to pre-school, to kindergarten on, it will pay long-term dividends for us and for our country. 

First, the LITTLE Act will more than double the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit to $7,500 for one child, and $15,000 for two or more. That will be up from $3,000 and $6,000, respectively.  This refundable tax credit will put money directly back into the pocketbooks of hardworking Jersey families, helping Americans afford the cost of childcare. 

Under my plan, this refundable credit will also be tied to inflation, because the last thing to prevent our children from receiving the care they need should be unforeseen costs, as we’ve seen since the pandemic. Between 2000, when the tax credit was last updated, and 2022, childcare costs have increased 223%, while family incomes have only increased, on average, by 182%. 

Second, the LITTLE Act will create a new tax credit for start-up childcare centers to ensure families have access to more affordable childcare. Believe it or not, there is currently no tax credit for start-up childcare centers. They are small businesses that we need more of.

As I mentioned earlier, more than 250 childcare centers closed here in New Jersey during the pandemic alone, and 16,000 childcare centers across the country have closed since the pandemic. This is a problem that we need the private and public sectors to work together to solve. 

I hear stories all the time from parents signing their child up for the waitlist at childcare centers before they’re even born, because it can be really difficult to get access to quality care. And as I mentioned, the lack of supply, particularly post pandemic, is one of the key drivers of cost for families, so even when you can find childcare, you still have to hope you can afford it. 

This expanded tax credit will help lower the barrier of entry for entrepreneurs to open a new childcare center, which will help lower prices and ensure hardworking Jersey families have quality childcare for their kids. 

Third, and finally, I will never stop fighting to make life more affordable for our families. That’s why I will keep fighting to bring back the full SALT deduction for Jersey families, to lower taxes, and put an end to this SALT nightmare. With the 2025 tax bill expiring, next year will be a major fight on the tax front – and a big opportunity for Jersey families. We need to gear up for that fight, just like we beat back the Congestion Tax and R&D tax credits.

In 2021 alone, the federal tax dollars clawed back amounted to an average savings of over $750 for each household in the Fifth Congressional District.  

As I’ve done now for years, I will also keep fighting to expand the Child Tax Credit. From quality childcare to helping pay for diapers, the Child Tax Credit has helped millions of parents go to work and afford the overwhelming costs of raising a child in Jersey. 

Since 1997, the Child Tax Credit has helped millions of families pay for and get a credit on their taxes for the many expenses that come with raising a child.  We successfully fought to expand the Child Tax Credit during the pandemic, as part of the American Rescue Plan. Not only did this help make life more affordable for families, but it also cut child poverty in half while lifting over four million children out of poverty and helped childcare providers keep their doors open. Then the far-right extremists rolled it back and raised costs for Jersey families. As a result, child poverty in our country has doubled. We must put the expanded Child Tax Credit back in place. 

The bottom line: we must do everything we can to make childcare — and life for parents — more affordable, so moms and dads can work and our kids can continue to thrive. When you look at the young faces at this center behind me, you are reminded of just how important it is to invest in our future. 

Although these are tough issues, the good news is that we know how to solve this problem. And there shouldn’t be anything partisan about it. We just can’t let far-right extremists delay what our families need. In the greatest country in the world, I know that if we work together, our best days will always be ahead of us.  Thank you. God bless you, and may God continue to bless the United States of America.

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