Senate Republicans Wednesday warned that Democrats’ massive reconciliation spending bill could make it significantly harder for religious child care facilities to operate, as talks among Senate Democrats about the bill appear likely to drag into the new year.
Several GOP senators, led by Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., argued that the reconciliation bill will not only increase child care costs on middle-class families, but that it may significantly harm the ability of faith-based child care providers to operate.
“I’d be really surprised if the voters and citizens of Nevada or Arizona or West Virginia or New Hampshire said, ‘You know what I want my senator to do? Go to D.C. and bankrupt religious day care,’” Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., said.
“Fifty-three percent of the families in this country get their child care through a faith-based center,” Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., added. “And what this… would do is discriminate entirely against those types of child care centers that provide meaningful care for so many parents.”
