Bill > S2480

Introduced Session

This bill raises the annual household income limit for determining initial income eligibility under the State's subsidized child care assistance program. It is the intent of the bill's sponsor to make essential child care services more affordable for New Jersey's working families as they struggle to recover from the social and economic impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Currently, initial eligibility determination in the State's subsidized child care assistance program is limited to families that report a maximum annual gross family income of 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), which is $55,500 for a family of four in 2022. However, according to the most recent ALICE Report by the United Ways of New Jersey, the average ALICE - Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed - Household Survival Budget in the State was $88,224 for a family of four in 2018. In 2018, 37 percent of New Jersey's 3.2 million households struggled to make ends meet, with 27 percent of these households categorized as ALICE households. As such, the current income eligibility criteria for the State's subsidized child care assistance program do not accurately reflect the economic need of New Jersey families, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. This bill raises the maximum initial income eligibility, and subsequent redetermination income eligibility, for the State's subsidized child care assistance program to 300 percent of the FPL, which is $83,250 for a family of four in 2022. The bill, finally, appropriates such sums as may be necessary to implement the requirements therein.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Teresa Ruiz (D)*,  Joe Vitale (D)*,  Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D),  Joe Cryan (D),  Sandra Cunningham (D),  Troy Singleton (D),  Brian Stack (D),  Jean Stanfield (R),  Shirley Turner (D), 

Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee (on 06/06/2022)

Official Document