Bill stops federal child care money to states with too much fraud.

What it does

The bill requires states to find and stop fraud in child care programs. States must set up systems to catch fraud and investigate it. Providers caught committing fraud are banned forever. If a state has too many wrong payments, it must make a plan to fix the problem. If the problem continues for two years, the state loses federal money.

Who it affects

Families who use child care paid for by federal money are affected. Child care providers are affected. States that run child care programs are affected.

One thing to notice

States that lose federal money may have to cut child care help for low-income families. This could make it harder for families to find child care.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

• Feb 26, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Feb 26, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce and Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
• Mar 5, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Mar 5, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 20 - 15”
• Jun 3, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 207 (Roll no. 198).”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

6 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 6 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $1,181,100 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 43 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 82% of bills with any report.

Mary Miller, who sponsored the bill, received $137,130 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees — $630,000 in 1 report
• Service Employees International Union Ctw-clc — $300,000 in 1 report
• Heritage Action for America — $140,000 in 1 report
• National Women's Law Center Action Fund — $75,000 in 1 report
• Center for American Progress Action Fund — $30,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• fraud — Lying or cheating to get money or help that a person should not get.
• banned — Not allowed to do something, like run a child care program.
• federal money — Money given by the U.S. government to states and programs.
• wrong payments — Money given out by mistake or to the wrong person.
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.