PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Congressional Research Service
No official summary is available in the imported record yet.
People & committees
Rep. Davids, Sharice [D-KS-3] · D–KS
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We also preserved the text version used in the PlainBill explanation below.
No related bills are listed in this snapshot. This does not establish whether the proposal has appeared in earlier Congresses.
Source last updated: Aug 25, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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PlainBill explanation
Based on the full Introduced in House · 2025-02-18 text. This explanation has not received human editorial review. This overview describes the proposal’s major provisions; it does not establish what its real-world effects would be.
The proposed Affordable Child Care Act would double specified federal tax amounts affecting people using the child and dependent care credit or programs that provide dependent care assistance, and employers using the employer-provided childcare credit. These changes would apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2024. Doubling these statutory amounts does not necessarily double anyone’s actual tax savings.
This Act may be cited as the Affordable Child Care Act.
2. Child and dependent care credit doubled (a) In general Section 21(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by striking $3,000 and inserting $6,000, and (2) in paragraph (2), by striking $6,000 and inserting $12,000.
3. Dependent care assistance program limit doubled (a) In general Section 129(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking $5,000 ($2,500 and inserting $10,000 (half such dollar amount), and (2) by striking subparagraph (D).
4. Employer-provided childcare credit doubled (a) In general Section 45F(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking $150,000 and inserting $300,000.
The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.
The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.
The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.
For the child and dependent care credit, the bill would replace $3,000 with $6,000 in section 21(c)(1) and $6,000 with $12,000 in section 21(c)(2). These are changes to specified statutory amounts; the bill does not reproduce the surrounding rules governing their use.
2. Child and dependent care credit doubled (a) In general Section 21(c) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— (1) in paragraph (1), by striking $3,000 and inserting $6,000, and (2) in paragraph (2), by striking $6,000 and inserting $12,000.
The bill would also delete subsection (g) of section 21 and redesignate subsection (h) as subsection (g). The deleted subsection’s content is not supplied, so its substantive effect cannot be determined from this bundle.
(b) Conforming amendment Section 21 of such Code is amended by striking subsection (g) and redesignating subsection (h) as subsection (g).
For dependent care assistance programs, the bill would replace the $5,000 amount with $10,000 and replace the parenthetical $2,500 amount with half the new amount, or $5,000. It would also delete section 129(a)(2)(D). That provision’s content is not supplied, so the substantive effect of its deletion cannot be determined from this bundle.
3. Dependent care assistance program limit doubled (a) In general Section 129(a)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended— (1) in subparagraph (A), by striking $5,000 ($2,500 and inserting $10,000 (half such dollar amount), and (2) by striking subparagraph (D).
For the employer-provided childcare credit, the bill would increase the dollar amount in section 45F(b) from $150,000 to $300,000. The surrounding credit calculation and eligibility rules are not reproduced.
4. Employer-provided childcare credit doubled (a) In general Section 45F(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking $150,000 and inserting $300,000.
All amendments in sections 2 through 4 would apply to tax years beginning after December 31, 2024.
(c) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.
(b) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.
(b) Effective date The amendments made by this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after December 31, 2024.
The supplied action snapshot, updated August 25, 2026, records introduction in the House and referral to the House Committee on Ways and Means on February 18, 2025. It does not establish passage or enactment.
Source snapshot updated 2026-08-25T08:05:45Z. 2025-02-18: Referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means. 2025-02-18: Introduced in House
A closer look
Reviewed version: Introduced in House · 2025-02-18. These findings describe provisions and who may benefit; they are not judgments of waste, corruption, or motive.
This review covers the supplied bill text. “None identified” does not rule out provisions in later versions or accompanying reports and disclosures.
Provisions outside the bill’s main subject, or policy changes attached to appropriations.
None identified in the reviewed text
No unrelated provision or policy change attached to appropriations was identified after reviewing the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish attachment history or absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Spending directed to particular recipients or places outside ordinary competitive or formula-based allocation.
None identified in the reviewed text
No congressionally directed spending for particular recipients or places was identified after reviewing the complete supplied introduced text. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish the absence of earmarks in other versions or accompanying materials.
Narrow exceptions, exemptions, or preferential treatment that warrant a closer look.
None identified in the reviewed text
No materially narrow carve-out, special exemption, or preferential exception was identified after reviewing the complete supplied introduced text. Ordinary coverage of intended program beneficiaries alone does not warrant a finding. This conclusion is limited to that version and does not establish absence in other versions or accompanying materials.
Full text preserved for this analysis. Legislative record snapshot: Aug 25, 2026. How PlainBill uses AI