[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 4071 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 4071

 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create a Business Child 
           Care Liaison within the Internal Revenue Service.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2026

  Ms. Hassan (for herself and Mr. Sullivan) introduced the following 
  bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to create a Business Child 
           Care Liaison within the Internal Revenue Service.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Child Care Tax Benefit Outreach and 
Assistance Act''.

SEC. 2. BUSINESS CHILD CARE LIAISON.

    Section 7803 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by 
adding at the end the following new subsection:
    ``(g) Business Child Care Liaison.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Commissioner of Internal Revenue 
        shall appoint within the Internal Revenue Service a Business 
        Child Care Liaison. The appointment shall be made without 
        regard to the provisions of title 5, United States Code, 
        relating to appointments in the competitive service or Senior 
        Executive Service. At the Commissioner's discretion, the 
        Commissioner may create an office with additional support staff 
        to assist the Business Child Care Liaison in carrying out the 
        duties described in this subsection.
            ``(2) Duties.--The Business Child Care Liaison shall--
                    ``(A) act as a liaison between the Internal Revenue 
                Service, employer-provided child care benefit 
                advocates, businesses considering providing or 
                expanding child care benefits for their employees, 
                state workforce boards, state economic development 
                agencies, child care resource and referral agencies, 
                tribal organizations (as defined in section 4(l) of the 
                Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
                Act), and other stakeholders, including child 
                development experts,
                    ``(B) provide public education and assistance 
                related to the expansion of employer-provided child 
                care benefits through the establishment and maintenance 
                of practices that promote employer-provided child care 
                benefits, including the use of on-site or subsidized 
                child care, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, 
                child care stipends, near-site child care partnerships, 
                shared and pooled child-care arrangements, backup child 
                care, and resource and referral services,
                    ``(C) issue a fact sheet for use by tax return 
                preparers listing the different tax benefits for 
                employer-provided child care and the appropriate rules 
                for each such benefit,
                    ``(D) help facilitate communication between 
                businesses and the Internal Revenue Service about the 
                operational challenges and opportunities that exist to 
                improve the use of Federally incentivized child care 
                benefits such as Dependent Care Flexible Spending 
                Accounts and the credit under section 45F,
                    ``(E) in collaboration with the General Services 
                Administration, within 120 days of the date of the 
                enactment of this subsection, establish a link on the 
                homepage of SAM.gov, which allows website visitors to 
                access a landing page on the SAM.gov website which is 
                tailored to helping businesses learn about utilizing 
                the Dependent Care Assistance Program and the credit 
                under section 45, resources for understanding the rules 
                and regulations with these programs, and the benefits 
                of utilizing these programs on worker recruitment, 
                retention, productivity, and well-being,
                    ``(F) identify and recommend to Congress potential 
                legislative and administrative changes to increase 
                practices that promote employer-provided child care 
                benefits, and
                    ``(G) coordinate with other Federal agencies and 
                officials, including the Secretary, the Administrator 
                of the Small Business Administration, the Secretary of 
                Commerce, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, 
                the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of Labor, 
                and the Secretary of Education, or the designee of any 
                such individual, and State and local governments on 
                outreach and education to inform employers and 
                employees about the possibilities and benefits of 
                employer-provided child care benefits and particularly 
                reducing information barriers for small businesses.
            ``(3) Consultation and input.--The Commissioner of Internal 
        Revenue shall solicit advice and input from the Business Child 
        Care Liaison in developing regulations or interpretations of 
        this title that relate to employer-provided child care 
        benefits.
            ``(4) Compensation.--The Business Child Care Liaison shall 
        be entitled to compensation at the same rate as the rate of 
        basic pay in effect for a position at level V of the Executive 
        Schedule under section 5316 of title 5, United States Code.
            ``(5) Annual report.--
                    ``(A) In general.--Not later than December 31 of 
                each calendar year beginning after the date of the 
                enactment of this subsection, the Business Child Care 
                Liaison shall submit a report to the Committee on 
                Finance of the Senate and the Committee on Ways and 
                Means of the House of Representatives on the activities 
                of the Business Child Care Liaison during the fiscal 
                year ending during such calendar year.
                    ``(B) Contents.--Each report submitted pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A) shall--
                            ``(i) summarize the assistance requests 
                        received by the Business Child Care Liaison 
                        during the fiscal year ending during the 
                        calendar year of such report,
                            ``(ii) describe the activities conducted by 
                        the Business Child Care Liaison, including the 
                        activities described under subparagraphs (B) 
                        and (F) of paragraph (2), and evaluate the 
                        effectiveness of the Business Child Care 
                        Liaison during such fiscal year,
                            ``(iii) describe any significant problems 
                        the Business Child Care Liaison has identified 
                        during such fiscal year and ways to mitigate 
                        such problems,
                            ``(iv) contain recommendations for any 
                        administrative or legislative action which may 
                        be appropriate to resolve barriers to, and to 
                        incentivize, practices which promote employer-
                        provided child care benefits, and
                            ``(v) describe progress related to 
                        employer-provided child care benefits in 
                        businesses in the United States, including data 
                        updated at least annually on the utilization of 
                        Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts and 
                        the credit under section 45F, in particular--
                                    ``(I) the number of employers 
                                utilizing these tax benefits,
                                    ``(II) a breakdown of the size of 
                                employers utilizing these tax benefits, 
                                and
                                    ``(III) other relevant information 
                                as deemed appropriate by the Business 
                                Child Care Liaison.
                    ``(C) Concurrent submission.--The Business Child 
                Care Liaison shall submit a copy of each report 
                submitted pursuant to subparagraph (A) to the 
                Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and any other 
                appropriate official, at the same time such report is 
                submitted pursuant to such subparagraph.
                    ``(D) Public availability.--The Commissioner shall 
                make a copy of each report submitted pursuant to 
                subparagraph (A) available and widely accessible to the 
                public.''.
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