Congress·In Committee·S. 4918

Right Start Child Care and Education Act of 2026

Child Care: Tax Credits for Workers with Degrees

9 days ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

The Right Start Child Care and Education Act of 2026 is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It was recently introduced in the Senate and sent to the Committee on Finance for review. No further actions are scheduled at this time, and the bill is waiting for the committee to decide on its next steps.

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Unlikely to pass

This bill faces a tough path because standalone tax changes usually need to be part of a much larger budget deal to pass through the Senate.

Key Points

This bill would create a new tax credit for people who work in licensed child care centers and have specific degrees or credentials in early childhood education.
Workers with a four-year bachelor's degree could get $4,500 back on their taxes each year, while those with a two-year associate's degree could get $3,000.
People who have a Child Development Associate credential but no college degree would be eligible for a $1,500 tax credit.
To get the money, a person must work at least 1,200 hours during the year at a licensed facility, which averages out to about 23 hours every week.
The goal is to help child care centers find and keep trained staff by boosting their take-home pay, though individuals can only claim this credit for three years total.

Impact Analysis

Govbase has not yet run an impact analysis on this legislation.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Jun 24, 2026Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Jun 24, 2026

Introduced in Senate

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

News

No related news coverage found for this legislation yet.

Source Information

Document Type

Congressional Bill

Official Title

Right Start Child Care and Education Act of 2026

Bill NumberS 4918

Congress119th Congress

ChamberSenate

Latest ActionRead twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

Data Sources

Congress.gov

Official legislative information

Read Full Bill Text

Sponsor

Cosponsors

(2)

D: 1I: 1

Analysis generated by AI. Always verify with official sources.