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Only one Republican joined 22 Democrats in endorsing the bill, which borrows little from the package of federal subsidies and tax credits approved by the Senate last week. Action on the House floor isn't expected until later this summer.

"I am confident that we will have a child-care bill out of Congress by the end of this year," committee Chairman Augustus Hawkins (D., Fla.) said in an interview. Rep. Hawkins proposed the bill and carefully guided it through a sea of threatening Republican amendments.

Except for the same price tag -- $1.75 billion a year in new spending -- the House bill bears little resemblance to the Senate's. The Senate would pay for child-care costs primarily through direct payment vouchers or grants through the states, spur the growth of new facilities and encourage states to meet model day-care standards. The subsidies would be supplemented by $2 billion in tax breaks to help parents with day-care and children's health insurance costs.

Copyright Dow Jones & Company Inc Jun 28, 1989

WASHINGTON -- The House Education and Labor Committee approved child-care legislation that would create an all-day, year-round system for the children of working mothers.

Only one Republican joined 22 Democrats in endorsing the bill, which borrows little from the package of federal subsidies and tax credits approved by the Senate last week. Action on the House floor isn't expected until later this summer.

"I am confident that we will have a child-care bill out of Congress by the end of this year," committee Chairman Augustus Hawkins (D., Fla.) said in an interview. Rep. Hawkins proposed the bill and carefully guided it through a sea of threatening Republican amendments.

Except for the same price tag -- $1.75 billion a year in new spending -- the House bill bears little resemblance to the Senate's. The Senate would pay for child-care costs primarily through direct payment vouchers or grants through the states, spur the growth of new facilities and encourage states to meet model day-care standards. The subsidies would be supplemented by $2 billion in tax breaks to help parents with day-care and children's health insurance costs.

The House's version would use its funds primarily to expand the Head Start program, with mainly serves three-year-olds and four-year-olds, and federally funded after-school programs. The new system would rely largely on existing facilities. A substantial portion of the money would also be left to the states to distribute to facilities that serve low-income children.

There are no provisions for tax incentives, which committee members said would be for the House Ways and Means Committee to decide.

Republicans on the committee strongly objected to the plan, which they claimed discriminates against stay-at-home parents, reduces day-care choices, and leaves control up to a bloated federal bureaucracy. "Frankly, it's a sloppy bill," said Rep. Thomas Tauke (R., Iowa). "It doesn't hold together. I am less than satisfied with this product."

Among the controversial issues that split the parties was a Democratic amendment that forbid money from going to religious-based day-care services. The committee passed the provision, which runs counter to the Senate legislation that allows vouchers for such institutions as long as the funding doesn't violate the constitutional church-state separation.

The bill is likely to meet with stiff Republican opposition both on the House floor and at the White House. President Bush already has criticized the Senate bill, saying that it limits day-care choice and doesn't directly aid parents, charges also raised by Republicans against the House proposal.

But House Democrats adopted their version because they believe it to be less controversial than the Senate's. "Our approach is much safer," said Mr. Hawkins. "We use Head Start, proven school programs, and the states. There are no gimmicks here."

Credit: Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal