WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown hosted a conference call Wednesday with Ohio parents and farmers to discuss his efforts to make child care more available and affordable in rural communities. Brown’s bipartisan Expanding Childcare in Rural America (ECRA) Act of 2023 would help improve the availability and quality, and lower the cost, of childcare in agricultural and rural communities.

Since announcing the bill last week, the ECRA Act of 2023 has gained three additional co-sponsors: Senators Mike Braun, R-IN, Joni Ernst, R-IA, and Bob Casey, D-PA. Senators Roger Marshall, R-KS, and Tina Smith, D-MN, originally introduced the legislation with Brown.

Endorsements for the ECRA Act of 2023 also continue to grow. This week, Child Care Aware of America, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the American Farmland Trust voiced support for the bill. Other supporters include the Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio Farmers Union, Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development, Ohio Association of Child Care Providers, Marshfield Clinic Health System, Bipartisan Policy Center, Save the Children, Early Care and Education Consortium, First Five Years Fund, American Farm Bureau Federation, National Farm Medicine Center, First Focus Campaign for Children, National Farmers Union and KinderCare Learning Companies.

The Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act would support local businesses and nonprofits that are working to provide affordable childcare in rural communities. Many parents in farm towns and rural areas work non-traditional hours and need childcare providers who can accommodate their unique needs and schedules, but their communities often don’t have enough high-quality, affordable providers. The lack of childcare options makes it harder for rural communities to recruit and retain businesses and skilled workers.

“Childcare is too expensive and too hard to find – it’s hurting families, and it’s hurting rural economies. Without quality, affordable childcare, communities can’t create good jobs and attract businesses and workers,” said Brown. “This isn’t a top-down solution – our plan would support local businesses and nonprofits that are already working to provide affordable childcare in rural Ohio. These are commonsense, bipartisan steps to allow Ohio parents to support their families, and grow their farms and their businesses – with the peace of mind that their kids will be safe and well-cared for.”

Brown was joined on the call by Megan Riddlebarger, executive director of the Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development (COAD), and Charlie and Kerissa Payne, farmers and parents from Radnow, Ohio. The Paynes discussed their experience trying to access child care while working full-time on their farm.

“Our farm doesn’t work without me and my husband both working on it full time. I can’t be what my kids need and my business requires at the same time. The next generation of farmers are my kids, and as a country we need to invest in them now for success in the future,” said Kerissa Payne. “The next generation of farmers can’t start or grow their operation when they have no childcare option available. No other profession is expected to take their kids to work with them, but farmers. People see the fun parts of farming, not the hazards we are faced with every day. Farms aren’t a replacement for childcare.”

“If it was feasible to make a living providing quality childcare in rural communities, there would not be a supply problem. The Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act addresses barriers to entry and offers support and resources to potential micropreneurs – thereby enabling America’s workforce to go to work. The Corporation for Ohio Appalachian Development appreciates this effort to expand childcare access for working families and commends Senator Brown for making this issue a priority,” said Megan Riddlebarger.

The Expanding Childcare in Rural America Act would direct U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development to authorize and prioritize projects that address the availability, quality, and cost of childcare in agricultural and rural communities through the following existing programs:

• The Community Facilities Program offers direct loans, loan guarantees and grants to develop or improve essential public services and facilities in communities across rural America.

• Community Facilities Technical Assistance and Training Grant offers grants to eligible public bodies and private, nonprofit organizations (such as states, counties, cities, townships, incorporated towns, villages, boroughs, authorities, districts, and Tribes located on Federal or state reservations) to provide technical assistance and/or training in support of the essential community facilities program.

• The Business & Industry Loan Guarantee Program provides loan guarantees to commercial lenders for loans to eligible rural businesses.

• The Rural Business Development Grant Program is a competitive grant designed to support targeted technical assistance, training, and other activities leading to the development or expansion of small and emerging private businesses in rural areas that have fewer than 50 employees and less than $1 million in gross revenues.

• The Rural Innovation Strong Economy Grant Program offers grant assistance to create and augment high-wage jobs, accelerate the formation of new businesses, support industry clusters and maximize the use of local productive assets in eligible low-income rural areas.

• The Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program provides loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs) to provide microloans for microenterprise startups and growth through a Rural Microloan Revolving Fund; and provide training and technical assistance to microloan borrowers and micro entrepreneurs.

The bill would also allow USDA to make awards through intermediaries such as childcare resource and referral organizations, staffed family childcare networks, and Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) with demonstrated expertise in the childcare sector.

Brown, the first Ohioan to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in more than 50 years, has long been a leader for Ohio’s rural communities and a champion of small farms and local and regional food systems. He recently introduced his bipartisan Local Farms and Food Act, which would make it easier for Ohio farmers to sell their products locally, improving and updating Farm Bill programs Brown helped pass, based on feedback from Ohio farmers. The legislation builds on Brown’s Local FARMS Act of 2017 and key provisions Brown secured in the 2018 Farm Bill — including, most notably, the creation of the Local Agriculture Market Program.

Brown will help write the upcoming 2023 Farm Bill and has talked with farmers and other agriculture representatives at roundtables around the state over the last several months as a part of the 2023 Farm Bill planning process.