About the bill
Could expanded taxpayer-funded childcare options help more veterans access their VA medical appointments?
Context
42 percent of women veterans report finding childcare as “very hard” or “somewhat hard,” according to a 2015 Department of Veterans Affairs study. 62 percent said they would find on-site childcare at VA-run medical centers to be “very helpful.”
This barrier prevents some veterans from accessing their medical appointments — a particularly salient issue when an average of 20 veterans commit suicide per day.
A 2011 pilot program created by Congress tested providing free childcare at a select number of VA sites, with over 10,000 children using it to date. The program was supposed to be temporary but has been reauthorized four times, with the current reauthorization scheduled to expire in October.
What the …
Sponsor and status
116th Congress (2019–2021)
This bill was introduced in a previous session of Congress and was passed by the House on February 8, 2019 but was never passed by the Senate.
Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills).
22 Cosponsors (21 Democrats, 1 Republican)
Position statements
What legislators are saying
“Brownley Applauds Congressional Passage of Historic Women Veterans Legislation”
—
Rep. Julia Brownley [D-CA26]
(Sponsor)
on Dec 16, 2020
“In First 100 Days of the 116th Congress, Kuster Fights for New Hampshire Families”
—
Rep. Ann Kuster [D-NH2]
(Co-sponsor)
on Apr 12, 2019
“Bill Flores Discusses This Week in Washington”
—
Rep. Bill Flores [R-TX17, 2011-2020]
on Feb 10, 2019
History
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Apr 22, 2015
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Earlier Version —
Introduced
This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 1948 (114th). |
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Jul 28, 2017
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Earlier Version —
Passed House (Senate next)
This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 95 (115th). |
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Jan 29, 2019
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Introduced
Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber. |
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Feb 8, 2019
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Passed House (Senate next)
The bill was passed in a vote in the House. It goes to the Senate next. |
H.R. 840 (116th) was a bill in the United States Congress.
A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.
Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 840. This is the one from the 116th Congress.
This bill was introduced in the 116th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2019 to Jan 3, 2021. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.
How to cite this information.
We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:
“H.R. 840 — 116th Congress: Veterans’ Access to Child Care Act.” www.GovTrack.us. 2019. May 18, 2022 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr840>
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Where is this information from?
GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.
