
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 2, 1990                   TAG: 9004020211
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DAY CARE: AT LAST, CONGRESS MAY ACT

IT'S TOO soon to break out the apple juice to celebrate, but Congress is getting its act together and very well may enact child-care legislation this year. A major hurdle was cleared last week, when the House of Representatives came up with compromise legislation that, despite bitter debate, won easy approval: 265-145.

The Senate passed its child-care bill months ago, and the next step is for the two houses to work out their differences. They will do so under the threat of a presidential veto if the House measure prevails. The bill passed by the House is much stronger - both in financial support and in regulation - than legislation favored by Bush. The congressional conferees ought to look for ways to appease Bush without seriously weakening the House bill.

Bush is aware of the polls: 87 percent of the respondents in a Louis Harris survey a year ago want both government and private employers involved in providing child care. This is an election year for Congress; his veto on child-care legislation could hurt Republicans.

The cost of the House bill over five years will be about $27 billion, while the measure favored by Bush would have cost about $8 billion less. The Senate version would cost about the same as the one Bush supported, but would provide smaller tax credits and place less emphasis on school-based programs.

In addition, Republicans disliked regulatory provisions in the House bill: It instructs states to set minimum standards for day-care centers, including a requirement that workers receive 15 hours of training a year.

But the bill passed by the House represents a good balance in its approach to federal child-care support. It includes help for the working poor - the greatest need - with expanded tax credits and an increase in funding for Head Start. Head Start is much more than day care; the program has proved [A]t last, the debate seems to have moved from a philosophical argument over whether government should be involved at all to a debate over how to go about it. successful in preparing disadvantaged children to do better in school.

In addition, the House bill includes federal money for local governments to set up new day-care programs in public schools - a logical site for after-school care. Like the Senate bill, the House measure also provides vouchers for parents to pay for the child care of their choice, including programs offered by churches.

Congress has dragged its feet on the child-care issue. But at last, the debate seems to have moved from a philosophical argument over whether government should be involved at all to a debate over how to go about it.

The two-paycheck family has become the American norm rather than the exception. The demand for reliable, affordable child care is great, and the shortage is serious. No bill will offer a magic solution, but action by Congress will help. Doing nothing, which is what Congress did last year, looks increasingly like child neglect.

by CNB