{"bill":{"id":"119-s-4628","congress":119,"type":"S","number":4628,"title":"A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to establish an initiative to address the availability, quality, and cost of childcare in rural areas, and for other purposes.","originChamber":"Senate","introducedDate":"2026-05-21","sponsors":[{"bioguideId":"M001198","fullName":"Sen. Marshall, Roger [R-KS]","party":"R","state":"KS","district":null}],"cosponsorsCount":3,"latestAction":{"actionDate":"2026-05-21","text":"Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry."},"policyArea":"Agriculture and Food","subjects":[],"actions":[{"date":"2026-05-21","text":"Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.","type":"IntroReferral","chamber":"Senate","hasVote":false},{"date":"2026-05-21","text":"Introduced in Senate","type":"IntroReferral","chamber":"Library of Congress","hasVote":false}],"summary":"<p><strong></strong>This bill requires the&nbsp;Department of Agriculture (USDA) to establish the Expanding Childcare in Rural America Initiative to&nbsp;prioritize certain loans and grants that address&nbsp;childcare in rural areas. Under the bill, childcare includes eligible programs that provide quality care and early education for children who have not yet entered first grade.</p><p>Under the initiative, USDA must give priority to applicants that propose to use certain&nbsp;loans or grants to address the availability, quality, or costs of childcare in rural areas.&nbsp;In addition, USDA must&nbsp;ensure a balanced geographical distribution of the benefits.</p><p>USDA must conduct a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the projects carried out under the initiative and submit a report to Congress.</p>","updateDate":"2026-06-22T16:22:52Z"},"markets":[],"stateBills":[],"meta":{"sources":["congress.gov"],"latencyMs":418,"ts":"2026-10-13T15:56:05.437Z"},"nextActions":{"inspect":[],"related":[{"description":"Search related legislation","method":"GET","url":"https://simplefunctions.dev/api/public/query-gov?q=A%20bill%20to%20direct%20the%20Secretary%20of%20Agriculture%20to%20establish%20a"}]}}