$2.5-Billion Child-Care Proposal Offered; Support in Congress Told

WASHINGTON — Child-care programs are too expensive and too hard for parents to find, congressmen said Thursday in proposing a $2.5-billion package to make the services available to most Americans.

The plan, filed in the House and Senate, would increase the number of child-care facilities, improve training and pay for child-care workers and help low- and middle-income families pay for child care.

Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Dale E. Kildee (D-Mich.) said 19 senators and 125 representatives already support the package, which Dodd called “a major child-care initiative, the first of its kind.”

“The child-care system we have now simply is not working,” said Kildee, who noted that there is space for fewer than 3 million children in all of the licensed child-care facilities in the country.

Vetoed by Nixon

President Richard M. Nixon vetoed a $2-billion child-care bill in 1971 on grounds it was too expensive and anti-family. Dodd and Kildee said their bills are a recognition that reasonably priced child care is essential for many families trying to make ends meet.

The plan would require states to contribute an amount equal to 20% of what they get from the federal government. Assistance would be available to working families with incomes up to 115% of the state’s median income.