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CIVIC HERALD
HR 7726 · 119th Congress · HouseIn committee

Stop Child Care Scams Act of 2026

Provisional: our plain-language summary, pending review.

In plain language: Child care centers and home daycare providers found to have committed fraud would face a permanent lifetime ban from receiving federal child care subsidies and child meal program funds. States would be required to strengthen eligibility checks, investigate scams, and recover fraudulent payments from clients and providers. In addition, states that improperly pay out more than 5 percent of their federal child care grant funds for two consecutive years could lose their federal funding, and federal officials would no longer have the power to waive those financial penalties.

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Provisionalunreviewed: impact, provisions, stakeholders, summary
People affected—not determinable from the text provided; the text applies to state agencies, child care providers, and food program institutions nationwide, but provides no specific counts of individuals or entities impacted.
Fiscal magnitude—not determinable from the text provided; the bill conditions existing block grant allocations and introduces compliance penalties, but specifies no dollar appropriations, authorizations, or direct budget figures.
Reach
provisional · pending review58rigor: heuristic llm
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Issues

What this bill touches.

Childcare & leave−20Federal vs. state/local+45SNAP & nutrition−12

The sign shows the bill's direction on each issue (+ toward, − away); the number is its magnitude. Color never encodes good or bad, and never party.

Who it affects

Who it helps · who it burdens.

Provisional: our reading of who it affects, pending review.

Who it burdens

  • State child care agenciesMust establish internal controls, eligibility verification procedures, and fraud investigation processes in their state child care plans (Sec. 3); submit corrective action plans and face conditional loss of federal grant funding if improper payment rates exceed 5 percent (Sec. 5); face mandatory federal fund withholding and lose the ability to receive sanction waivers (Sec. 2, Sec. 8); submit to triennial federal reviews and extra monitoring if designated high-risk (Sec. 6); and submit annual disaggregated reports on improper payments (Sec. 10).provisional
  • Department of Health and Human ServicesMandated to investigate child care block grant fraud and permanently debar fraudulent providers (Sec. 4), loses discretion over withholding grant funds from noncompliant states and waiving sanctions (Sec. 2, Sec. 8), and must conduct three-year reviews of state performance while enforcing additional monitoring on high-risk states (Sec. 6).provisional
  • Government Accountability OfficeRequired to conduct a study on fraud prevention across federal early childhood, child care, and child nutrition programs and submit a report with recommendations to congressional committees within two years (Sec. 9).provisional

Who opposes it

  • Child care providers found to have committed fraudPermanently barred from receiving Child Care and Development Block Grant funding upon a final determination of fraud or debarment from the Child and Adult Care Food Program (Sec. 4), and permanently debarred from participating in the Child and Adult Care Food Program if terminated for fraud or debarred from the child care block grant program (Sec. 7).provisional

Dollar-level funding (FEC sector totals) is coming in a later phase.

What it does

The provisions, in plain language.

Provisional: our reading of what the bill does, pending review.

Show all 9 provisions

  1. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to withhold child care block grant funds from states that fail to comply with program rules, removing previous discretion over whether to withhold those funds.

    Sec. 2provisional

  2. Directs federal officials to investigate child care grant fraud and permanently bars any provider found guilty of fraud or debarred from federal child food programs from receiving child care block grant funds.

    Sec. 4provisional

  3. Requires states with child care improper payment rates above 5 percent to adopt corrective action plans, and suspends their federal grant funding if rates exceed 5 percent for two consecutive years unless they show substantial progress toward reducing errors.

    Sec. 5provisional

  4. Permanently bars child care centers and day care homes from the Child and Adult Care Food Program if they are terminated for fraud or debarred from the federal child care block grant program.

    Sec. 7provisional

  5. Eliminates federal authority to waive sanctions imposed on states that fail to meet child care block grant requirements.

    Sec. 8provisional

  6. Requires state child care assistance plans to establish internal controls, procedures to verify eligibility, and processes to investigate fraud, recover fraudulent payments, and sanction clients or providers.

    Sec. 3provisional

  7. Requires federal reviews of state child care performance every three years and imposes extra oversight on states labeled high-risk due to unresolved audits or repeated compliance failures.

    Sec. 6provisional

  8. Directs the Government Accountability Office to study fraud prevention across federal early childhood, child care, and child nutrition programs and submit a report with recommendations to Congress within two years.

    Sec. 9provisional

  9. Requires states to submit annual reports detailing the dollar amounts and percentages of improper child care payments, broken down by fraud, overpayments, underpayments, and administrative system errors.

    Sec. 10provisional

  1. Requires the Department of Health and Human Services to withhold child care block grant funds from states that fail to comply with program rules, removing previous discretion over whether to withhold those funds.

    Sec. 2provisional

  2. Directs federal officials to investigate child care grant fraud and permanently bars any provider found guilty of fraud or debarred from federal child food programs from receiving child care block grant funds.

    Sec. 4provisional

  3. Requires states with child care improper payment rates above 5 percent to adopt corrective action plans, and suspends their federal grant funding if rates exceed 5 percent for two consecutive years unless they show substantial progress toward reducing errors.

    Sec. 5provisional

  4. Permanently bars child care centers and day care homes from the Child and Adult Care Food Program if they are terminated for fraud or debarred from the federal child care block grant program.

    Sec. 7provisional

  5. Eliminates federal authority to waive sanctions imposed on states that fail to meet child care block grant requirements.

    Sec. 8provisional

How your members of Congress line up

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The record

How members voted on Stop Child Care Scams Act of 2026.

Recorded roll calls on this bill, most recent first. Open one to see each member's position.

  • House · Jun 3, 2026 · YEA-AND-NAY

    On Motion to Recommit · Failed

    Source →

  • House · Jun 3, 2026 · YEA-AND-NAY

    On Passage · Passed

    Source →

Timeline

How it moved.

Show all 20 actions
  1. Jun 4, 2026Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  2. Jun 3, 2026Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  3. Jun 3, 2026On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 207 (Roll no. 198). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H3796-3797)
  4. Jun 3, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 207 (Roll no. 198). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H3796-3797)
  5. Jun 3, 2026On motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 210 - 213 (Roll no. 197).
  6. Jun 3, 2026Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H3811-3812)
  7. Jun 3, 2026POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on H.R. 7726, the Chair put the question on motion to recommit and by voice vote, announced the noes had prevailed. Mr. Subramanyam demanded the yeas and nays and the Chair postponed further proceedings until a time to be announced.
  8. Jun 3, 2026The previous question on the motion to recommit was ordered pursuant to clause 2(b) of rule XIX.
  9. Jun 3, 2026Mr. Subramanyam moved to recommit to the Committee on Education and Workforce. (text: CR H3805)
  10. Jun 3, 2026The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
  11. Jun 3, 2026DEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate on H.R. 7726.
  12. Jun 3, 2026Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 8646, H.R. 7726, H.R. 7892 and H.R. 8872. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 8646 under a structured rule and H.R. 7726, H.R. 7892, and H.R. 8872 under a closed rule, with one hour of general debate on each bill. The resolution provides for one motion to recommit on each bill.
  13. Jun 3, 2026Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 1333. (consideration: CR H3796-3805)
  14. Jun 3, 2026Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1333 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 8646, H.R. 7726, H.R. 7892 and H.R. 8872. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 8646 under a structured rule and H.R. 7726, H.R. 7892, and H.R. 8872 under a closed rule, with one hour of general debate on each bill. The resolution provides for one motion to recommit on each bill.
  15. Apr 6, 2026Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 512.
  16. Apr 6, 2026Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-592.
  17. Mar 5, 2026Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 20 - 15.
  18. Mar 5, 2026Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held
  19. Feb 26, 2026Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
  20. Feb 26, 2026Introduced in House
  1. Jun 4, 2026Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  2. Jun 3, 2026Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  3. Jun 3, 2026On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 207 (Roll no. 198). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H3796-3797)
  4. Jun 3, 2026Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 217 - 207 (Roll no. 198). (text of amendment in the nature of a substitute: CR H3796-3797)
  5. Jun 3, 2026On motion to recommit Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 210 - 213 (Roll no. 197).
  6. Jun 3, 2026Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 1333 Reported to House. Rule provides for consideration of H.R. 8646, H.R. 7726, H.R. 7892 and H.R. 8872. The resolution provides for consideration of H.R. 8646 under a structured rule and H.R. 7726, H.R. 7892, and H.R. 8872 under a closed rule, with one hour of general debate on each bill. The resolution provides for one motion to recommit on each bill.
  7. Apr 6, 2026Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Workforce. H. Rept. 119-592.
  8. Mar 5, 2026Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by the Yeas and Nays: 20 - 15.
  9. Feb 26, 2026Introduced in House

The original text

Read it for yourself.

Read the original text →

Sources & provenance

Congress.govrefreshed 3 months ago

Cite this page

Civic Herald. “Stop Child Care Scams Act of 2026 (H.R. 7726, 119th Congress).” https://civicherald.app/bills/119-hr-7726. Congress.gov record as of Jul 23, 2026.

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