What did the Affordable Child Care Family Fees Act (Gomez Reyes) do?
The Affordable Child Care Family Fees Act financially liberates families with low incomes. It implemented an equitable family fee schedule starting January 1, 2024. It immediately put money back into the pockets of families and child care providers. What is the law about fees now?
- Families earning below 75% of the state median income (SMI) do not pay family fees.
- Family fees do not exceed 1% of a family’s monthly income.
- The state pays child care providers the total subsidy amount and does not reduce the number of child care spaces due to the reduction of collected family fees.
- Family fees accrued but uncollected prior to October 1, 2023 may be forgiven and not collected.
What are the results of changing this law?
- Eliminating child care family fees puts money back in the pockets of families. It also puts money back into child care providers’ pockets, who took the hit financially when families could not pay.
- Families who are charged fees are saving an average of $250 per month, with hundreds of families saving nearly $600 per month.
The family fee policy along with many other policies is based in the legacy of racism. California has the resources to pay for child care for everyone. Read more about family fees reform:
- The bill language
- The Affordable Child Care Family Fees Act Factsheet
- Advocates’ Budget Letter Request in English, Spanish, and Chinese, July 30, 2022.
- Advocates’ Budget Letter Request in English, Spanish, and Chinese, April 26, 2022.
- Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes’s Budget Request Letter, March 30, 2022.
- Advocates’ Budget Letter Request in English, Spanish, and Chinese, February 25, 2022.
- Assemblymember Eloise Gómez Reyes’s Budget Request Letter, February 17, 2022.
- The California Budget & Policy Center shows exactly how high California families are paying for their subsidized child care through this infographic.
- View our Family Fee Learning Journey to learn about the legacy of racism behind the family fee system.
