2015: Schweikert Voted Against A Grant Program For "Early Childhood Education Scholarships, Professional Development And Licensing Credentials, Or Increased Compensation For Educators Who Have Attained Specific Qualifications." In July 2015, Schweikert voted against an amendment creating a grant program for childhood education scholarships, professional development, and increased compensation for educators. According to Congressional Quarterly, the amendment would have, "create[d] a program under which the Education Department would provide grants for early childhood education scholarships, professional development and licensing credentials, or increased compensation for educators who have attained specific qualifications." The underlying bill would have, according to Congressional Quarterly, "reauthorize[d] the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) and would make fundamental changes to many of its programs through Fiscal 2019." The vote was on the amendment. The House rejected the amendment 205 to 224. [House Vote 417, 7/8/15; Congressional Quarterly, 7/8/15; Congressional Actions, H. Amdt. 64; Congressional Actions, H.R. 5]
The Amendment Provided Grant Funding That Was Similar To The Child Care And Development Block Grant. According to the Office of Child Care, "The Office of Child Care supports low-income working families by providing access to affordable, high-quality early care and afterschool programs. OCC administers the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) and works with state, territory, and tribal governments to provide support for children and their families juggling work schedules and struggling to find child care programs that will fit their needs and that will prepare children to succeed in school. CCDF also improves the quality of care to support children's healthy development and learning by supporting child care licensing, quality improvements systems to help programs meet higher standards, and support for child care workers to attain more training and education. To support CCDF services, we establish and oversee the implementation of child care policies, and provide guidance and technical assistance to states, tribes and territories as they administer CCDF programs. [...] On November 19, 2014, the President signed the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) Act of 2014 into law. This action reauthorizes the law governing CCDF for the first time since 1996 and represents an historic re-envisioning of the program." [Office Of Child Care, 7/22/15]
US News And World Report: The Child Care And Development Block Grant Is Underfunded. According to US News and World Report, "For the past several weeks, much of Washington has focused on the Senate's efforts to pass a bill to replace No Child Left Behind. While the discussion has focused on many important topics, the primary education setting for 12 million children has not been part of the conversation: child care. [...] Child care is quickly becoming out of reach for low-income and middle-class families. Among families that make child care payments, those in poverty spend 36 percent of their monthly income on child care compared to 8 percent for families earning above 200 percent of the poverty level. [...] Most families shoulder the cost of child care themselves. The Child Care and Development Block Grant, which is designed to support states in providing child care assistance to low-income families, is grossly underfunded and reaches just one in six eligible children. Furthermore, the number of children receiving help through the program is declining and currently stands at the lowest rate since 1998." [US News And World Report, 7/21/15]
The White House: "Expanding Access To High Quality Early Childhood Education Is Among The Smartest Investments That We Can Make." "Expanding access to high quality early childhood education is among the smartest investments that we can make. Research has shown that the early years in a child's life---when the human brain is forming---represent a critically important window of opportunity to develop a child's full potential and shape key academic, social, and cognitive skills that determine a child's success in school and in life." [The White House, Accessed 8/27/15]
2018: Schweikert Voted Against The $1.3 Trillion FY 2018 Omnibus Spending Deal Which Raised Spending By $138 Billion Over FY 2017 Levels, Including $9.9 Billion For Head Start. In March 2018, Schweikert voted against the FY 2018 Omnibus spending bill. According to Congressional Quarterly, "Combined, the spending measures would provide about $1.3 trillion in discretionary spending, with $1.2 trillion subject to discretionary spending caps, and $78.1 billion designated as Overseas Contingency Operations funds. The measure's spending levels are consistent with the increased defense and non-defense budget caps set by the two-year budget deal agreed to last month. That agreement increased the FY 2018 defense cap by $80 billion and the non-defense cap by $63 billion. Given that the previous caps were set to reduce overall discretionary spending by $5 billion, the net increase provided by the omnibus is $138 billion over the FY 2017 level." The vote was on the motion to concur in the Senate Amendment with an Amendment. The House agreed to the motion, thereby passing the bill, by a vote of 256 to 167. The Senate later agreed to the legislation, sending it to the president, who signed it into law. [House Vote 127, 3/22/18; Congressional Quarterly, 3/22/18; Congressional Actions, H.R. 1625]
2017: Schweikert Voted Against The FY 2018 Congressional Progressive Caucus's Budget Resolution, Which Among Other Things, Increased Taxes On The Rich And Corporations And Called For Funding For Universal Pre-K. In October 2017, Schweikert voted against an FY 2018 CPC budget resolution. According to Congressional Quarterly, the resolution would "provide for $3.8 trillion in new budget authority in fiscal 2018, not including off-budget accounts. It would raise overall spending by $3.5 trillion over 10 years and would increase revenues by $8.2 trillion over the same period through policies that would increase taxes for corporations and high-income individuals. It would repeal the Budget Control Act sequester and caps on discretionary spending, would modify the tax code by adding five higher marginal tax rates, would create a public insurance option to be sold within the current health insurance exchanges and would call for implementation of comprehensive immigration overhaul." In additional, also according to Congressional Quarterly, "The Progressive Caucus' budget plan calls for $562 billion in defense discretionary spending and $630 billion in nondefense discretionary spending during this fiscal year. It would also propose $2 trillion in infrastructure spending over 10 years --- financed in part by a $10.25 per barrel tax on oil --- a 3.5 percent increase for nondefense spending by 2022, and funding for universal pre-kindergarten." The amendment was a substitute amendment for the GOP's FY 2018 budget resolution in part designed to start the process for tax reform. The House rejected the amendment by a vote of 108 to 314. [House Vote 553, 10/4/17; Congressional Quarterly, 10/4/17; Congressional Quarterly, 10/3/17; Congressional Actions, H. Amdt. 453; Congressional Actions, H. Con. Res. 71]