Roll Call: Key votes from the Wisconsin congressional delegation this week – Madison.com

EXPANDING TAX CREDITS FOR CHILD CARE: Voting 250 for and 161 against, the House on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 7327) that would make the child and dependent care tax credit fully refundable; create a new tax credit to help childcare providers pay rent, mortgage and utility costs; guarantee $10 billion per year over five years in infrastructure grants to help childcare centers address health hazards such as mold, lead paint and inadequate ventilation; designate childcare personnel as “essential workers” eligible for benefits including pay bumps because they perform a hazardous public service during the pandemic, and reimburse these essential workers for their own childcare costs. At present, households filing federal tax returns can claim a child and dependent care credit of up to $3,000 per child 12 years or younger or $6,000 for two or more children in the same age range. In addition, they can claim a $3,000 or $6,000 credit to offset the cost of caring for spouses or dependents older than 12 who are mentally or physically incapable of self-care. By making these credits fully refundable, the bill enables low-income working families to receive Treasury checks of $3,000 per qualified individual (or $6,000 for multiple individuals) even if they have no tax liability. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Voting yes: Mark Pocan, D-2nd; Ron Kind, D-3rd; Gwen Moore, D-4th

Voting no: Bryan Steil, R-1st; Jim Sensenbrenner, R-5th; Glenn Grothman, R-6th; Tom Tiffany, R-7th; Mike Gallagher, R-8th

PROVIDING $50 BILLION FOR CHILD CARE: Voting 249 for and 163 against, the House on Wednesday passed a bill (HR 7027) that would appropriate $50 billion in fiscal 2020 to help childcare providers stay in business during the pandemic so that parents can return to work. The funding would be used to subsidize in-home services as well as licensed childcare operations of all sizes, and it could be used to prop up functioning centers or reopen those forced to close because of the pandemic. A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Voting yes: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Voting no: Steil, Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Tiffany, Gallagher

DEFEATING GOP CHILDCARE ALTERNATIVE: Voting 195 for and 212 against, the House on Wednesday defeated (killed) a package of proposed Republican changes to HR 7027 (above) that sought, in part, to qualify unlicensed childcare sites run by churches and public camps to receive grants under the bill and require grant recipients to demonstrate competence in recognizing and addressing child abuse. A yes vote was to approve the GOP childcare plan.

Voting yes: Steil, Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Tiffany, Gallagher

Voting no: Pocan, Kind, Moore

DEFUNDING AFFORDABLE CARE ACT LITIGATION: The House on Thursday voted, 234 for and 181 against, to deny funding of the Department of Justice’s participation in a lawsuit brought by Republican governors and attorneys general to overturn the Affordable Care Act. The suit is pending before the Supreme Court, and the Trump administration has filed a brief there calling for the law to be struck down. The defunding language was added to a bill (HR 7617), later passed, that would appropriate $33.2 billion for the department along with more than $1 trillion to fund the budgets of numerous other cabinet departments and agencies in fiscal 2021. A yes vote was to block the funding.

Voting yes: Pocan, Kind, Moore

Voting no: Steil, Sensenbrenner, Grothman, Tiffany, Gallagher

CONFIRMING TRUMP BUDGET OFFICIAL: Voting 71 for and 21 against, the Senate on Thursday confirmed Derek Tai-Ching Kan as deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, putting him second in charge of an agency that directs budget and regulatory policies for the White House. Kan joined the administration in 2017 to serve as a Department of Transportation undersecretary, and before that he was an Amtrak board member and executive with the Lyft transportation company. A yes vote was to confirm the nominee.

Voting yes: Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh

Voting no: Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison

Congress is tentatively scheduled in the week of Aug. 3 to take up a coronavirus relief package that would, in part, renew expanded jobless benefits and a moratorium on evictions that expired July 31.

— Voterama in Congress