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Washington, D.C.—Legislation introduced today by Sen. Jean Carnahan (D-MO) that would make permanent the program of child care tuition assistance in the federal workplace represents “growing recognition in Congress” of the importance of this family-friendly benefit to federal employees, the head of the nation’s largest independent union of federal workers said today.

President Colleen M. Kelley of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) applauded Sen. Carnahan for “understanding the importance to federal employees of being able to balance their work and family lives.” She called on the Senate to approve the Carnahan bill without delay.

Under a pilot program, which over the past two years has been widely used throughout government, agencies have the authority to use already appropriated funds to provide child care tuition assistance. NTEU was the leader in winning congressional approval for the pilot program, and continues to lead the fight to make the program a permanent part of the federal employee benefits package.

“The pilot has proven the need and appeal of the child care tuition assistance program,” Kelley said. “Now it is important to make the program permanent, so that federal families will be better able to plan for their child care needs.”

Kelley noted that about one-fourth of all federal employees are the parents of children under the age of six, who are in need of some form of care during the work day. “As the nation’s largest employer,” she said, “passage of the Carnahan legislation would strengthen the federal government’s ability to attract and retain quality employees by offering a benefit commonly offered by private sector employers.”

NTEU represents some 150,000 employees in 25 agencies and departments, and Kelley has been the leader in advocating a variety of measures—including higher pay and lower health insurance costs—to help federal agencies recruit and retain the employees they need, particularly in light of the large number of employees who will be eligible for either regular or early retirement over the next few years.

Since the pilot was put in place, NTEU has worked successfully in labor-management partnership councils, particularly with the Internal Revenue Service and a number of operating divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services, as well as the Food and Drug Administration, to establish effective child care tuition assistance programs.

In addition, even before Congress adopted the pilot, NTEU had negotiated a similar program with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as part of contract negotiations with that independent agency.