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HR7720119th CongressWALLET

Child Care Payment Integrity and Fraud Accountability Act of 2026

Sponsored By: Representative Messmer, Mark B. [R-IN-8]

In Committee

Summary

Adds fraud to the federal definition of child care overpayments and requires states to report improper payments by category each year.

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  • State agencies: Must submit an annual report to the Secretary showing dollar amounts and the share of improper payments, disaggregated into categories the Secretary specifies, including suspected and verified fraud, non-fraud overpayments, underpayments, and technical errors.
  • Federal oversight: The Secretary receives standardized, category-by-category data to track suspected and verified fraudulent payments separately from other improper payments.
  • Program transparency: Overpayments are explicitly identified to include fraudulent payments, so fraud becomes a distinct, reportable component of child care payment integrity.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.

New fraud rules for child care payments

This bill would change federal child care subsidy rules. It would treat fraudulent payments as a type of "overpayment." It would require each State to send the Secretary an annual report showing the dollar and percentage amounts of improper payments, disaggregated by standardized categories the Secretary sets, including suspected and verified fraud, non-fraudulent overpayments, underpayments, and technical system errors. If enacted, states would label and report more payments as fraud, and that would lead to more recovery or enforcement actions against families and child care providers; the bill text does not specify an effective date.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Messmer, Mark B. [R-IN-8]

IN • R

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Wilson, Joe [R-SC-2]

    SC • R

    Sponsored 3/3/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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