A new child care center for Wright-Patterson could advance in House

Jun. 17—A full House Armed Services Committee markup of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023 is scheduled for Wednesday — and funds for a second child care center, for school-age children, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base will be part of that, U.S. Rep. Mike Turner's office said Friday.

The Air Force has identified a second child-care development facility at Wright-Patterson as an unfunded priority in this year's military budget process.

The child care center proposal appeared on a list of fiscal 2023 unfunded priority military construction requirements this spring. The project is listed as "Child Development Center/School Age Center" at a cost of $29 million.

The center would be devoted to school-age children, those in grades five to 12. And the facility may boost the base's ability to draw more missions, advocates have said.

This is the second child care center for the base winning congressional consideration in two years. In last fiscal year's military construction budget, the Air Force identified a need for another child care center at Wright-Patterson to serve the base's more than 30,000 military and civilian employees.

Congress passed funds for that first, separate center, but a construction timeline is unclear at this point.

The base is Ohio's biggest employer in a single location.

"This new funding is part of Turner's continued effort to improve the quality of life for the parents and children of Wright-Patt, and to increase the base's competitiveness," a spokeswoman for the Dayton Republican said.

A committee markup is a key step in moving a bill closer to a House vote.

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