Sen. Joni Ernst announced she is co-sponsoring a bill with Nevada Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen that would enable nonprofit child care providers to use all of the Small Business Administration’s capital access programs, a move she said would help address the child care shortage in Iowa and across the country. Over the last five years, Iowa has lost more than 40% of its regulated child care providers. The Small Business Child Care Investment Act (S. 2549) is supported by the United Ways of Iowa, the Iowa Women’s Foundation, Save the Children Action Network in Iowa, Child and Family Policy Center in Iowa, First Five Years Fund and Child Care Aware of America, Ernst said in a press release. “We’ve got to find solutions to our state’s child care crisis,” Ernst said. “My bipartisan bill uses existing programs through the Small Business Administration to help child care providers better serve their communities across Iowa, and to give our working parents greater access to quality and affordable care for their children.”