While voter motivations behind the outcomes of the 2023 midterm elections will be hotly debated over the coming weeks and months, two national polls commissioned by the First Five Years Fund (FFYF) and conducted by the bipartisan polling team of Hart Research and New Bridge Strategy immediately following the 2023 midterm elections have found that voters and small business leaders across the political spectrum overwhelming endorse the federal government taking action on child care, and agree that the national shortage of affordable child care programs is doing significant harm to families’ finances, businesses’ bottom lines, and the U.S. economy broadly. As Congress works to negotiate an end of year package and gears up for the new 118th Congress, voters and small business leaders across the political spectrum want the federal government to take action and provide investments necessary to ensure that working parents are able to send their children to the high-quality child care program of their choice, and can do so affordably. This presentation outlines key findings from the two national surveys: one capturing voter sentiments on child care policy and access to affordable care; and the second surveying 100 small business owners on how child care challenges directly impact their businesses and bottom lines. (author abstract)