President and CEO of The Connecticut Project Action Fund Garth Harries reacts to Governor Lamont's call for increased funding for early childhood education in Connecticut.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2024
Contact:
Meghan Holden, The Connecticut Project, meghanholden@ctproject.org
HARTFORD — The Connecticut General Assembly concluded its 2024 legislative session by passing bills to expand the child care incubator program and invest $25 million in ARPA funding for early childhood education, $125 million less than the $150 million that Governor Lamont’s Blue Ribbon Panel estimated is needed this year to begin to ease the child care crisis in Connecticut.
The following is a reaction from Garth Harries, president and CEO of The Connecticut Project Action Fund:
"Until lawmakers commit to a robust investment and long-term plan to resolve the child care crisis facing Connecticut families, our children and our economy will keep hurting. We welcome the legislature's positive steps of increasing child care subsidies and expanding the child care incubator program, and we know children and families need more consideration. Early education is an investment in our children, our families, our future, and our economy, and our state cannot continue to shortchange it. Thousands of families asked legislators to do more for early education this year, and we expect that drumbeat to continue. We strongly urge Governor Lamont and the General Assembly to create a sustained, comprehensive investment in and approach to early childhood education in the next legislative session."
The following early education bills now await action by Governor Ned Lamont:
S.B. 14 will expand child care incubators to allow any town in Connecticut that wishes to host one. Through the incubator program, would-be child care providers can access support obtaining family child care licensure, training, mentorship, and space to open within a host site. Previously, the law only allowed incubators in seven cities. The bill also creates a new “Early Start” program, which streamlines state funding for early childhood education programs.
HB 5523 allocates an additional $25 million in ARPA funding to early childhood education for FY 25, including $18.8 million to the Care4Kids program, which offers subsidies to enable low-income families to access child care.
H.B. 5002 establishes a Tri-Share Child Care Matching Program pilot in New London County, through which participating employers, employees, and the state would equally split the cost of child care at licensed child care facilities for employees. The bill also creates an Early Childhood Care and Education Fund and a commission to review that fund’s financial health and write a ten-year plan for its investments in early childhood education. The bill also allocates $9 million for a one-time stabilization bonus to early childhood educators.
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The Connecticut Project is a social change organization that mobilizes communities, ideas, and resources to improve systems and generate real-world outcomes for people that are lower income or asset-limited. We work for a just, thriving, and optimistic Connecticut where race, gender, income, geography, and other circumstances no longer predetermine opportunity.