Governor Tom Wolf set the tone in his budget request by increasing state investments in early learning, and legislators from both sides of the aisle came together to prioritize Pennsylvania’s children in the 2017-18 state budget.
On August 14, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law HB2663, legislation aimed at ending the practice of expelling infants, toddlers, and preschoolers from their early childhood programs.
Recently passed state budgets include some wins for infants, toddlers, and their families. We applaud policymakers and advocates across the country and encourage everyone to continue to Think Babies™.
Due to budget uncertainties at the state and federal level, states are exploring opportunities to maximize investments through a variety of sources in order to maintain and expand evidence-based home visiting programs.
Over the past few years we have seen increased leadership from California legislators on early learning including from the Assembly Speaker, the Senate Budget Chair - both former early learning providers from Los Angeles - and the Women’s Caucus.
Recently, the District of Columbia established new regulations that require all lead teachers in licensed child care programs to have an Associate’s degree by 2020.
Louisiana legislators renewed and grew their unique package of School Readiness Tax Credits, but couldn’t protect early care and education appropriations from across-the-board cuts.
