The public health crisis caused by the pandemic exposed cracks in Arkansas’ systems of early care and education and is spotlighting inequities within those systems. The crisis created an opportunity to renew investment in early care and education as part of a comprehensive education system and a vital component of the social safety net. Allies worked to help shape Arkansas’ early care and education policy response to the pandemic and how state funds from the federal CARES act would be spent. Another priority became state and federal advocacy on access to health care coverage and safety net programs and other programs, such as Medicaid, Unemployment Insurance, TANF, SNAP and WIC, services for immigrants, and using federal education dollars to close equity gaps in education.