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California

California, like all states, has a unique early childhood policy landscape that is shaped by economics, demographics, political history, coalitions, and other factors that create a state-specific environment for policy advocacy.

State early childhood policy progress is dependent both on the state’s environment and the numerous efforts—by the organizations listed on this page, other organizations, parents, policymakers, practitioners, and more—who work both independently and collaboratively to achieve wins for young children.

2024 State Early Childhood Policy Environment and Progress

Early Childhood Landscape:

Research shows that family economic security is foundational to children’s overall wellbeing. Research also shows that widespread disparities in opportunity (especially by race) drive wide disparities in outcomes. States with policies that offer strong support to young children and their families are more likely to see 1) declining numbers of children in low-income households and 2) low racial disparity among those children.

Young Children in Low-Income Households: Declining

Approximately 35% (1,400,000) of the state’s children 0-8 live in households below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (2022). This number represents a decrease from 41% (1,757,000) in 2017.¹

Racial Disparity Among Young Children Living in Low-Income Households: High

Black, Hispanic/Latino, and/or Native children aged 0-8 are significantly more likely to be living in households below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level than are Asian and non-Hispanic White children.²

(NOTE: Selecting for age 0-8, state, and race can yield small cell sizes that can make percentages less accurate. Bars marked with S indicate data with extremely small cell sizes, which is not displayed. Bars marked with C should be interpreted with caution. Though the cell sizes are larger, they still fall below a threshold of reliability.)

Advocacy Landscape:

State General Fund Appropriations: Declining

California’s governor signed the state’s fiscal 2025 budget into law in June of 2024. The budget provides for total state expenditures (excluding federal funds) of $297.9 billion for fiscal 2025. This includes $211.5 billion in general fund spending, a 5.2 percent decline from fiscal 2024. The budget is based on forecasted general fund revenues of $207.2 billion before rainy day fund transfers, representing an 8.9 percent annual increase. The budget also provides for a revenue transfer from the state’s Budget Stabilization Account (rainy day fund) to the general fund as well as a withdrawal from the Safety Net Reserve to zero out that fund balance. After transfers, the enacted budget projects a $22.2 billion balance (10.5 percent of general fund expenditures) in the state’s rainy day fund accounts (including the Budget Stabilization Account, Public School System Stabilization Account, and Special Fund for Economic Uncertainties) in addition to $10.6 billion in the Reserve for Liquidation of Encumbrances, for a total balance of $32.8 billion. The fiscal 2025 budget includes a package of strategies to close the state’s projected $46.8 billion budget gap, including $16.0 billion in spending reductions; $13.6 billion in additional revenue sources and internal borrowing; $6.0 billion in reserve withdrawals (as mentioned above); and a series of fund shifts, delayed and paused spending, and payment deferrals.³

Largest Per Capita Revenue Sources (after federal transfers):⁴

- Property Taxes: $4,497 per capita
- Individual Income Taxes: $3,952 per capita

State Budget Rules:⁴

California uses an annual budget. The legislature must pass and the governor must sign a balanced budget, but deficits can be carried into the following year. The state does not implement any debt limits on either debt service or authorized debt. California limits both spending and revenue growth with binding rules that require a legislative supermajority or popular vote to override them. Further, the state operates under one of the country’s most influential tax restrictions: Proposition 13. These rules, passed in a 1978 ballot measure, do the following:

- cap the property tax rate for all local governments at 1 percent
- set a property’s assessed value at its purchase price (not its market value) and restricts annual assessment increases to two percent
- require a two-thirds majority in both houses of the state legislature for any state tax increases
- require support from two-thirds of voters for any tax increases by local governments.

However, California can still raise state taxes via ballot initiatives, which only require majority support from voters.

Permanent State Funding Stream Dedicated to Early Childhood: Yes

The California Children and Families Act of 1998 increased taxes on cigarettes and tobacco products and dedicated the revenue to First 5 California. The revenue generated from a 50-cent tax per pack of cigarettes is used for a variety of early childhood development purposes, including early care and education. First 5 county-level commissions administer the funds.

Political Alignment: Aligned Democrat

During the 2024 session, the state’s Senate and House were both Democrat controlled. The state’s Governor was also a Democrat.⁵

Types of Common Ballot Measures Available:⁶Six

- Legislature-Initiated Constitutional Amendments
- Voter-Initiated Constitutional Amendments
- Voter-Initiated State Statutes
- Legislature-Initiated State Statutes
- Legislature-Initiated Bond Propositions
- Veto Referenda

Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Organizations Include:

Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives Include:⁷

2024 Policy Progress:

Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:⁸

The majority of policymaking related to children’s issues – that requires funding of any kind – happens in the budget process in California. This year, California’s coalition of early childhood advocates, parent organizing groups, Child Care Providers United, and provider organizations successfully won some key changes reflected in the budget (SB 163 and SB 176) benefiting child care and early learning including:

- Maintains 200,000 new slot commitment and funds 11,000 new slots this year. (While the timeline to support the 200,000 new child care slots will be delayed two years until 2028.)
- Increases Legislative oversight of “Alternative Methodology,” and adds additional oversight by requiring regular quarterly reports to the legislature on progress towards moving to the Alternative Methodology.
- Maintains commitment to current augmented rates for child care providers won in the last budget as the new “floor” – the budget codifies a commitment to maintain the current augmented rates for child care providers.

Working with the Whole Child Equity Partnership and other organizations, advocates won continuous coverage in Medi-Cal for children 0-5, benefiting 90,000 children. There is a potential challenge if the MCO tax initiative passes and advocates will have to fight back to preserve funding for this change next year.

Ongoing Grantee Areas of Advocacy

Our key allies in California are Catalyst California and Children Now. Catalyst California advocates for racial justice by building power and transforming public systems. We partner with communities of color, conduct innovative research, develop policies for actionable change, and shift money and power back into our communities. Children Now builds collective power that achieves transformative, equitable change for California’s kids. Our whole-child (prenatal to age 26), antiracist, connector model brings together million of diverse voices for California’s kids.

Catalyst California and Children Now are working to advance early childhood policies in several areas that align with the Alliance’s birth-through-eight policy framework:

Early Care and Education

Child Care

Child Care Workforce

K-3 Education

Preschool and Pre-K

Child and
Maternal Health

Home Visiting

Infant & Child Health

Maternal Health

Early Intervention (Age 0-3)

Family
Supports

Family Economic Security

Paid Family and Medical Leave

Early Childhood Infrastructure

Data Systems

Early Childhood Finance and Cost Modeling

Click here for more information on advocates’ policy agenda.

RECENT ADVOCACY SNAPSHOT:

California Early Childhood Policy Advocacy

In California, Parents and Child Care Providers Work Together to Make Meaningful Change

February 13, 2024

Things are looking up for young children, parents, and child care providers in California thanks to transformational legislative wins over the summer of 2023. These policy achievements did not happen by chance, but were the result of a coordinated effort that was fueled by the grassroots organizing of parents, providers, and thousands of organizations speaking with one voice.

NOTES:

¹Kids Count Data Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Children Ages 0 to 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, January, 2024.

²National Center for Children in Poverty, Children Ages 0 through 8 Below 200 Percent Poverty, October 2024, NCCP analysis of ACS 5-Year Estimates – Public Use Microdata Sample 2018-2022.

³National Association of State Budget Officers, Proposed and Enacted Budgets, FY 2025.

⁴Urban Institute, State Fiscal Briefs, June 2024.

⁵National Conference of State Legislatures, 2024 State & Legislative Partisan Composition, April 29, 2024.

⁶Ballotpedia, Ballot Measures by State, Kids Count Data Center, retrieved July, 2024.

⁷Alliance for Early Success, Multi-State Initiatives for Early Childhood Policy Advocacy, July, 2024.

⁸Alliance for Early Success, State-Wide Advocacy Highlights Survey, April-October, 2024; and 2024 Prenatal-to-3 Legislative Highlights, Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, July, 2024.