Home » State Early Childhood Policy Landscapes » Louisiana Early Childhood Policy Landscape

Louisiana

Louisiana, 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.

2025 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 49 percent (241,000) of the state’s children 0-8 live in households below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (2022). This number represents a decrease from 53% (284,000) 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 percent 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.)

2025 Advocacy Landscape:

State General Fund Appropriations: Declining

Louisiana’s governor signed the state’s fiscal 2026 budget in June of 2025. The fiscal 2026 all-funds budget totals $53.51 billion, a 6.2 percent increase, or $3.1 billion, from fiscal 2025. General fund expenditures for fiscal 2026 total $12.21 billion, a 2.3 percent decrease, or $281 million, from fiscal 2025. General fund revenues are projected to be $12.29 billion for fiscal 2026.³

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

- - General Sales Taxes: $2,235 per capita
  - Charges: $1,623 per capita

Charges are public payments connected with a specific government service, such as tuition paid to a state university, payments to a public hospital, or highway tolls. Louisiana uses all major state and local taxes.

State Budget Rules:⁴

Louisiana uses an annual budget. The legislature must pass a balanced budget, but it can carry a deficit over into the following year. Louisiana limits both spending and revenue growth with binding rules so a legislative supermajority is required to override them. A supermajority is also required for any bill that increases taxes. The state also limits total authorized debt incurred by the state, but does not restrict debt service.

Permanent State Funding Stream Dedicated to Early Childhood:⁵ Yes

The Louisiana Early Childhood Education Fund Act 353 of 2017) offers local entities a dollar-for-dollar match on local investments for early childhood education. The fund has five statutorily dedicated and ongoing funding streams. The Fund receives 50 percent of revenue from the NBA Pelicans license plate (Act 118 of 2021), 25 percent of sports betting revenues up to $20 million (Act 435 of 2021), up to $3.6 million in revenues over $60 million from Louisiana’s land-based casino contract (Act 171 of 2019), and any non-dedicated tax revenue from fantasy sports betting (Act 34 of 2020) and industrial hemp-derived CBD sales (Act 247 of 2019).

Localities have established their own dedicated funding streams through passing new or amending current millages to create sustainable funding at the local level. A dashboard for the Fund can be found here.

Political Alignment:6 Aligned Republican

During the legislative session, the state’s Senate and House were both Republican controlled. The state’s Governor was also a Republican.

Types of Common Ballot Measures Available:⁷One

- Legislature-Initiated Constitutional Amendments – A constitutional amendment that appears on a state’s ballot as a ballot measure because the state legislature in that state voted to put it before the voters.

Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Organizations Include:

Early Childhood Policy Advocacy Multi-State Initiatives Include:⁸

A Louisiana coalition of advocates is working with Child Care NEXT funding on a sustained effort to pursue bold transformation for the state’s child-care ecosystem.

2025 Policy Progress:

Highlights from the state’s early childhood policy advocacy community include:⁹

The Louisiana Legislature included flat funding ($78 million) for the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) in the state budget. The state’s investment in CCAP was not cut at any point during the session—a significant achievement for advocates. This marks the first time in recent years that there appears to be consensus among both chambers and committees on the importance of maintaining funding levels for early childhood education programs. This state funding typically supports our contracted seats model, which serves more than 3,000 children from birth to age 3 each year.

The Louisiana Legislature passed Act 454, which revamps the business-supported child care portion of the School Readiness Tax Credits. This is the first significant enhancement to the tax credits in over a decade. The legislation renames the School Readiness Tax Credits as the “Workforce Child Care Tax Credits” and increases the credit for businesses that support child care access for their employees. Businesses can now contribute up to $10,000 per child or $100,000 for a set of child care seats per year and receive up to a 50 percent tax credit, depending on the quality rating of the child care provider they support.

The Legislature passed SCR 9, establishing the Task Force on Fatherhood Engagement. The task force will study how Louisiana can increase fathers’ involvement in their children’s lives, research best practices, and develop recommendations for each state agency to promote the full inclusion of fathers in their children’s upbringing. This legislation emerged from the work of the Geaux Far Louisiana coalition and was accompanied by the state’s first Dad’s Day at the Capitol.

The Louisiana Legislature passed Act 298, which could increase revenue dedicated to the Louisiana Early Childhood Education Fund (ECE Fund). The ECE Fund is a 1:1 matching program that pairs local investments in early childhood education with state dollars. One of the fund’s dedicated revenue streams is online sports betting. This legislation raises the online sports betting tax rate from 15% to 21.5%. If gaming revenues remain steady despite the tax increase, revenue into the ECE Fund will likely reach its current $20 million cap. Under the previous tax rate, sports betting generated more than $16.3 million during fiscal year 2024-2025. Projections suggest that the increased tax rate will cause revenues to reach the current $20 million cap relatively quickly, provided consumer habits remain unchanged.

The Louisiana Legislature passed Act 190, which requires insurance coverage of home visiting services for newborns and young children. Evidence-based home visiting programs effectively support Louisiana families by providing essential in-home assistance to parents of newborns and young children. These services promote healthy development and safe home environments, addressing vital topics such as breastfeeding, safe sleep practices, and postpartum depression. Only about 6 percent of newborns in the state currently have access to home visiting services. Requiring private insurance to cover home visiting will increase access to this critical service for more families across Louisiana who wish to participate.

Ongoing Grantee Areas of Advocacy:

Our grantee in Louisiana, the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children (LPIC), is a source of nonpartisan and independent information on issues concerning children birth through four. A Louisiana coalition of advocates, early childhood providers, and parents are working on Geaux Far Louisiana, an initiative to create an equitable, unified early childhood system centering racial equity and ensuring families access to seamless, high-quality early child development, health, and educational services in Louisiana.

Louisiana Policy Institute for Children is 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

Preschool and Pre-K

Child and
Maternal Health

Early Intervention (0-3)

Home Visiting

Maternal Health

Family
Supports

Paid Family and Medical Leave

Early Childhood Infrastructure

Data Systems

Early Childhood Finance and Cost Modeling

Early Childhood Governance

A Decade of Service

In 2024, Louisiana Policy Institute for Children celebrated its 10-year anniversary. Watch the video to learn about the evolution of LPIC—and the prominence of early childhood issues in Louisiana.

Click here for more information on advocates’ policy agenda.

RECENT ADVOCACY SNAPSHOT:

Alliance for Early Success Early Childhood State Policy Advocacy

Four States Showcase the Power and Impact of Engaging Families and Valuing Their Stories

March 1, 2025

Statewide engagement is vital to building a strong early childhood infrastructure that is responsive to families’ diverse needs and where educators are recognized and supported. Advocates who want to see what this looks like in practice need look no further than North Carolina, Florida, Missouri, and Louisiana—where coalitions and organizations are transforming new statewide learning and relationships into tangible plans.

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.