Recent State Policy Advances
Expanded investment. Restructured agencies. New caucuses, committees, and coalitions. Read about all the ways our allies on the front lines are making their state a better place for each and every child to reach their full potential.
State By State:
Growing Number of States Turning to Dedicated Funding for Young Children
Alliance responsive support provider Children’s Funding Project is helping advocates across the country win dedicated streams of public financing to support young children. Establishing dedicated funding for ECE can be an effective way to ensure these programs don’t get left out during the budget process.
Arkansas Advocates Welcome New Medicaid Funding as a First Step On the Long Road to Ending Preventable Maternal Death in the State
The passage of the Healthy Moms, Healthy Babies Act enacts provisions that advocates have long fought for and confronts some of the barriers fueling poor maternal health outcomes, but they insist Arkansas has a long way to go to ensure a healthy birth for every mother and baby.
A Series of Laws Strengthens New Jersey’s Early Education System
While the successful bills mark a push toward universal pre-k and full-day kindergarten, advocates insist more work lies ahead to ensure eligible pre-k students get the chance to participate in the state’s Abbott Preschool program.
South Dakota Advocates Spotlight Child Care Workforce Unsustainability and Introduce First Workforce Subsidy Bill
A task force, a Children’s Day at the Capitol, and a new workforce child care subsidy bill are a few of the pieces of South Dakota advocates’ push to better support the state’s child care providers and workers.
Oregon Child Care Advocacy Coalition Has a New Way to Set Its Policy Agenda, and It Begins with Parents and Providers
The Child Care for Oregon coalition has implemented a new process that sets its policy agenda by first asking parents and practitioners to name the barriers they face and describe the future they envision for child care in Oregon.
A New Endowment Aims to Transform Connecticut’s Early Education System
Connecticut’s Early Childhood Education Endowment, seeded with an initial $300 million investment, marks the culmination of years of work by early education advocates fighting for sustainable, long-term funding.
Colorado Coalition Wins a New Tax Credit—and a Big Impact on Child Poverty
Advocates in the state’s Growing Our Future coalition have won their fight for the Family Affordability Tax Credit, which will put more money into the hands of families and help cut the child poverty rate in Colorado in half.
Montana Advocates Win Historic, Bipartisan New Revenue Stream for Early Childhood
After years of advocacy, Zero to Five Montana—along with other advocates, parents, and providers—has succeeded in passing a new early childhood endowment: the new Early Childhood Special Revenue Account.
Arkansas Takes Steps to Help Early Educators Save for Retirement
A new law in Arkansas makes early educators eligible to participate in the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System, a defined benefit retirement plan established for public school and other public education employees in the state. The new law means that any early educator who is licensed by the state and receives state or federal child care funding is eligible to save for retirement through the system.
New Jersey Grantees Recreate Alliance’s “Alabama Experience” for State Lawmakers
Inspired by the Alliance’s “Alabama Experience” for grantees in 2024, New Jersey advocates brought members of the New Jersey Legislative Black Caucus on a similar pilgrimage to Alabama, in order to deepen relationships and advance equity-centered policy.
Missouri ECE Fellows Program Empowers Community Voices and Connects Legislators to Voices with Experience
Missouri advocates learned from Alliance network peers in Ohio as they created the grassroots network that advances an early childhood agenda by placing those most directly impacted by state policy to the forefront of advocacy.
How North Dakota Advocates Are Defeating Anti-Vaccination Bills
A health advocate and communications strategist explain how “deliberate listening” and unlikely alliances are mitigating some of the most harmful consequences of vaccine misinformation—and disinformation—in North Dakota. And they share five strategies other advocates can emulate.