On Wednesday, Gov. Ned Lamont’s bill proposing a “universal preschool endowment” will get its first public hearing in front of the Education Committee. It’s among several bills addressing early childhood, and the child care crisis in Connecticut.
While the state is opening up access to more subsidized child care spaces, Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye said there needs to be a systemic approach.
“There are two people who've been in a tough spot, parents and child care programs,” Bye said.
For many modern families child care isn’t just a luxury — it's a necessity. Both parents were employed in roughly 70% of married-couple families in 2023, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Our culture has changed so much since the 1950s,” Bye said, “but our system has not kept up with that.”
According to Lamont’s proposal announced earlier this month, The initial $300 million investment would come from last year’s budget surplus. Further investment would come from anticipated future surpluses. Of the endowment’s balance, 10% could be used every year to build up capacity for universal preschool.
Is Lamont’s proposal truly a ‘universal’ solution for all CT parents?
Using the first $30 million the state would make more child care spaces available through Care 4 Kids, a program that pays for child care costs for low-to-moderate income families. The rollout would also include community planning — ensuring parents and other stakeholders can decide what they want to see.
The industry would see the biggest change by 2028. The bill proposes making preschool free of charge for families that make up to $100,000 a year. For families earning up to $150,000, it would cost $20 a day.
Whether it will be “universal” regardless of income? Bye said, that will depend on how the fund does over time.
“We have definitely heard that there are families that make between $150,000 and $200,000 who really struggle to pay for preschool and child care, and what about them?” Bye said. “I think that's a question that's going to come up this session.”
What about underpaid child care providers?
Another part of the child care gap is that there’s not enough early childhood teachers to safely meet demand — and low pay is a driving factor.
The governor’s bill proposes to see a shift in those rates by 2028. Drawing from the endowment, the state-funded programs would increase provider pay to the market rate, instead of about 75% of that rate that industry workers see now.
The state-funded child care system historically hasn’t been supported by the government, Bye said.
“Policymakers have chosen to expand access so more families have child care, because they have pressure,” Bye said. “Because if you increase the rates, you serve fewer children, but the teachers are paid. And so there's just been this constant tension between increasing access and increasing rates.”
Last legislative session, lawmakers approved funds for state-funded child care center workers to apply for a $1,800 bonus. Those will be awarded in early March, according to Deputy Early Childhood Commissioner Elena Trueworthy.
A long-term investment to build out the system
Early childhood advocates were happy to see the proposed downpayment, but said after Lamont’s budget address that the plan doesn’t immediately address infant and toddler care. Bye said that's a fair observation, adding there's still a lot of families that don't even have access to preschool.
“Let's start somewhere where we can get everyone some early childhood [education] that's subsidized before they reach kindergarten,” Bye said. “Even though it's a ‘preschool for all’ proposal, there is funding for infant-toddler rates of state funded programs that will come up as the preschool rates come up.”
The public hearing on the governor’s bill will be held Wednesday, Feb. 19, at 10 a.m.
