June 2024 Update — Common Start on the Verge of Major Victory!

Since 2018, the Common Start Coalition has been steadily building our broad-based coalition to advocate for affordable, accessible, high-quality early education and child care. We’ve made enormous strides in raising awareness of the need for action, and over the past few years, Massachusetts has made a major down payment on our vision of a high-quality early education and childcare system that is affordable and accessible for families — more than doubling the amount of state funds spent on early education and child care since FY19, when the Common Start Coalition was formed.

Now, we are on the verge of passing a state budget that would deliver a historic level of funding for early education and child care in Massachusetts AND make permanent policy changes that represent a major step towards our Common Start vision. Over the past two months, the Massachusetts House and Senate have included several key pieces of the Common Start Vision into their FY25 budget proposals!

Not only do their budget proposals include funding for important programs such as $475 million for ‘C3’ Operational Grants, but they also include several permanent policies such as the codification of operational grants, programs to help advance early educator careers, and the expansion of child care financial assistance to more families. Even though they’re in the budget, these policy elements have the same permanence and importance as free-standing legislation.

Massachusetts is now poised to implement early education and care legislation — through the budget — that would make our state more affordable for many families, improve our state’s economic competitiveness, and increase racial and gender equity in our communities.

Both budgets would:

• Make the C3 Operational Grant Program for providers permanent, codified in M.G.L.

• Allocate $475 million to continue funding operational grants in FY25

• Appropriate $774 million for ongoing child care financial assistance to families

• Include $20 million to increase reimbursement rates for providers who enroll children receiving child care financial assistance

These provisions would support early education and child care programs, allowing them to invest in educator compensation and increase their capacity to serve more children (particularly those receiving child care financial assistance), while avoiding major cost increases for families.

We also want to see important provisions from both the House and Senate budgets included in the final conference budget, including:

House

• Establish early educator loan forgiveness & scholarship programs

• Provide $8 million to offer child care financial assistance to early educators

• Establish an EEC data advisory commission and collect data on the child care sector

Senate

• Immediately expand eligibility for child care subsidies up to 85% of state median income

• As funds become available, allow expanded eligibility up to 125% of state median income

• Invest $80 million to provide child care financial assistance to more families in FY25

• Permanently ensure affordability for families by limiting fees to 7% of household income

• Establish a career ladder for early educators and incentivize EEC programs to follow its recommended salary and benefit guidelines

These provisions would increase access to affordable child care for families and address the workforce crisis in early education by supporting educators with greater pay and benefits. See the full list of policies we are advocating for here.

The FY25 Budget Conference Committee will be meeting this month to finalize the budget and we need your help to ensure that as many pieces of the Common Start Vision as possible make it into the final version! If you’re a parent, an early educator, a provider, an employer, or an advocate – we need your voice.

Join the Common Start Coalition for a lobby day on Tuesday, June 11, at 10:00 AM in Room 428 of the Massachusetts State House where we will ask every legislator to support the Common Start priorities in the final FY25 budget. RSVP here: https://bit.ly/cs-lobby-day-611

And please take a minute today to send a quick email to your Representative and Senator asking them to prioritize the Common Start priorities in the FY25 budget by going here. It only takes a minute, and is a very quick way to let your elected officials know that their constituents support the Common Start Vision!

Thank you for your continued support and advocacy with the Common Start Coalition - with your help, we can win some crucial pieces of the Common Start Vision and achieve more affordable, accessible, and high-quality early education and care for families in Massachusetts.