Governor's Budget Plan Released

Governor Malloy released his biennium budget Wednesday. While budget analysts are thoroughly reviewing it, we can share what we've discovered so far. This is a bad budget for early childhood. Here's what we know:

• The budget keeps Care4kids closed for the next 2 years. This would keep Care4Kids closed to all but current TANF families for the next two years. The impact of these cuts will be that as children age out, Care4Kids will largely cease to pay for early childhood services and become bascially a school age program. This will have serious implications for the economic viability of many early care programs, threatening care for many more children. 
• It cuts $7.7 million from the Early Care & Education line item in FY18. That translates to approximately 1,100 children who won't get infant/ toddler, preschool or after school care next year. 
• Head Start is cut $384,000
• Child Care Quality Enhancement is combined with School Readiness QE and reduced by $212,000 (It is unclear what this means for local QE) 
• Birth to 3 would move to DSS

The following are completely eliminated:

• Community Plans for Early Childhood
• Improving Early Literacy 
• EvenStart
• Healthy Start
• Help Me Grow

Legislative Update

The CT Early Childhood Alliance is very concerned about a number of proposed bills that would dismember, or otherwise weaken, the CT Office of Early Childhood. Additionally, bills have been introduced that would impact Care4Kids funding, teacher credentials, and paid family leave. We will continue to monitor developments and keep you informed.

Legislative Update

The legislature is in full swing. There are many bills being introduced. Among the notable is H.B. 6394, "AN ACT ESTABLISHING A REFUNDABLE CREDIT AGAINST THE PERSONAL INCOME TAX FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS," to address the shortage of qualified early childhood teachers by establishing a refundable tax credit for individuals who receive degrees in early childhood or a related field and teach in an early childhood program. A full list of bills the Alliance is actively watching is available HERE. Keep in mind as you read through the bills that not all bills make it out of committee for consideration and if there is very little language available on a certain bill, it could be a placeholder. We will alert you when public hearings are coming up so that you can draft testimony. 

CT Voices for Children Budget Forum Recap 

If you were unable to attend the CT Voices Budget Forum, the broadcast is available on-demand at CT-N. It included insightful panel discussions, a keynote from Governor Malloy and potential models to follow to get the state out of financial distress.