| | This Issue Update newsletter is part of a series that provides more information on each priority issue on the Alliance's 2025 Legislative Agenda. The Legislative Agenda is crafted annually in partnership with early childhood organizations that are advancing legislative policy solutions related to health, safety, food security, economic security, and early care and education. The priority issues were selected by the Alliance's Steering Committee. | | | | | | | | Early Childhood Education: Delivering on the Promise of Act 76 - Ensuring an Equitable, Affordable, and Sustainable Early Childhood Education System in Vermont Since Act 76 passed, Vermont has made significant, measurable progress towards solving our state’s child care crisis. Public investments have already made our state more affordable for families and businesses by bringing down the cost of child care for thousands of Vermonters – allowing parents to work and businesses to hire and retain the employees they need. However, we have much more work to do to reach the goals the Legislature laid out in Act 76: - All Vermont families who need it have access to affordable, quality child care.
- Families spend no more than 10% of their household income on child care.
- Every child has access to skilled, well-prepared, and professionally compensated early childhood educators.
Through Act 76, the Vermont Legislature made a promise to Vermonters that we would fix our broken child care system, make child care more accessible and affordable, and grow our economy. We’ve made real progress, but we’re far from finished. The Alliance supports Let’s Grow Kids and the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children in their work to continue building on the success of Act 76 with the goal of making it work for all Vermont families with young children, and to ensure that funding gets into the hands of those who need it most – child care programs and early childhood educators, families, and kids. Legislative Update SFY 2026 Budget The Governor’s proposed budget for State Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026) recommends permanently reallocating $19 million that was raised in Act 76 for child care and putting it toward other unrelated budget needs. If lawmakers go along with this proposal, it would go back on the commitment that was made to Vermonters in Act 76, the 2023 child care bill, and jeopardize the progress we’ve made. We are just beginning to turn a corner, to stabilize and expand our child care sector so that it can actually meet the needs of Vermonters. This is the time to build on the progress from Act 76 – not cut back on a solution that’s working. Both the House Human Services and House Commerce & Economic Development Committees have submitted memos to the House Appropriations Committee about the FY26 budget, and they recommended rejecting the Governor’s proposed reduction to base child care funding. Human Services is also recommending an increase in reimbursement rates for infants and toddlers receiving tuition assistance through the Child Care Financial Assistance Program, as well as additional support for early childhood education workforce development programs. The Appropriations Committee is currently considering these requests. House Appropriations will finalize their FY26 Budget proposal by Friday March 21 – this is a great time for them to hear from you! Establishing Early Childhood Education as a Profession In 2024, the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children (VTAEYC) submitted a request to the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) on behalf of thousands of early childhood educators who participated in Vermont’s Advancing Early Childhood Education as a Profession initiative requesting that the office conduct a Sunrise Review to assess whether early childhood education should become a recognized profession in Vermont. In January, OPR released their Sunrise Review report to the Legislature, recommending professional recognition for early childhood educators in line with the national early childhood educator license to practice designations of ECE I, II, and III. OPR has been working with legislators to turn their recommendations, which align with VTAEYC’s recommendations, into a bill (H. 182/S. 119). This week, the Senate Committee on Government Operations will start their work on the bill and hear from OPR on the findings of the Sunrise Review Report and why they are recommending professional recognition for early childhood educators. We anticipate that the committee will also hear from VTAEYC and other supporters next week. | | | |  | Data and Talking Points - Public investment through Act 76 is working! More child care spaces are being created, early childhood educator wages are increasing, more families have access to affordable child care, and it’s helping boost our workforce and economy. When we invest in child care, we’re investing in a brighter future for Vermont.
- Since Act 76 went into effect, over 1,000 new child care spaces have been created, and thousands of additional Vermont children and their families have become eligible for more affordable child care! There is still more to be done to strengthen Act 76 and make more progress on child care, but the progress so far shows public investment in child care works.
- The single most important element of quality experiences for young children is the qualifications of their teacher. Elevating early childhood educators as professionals is the key to doing our best for young children and their families, and to creating our best future as a state.
- Professional recognition of early childhood educators creates a sustainable, accessible, transparent system that centers quality and equity, and that works for everyone: children, families, early childhood education workforce, program directors, and the public.
| | | | Lead Organizations Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children VTAEYC is the state’s largest membership organization for early childhood educators and the state affiliate of NAEYC, the National Association for the Education of Young Children. As a nonprofit organization formed by a grassroots effort over 50 years ago and now with 500+ members, VTAEYC offers professional development, workforce development programs, and quality supports. With a growing staff, a dedicated board, and a collaborative approach, VTAEYC aims to meet the needs of today’s ECE workforce and programs and create a stronger, more equitable early childhood education system for the future. Let's Grow Kids Evolving from over a decade of strategic early childhood grantmaking, Let’s Grow Kids (LGK) launched in 2014, forging partnerships among community leaders, elected officials, philanthropists, early childhood educators, and volunteers. It aims to create a high-quality, affordable 0-5 child care system that meets the needs of all Vermont families by 2025. At that time, Let’s Grow Kids will “go out of business,” having built a high-quality early care system alongside its partners and ushering in the public funding needed to sustain it. | | | | | |  | Alliance ‘25 Legislative Agenda Issue Spotlight – Child Care and ECE Professional Development – 3/24 The Alliance’s series of virtual Issue Spotlights, which focus on issues from the Alliance’s 2025 Legislative Agenda, continues next week. The next session will be held Monday, March 24, from 3:30 to 4:30 pm, and will provide updates on the status on advocacy related to Act 76 implementation and ECE professional development legislation. Led by Sarah Kenney, Chief Policy Officer, and Jen Horowitz, Policy and Research Director, at Let’s Grow Kids, and Beth Wallace, Director for Early Childhood Educator Engagement at the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children, this session is a great opportunity to learn more about these issues, where they stand in the Legislature, and how to get involved. | | | | | |  | | | | | The Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance is a statewide coalition formed in 2000 of early childhood professionals, parents, organizations, businesses, and strategic partners committed to improving public policies that impact young children between birth and age eight in the areas of health, safety, food security, economic security, and early care and education. The Alliance crafts an annual Legislative Agenda in partnership with early childhood organizations, provides year-round advocacy support, and facilitates meaningful interactions with policymakers at key times during the decision making process. | | | | 7 School Street | Montpelier , Vermont 05602 vecaa.org The Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance is a program of the Vermont Community Loan Fund. | | | | | | | | | |
