by Karla Ciaglo CTNewsJunkie
HARTFORD, CT — Standing before a crowd of parents, educators, and childcare advocates at the Capitol, Gov. Ned Lamont signed legislation on Monday that state leaders are calling the most significant investment in early childhood education in a generation.
House Bill 5003, now Public Act 25-82, formalizes sweeping changes to how Connecticut supports children from birth to age five with funding for childcare and education. Paired with Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 7288, the legislative package will establish a $300-million Early Childhood Education Endowment, expand childcare access, improve educator compensation, and centralize enrollment through a new digital portal.
“Access to early childhood education is massively important to any state’s success,” Lamont said. “The bills that the General Assembly approved this session represent the largest expansion of early childhood education access in Connecticut history, and I thank them for making this a priority and recognizing that this issue is a major part of what will create a stronger, safer, and resilient state.”
Beginning July 2025, the endowment will begin providing free care for families earning less than $100,000 annually and cap costs at 7% of income for others. Lawmakers say the fund, seeded with surplus dollars, will more than double early childhood enrollment statewide by 2032.
Advocates and officials repeatedly called the moment “transformational.”
Office of Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye, who helped lead the administration’s efforts, called the legislation a national model. “[This legislation] will make childcare free or affordable for tens of thousands of families and provide a portal where parents can find affordable childcare in their community,” she said. “And as the endowment grows, it will reach more communities and more families.”
The new centralized Early Care and Education Program Portal is designed to untangle what families and advocates have long described as a confusing system. Once live, the platform will offer real-time program availability, enrollment status, and eligibility details via mobile app and website.
Merrill Gay, executive director of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance, emphasized that the legislation is both a policy shift and a structural funding solution.
“Most parents can’t afford what it costs to provide high-quality care, and early educators shouldn’t have to subsidize the system by working for poverty wages,” she said.
SB 1 also mandates pay parity between early childhood educators and their K-12 public school counterparts in publicly funded programs.
Meanwhile, HB 7288 will fund financial assistance for facility improvements for licensed providers. And $80 million in bonds for construction and renovations will establish the Child Care Facilities Grant Program, which will offer financial assistance for facility improvement.
Senate President Pro Tem Martin Looney, D-New Haven, reflected on the role of the pandemic in shifting public awareness.
“It pulled back the curtain and showed how much we rely on care systems — and how they weren’t built to withstand a crisis,” Looney said. “Now we’re acting on those realizations.”
Rep. Kate Farrar, D-West Hartford, one of HB 5003’s lead architects, drew praise for her work on the legislation. Farrar detailed how childcare for parents who make under $100,000 will be reduced to zero cost and how the cost will not exceed 7% for those who make over $100,000. The bills will also dedicate multi-year funding for facilities to upgrade in child care deserts.
“That is true relief for the families of Connecticut,” she said.
Eva Bermúdez Zimmerman, coalition director of Child Care for Connecticut, praised lawmakers for hearing the call of parents, educators, and businesses alike: “We applaud Governor Lamont and his fellow leaders in government for hearing the voices of parents, providers, and business leaders, who advocated fiercely to make childcare a top priority in the halls of the Capitol. This is transformative legislation for Connecticut, and we are so proud to help make it a reality.”
House Minority Leader Vincent Candelora, R-North Branford, released a statement critical of the way the funding is being allocated.
“Childcare is an acute issue for working families and for Connecticut’s economy — but that doesn’t justify tossing out common sense. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Democrats have done. They’re celebrating an unsustainable plan that ignores the basic principles of a responsible endowment,” Candelora wrote. “Instead of preserving the principal and using the interest, they’ve flipped the model on its head. And rather than using real, dedicated funding — like the Republican proposal to tap savings from pension paydowns — they’re relying on portions of future, hypothetical budget surpluses that should be used to reduce our $80 billion in unfunded liabilities. This isn’t a responsible investment in Connecticut’s future — it’s a risky promise to parents that the legislature may not be able to keep.”