This year, a total of 23 governors (12 Democrats and 11 Republicans) mentioned early care and education in their State of the State Addresses. These governors recognize that early care and education is critical to the success of their states because it gives children the strong start they need to succeed and allows parents to work and contribute productively to the economy. A few governors offered specific proposals to help families access high-quality child care and early education. For example, Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb proposed to double annual funding for the state prekindergarten program. Montana Governor Steve Bullock proposed to provide grants to public and private providers to expand preschool for four-year-olds in low-income families. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper proposed to create enough additional slots in the state-funded prekindergarten program to eliminate the waiting list. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf proposed to provide $75 million in new funding to expand high-quality early care and education, and Vermont Governor Phil Scott proposed to provide $9.6 million in new funding for child care and prekindergarten. While these proposals are laudable, we will need even more governors supporting even greater investments to address the significant unmet need for affordable, high-quality child care and early education.
This document provides excerpts related to early care and education, along with links to each governor’s complete State of the State Address (or, if the governor did not deliver a State of the State Address this year, his or her Inaugural Address or Budget Address.)