News and Events

Governor maintains support for young children and their families

SACRAMENTO, CA – Early Learning advocacy organization Early Edge California thanks Governor Gavin Newsom for proposing a 2024-25 state budget today that protects key investments for Early Learning and Care when the state faces a significant budget shortfall. Governor Newsom, in partnership with the California Legislature, has worked to strengthen Early Learning and Care throughout his years in office, and we appreciate his continued resolve to support California’s young children and families during these fiscally challenging times. 

Despite California’s $37.9 billion deficit, the Governor’s proposal protects existing investments and efforts to support children, families, teachers, and caregivers and California’s Early Learning and Care mixed-delivery system. Each of these investments is critical to the stability of the child care industry, the state’s mixed-delivery system, and providing robust Early Learning and Care options for California’s infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. 

The Governor’s budget proposal maintains the following investments in the Early Learning and Care system:

• Funding and implementation to expand Transitional Kindergarten (TK) to keep California on the path to reaching universal preschool for all 4-year-olds by 2026
• Supporting the state’s bargaining agreement with child care providers and Child Care Providers United (CCPU)
• Funding the continued rollout of the child care rate reform alternative methodology to account for the true cost of child care 
• Commitment to fund 200,000 subsidized child care slots by 2026-27
• $53.7 million for rate increases for California’s state preschool providers which were previously supported through use of one-time federal funds
• $65 million to reflect a 0.76-percent cost-of-living adjustment for specified categorical programs including the California State Preschool Program 

“We acknowledge the heightened challenges that Governor Newsom and his Administration are navigating this year and commend him for protecting and building upon current investments for young children and families in his budget plans for the upcoming fiscal year. We thank the Governor for protecting child care investments, his continued prioritization of Transitional Kindergarten’s implementation, and numerous efforts to strengthen California’s Early Learning mixed-delivery system,” said Patricia Lozano, Executive Director of Early Edge California.

# # #

Early Edge California is a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to improving access to high-quality Early Learning experiences for all California children so they can have a strong foundation for future success.