Committee reviews governor’s budget for Department of Early Learning and Care, highlights ERDC wait list and licensing investments

The Education Subcommittee on Monday heard an informational presentation on Senate Bill 5514, the governor’s recommended budget for the Department of Early Learning and Care (DELC), including discussion of an Employment-Related Day Care (ERDC) wait list, planned IT and licensing investments, and proposed funding for tribal early learning programs.

Mike Streepi, chief financial officer in the Department of Administrative Services, told the committee that “the wait list has grown to over 10,000 families” and that the governor’s budget does not assume immediate protocol changes for that list. He also described one-time federal funds from the American Rescue Plan Act that had been used in the current biennium and a proposed shift of some of those expenses onto ongoing general fund support in 2025–27.

The presentation placed DELC’s budget in context: general fund is projected to support roughly half of the agency’s budget, the Corporate Activity Tax (CAT) just under a third, and federal Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) dollars supply the remainder. Streepi said the current-service-level budget incorporated moving expiring CCDF carry-forward into general fund to sustain ongoing ERDC subsidy payments.

Alyssa Chatterjee, director of DELC, and Cooper Brown, deputy director of…