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Witness calls to preserve Act 76 funding as Vermont builds infant capacity and workforce
Summary
Allie Richards of Let's Grow Kids urged the House Hamilton Economic Development Committee to oppose a governor proposal to cut the child-care base fund, noting Act 76’s $50 million appropriation and 0.44% payroll tax are transforming the sector but leaving gaps—especially infant capacity and workforce pipelines.
Allie Richards, chief executive officer of the nonprofit Let’s Grow Kids, told the House Hamilton Economic Development Committee that Vermont’s post-Act 76 child-care program is expanding quickly but remains unfinished and should not face a permanent base funding cut.
Richards said Act 76 provided a $50,000,000 general appropriation and established a 0.44% payroll tax to help rebuild child-care infrastructure. “We’re really undertaking a transformation of entire sector,” she said, adding that the program “has not even come close to maturing.”
Richards said the law’s investments are already producing new capacity—“a thousand new spaces, a hundred new programs, 50 new…
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