Assembly subcommittees review progress on California's Master Plan for Early Learning and Care

A joint hearing by the California State Assembly’s Subcommittee No. 3 on Education Finance and Subcommittee No. 2 on Human Services on May 1, 2025, examined progress toward the Master Plan for Early Learning and Care (MPELC) and the administration’s January budget proposals for childcare, preschool and transitional kindergarten (TK).

The hearing brought together state agencies, researchers and advocacy groups to assess implementation five years after publication of the master plan. “It is our childcare and preschool oversight hearing, which is inclusive of transitional kindergarten,” Assemblymember David Alvarez said at the start of the session. Dr. Jackson, chair of Subcommittee No. 2, said the joint hearing was intended to reduce siloed decision-making across programs and agencies.

The Department of Social Services (CDSS) and the California Department of Education (CDE) described programmatic and administrative steps taken under the master plan. Lupe Jaime Milam, deputy director of the Child Care and Development Division at CDSS, summarized ongoing work, including an equity-centered Quality Rating and Improvement System advisory panel and efforts toward a single rate structure informed by a new cost-of-care model. Stephen Propheter, director of the Early Education Division at CDE, told the committees that California will implement universal pre-kindergarten access for four-year-olds in the coming school year and that TK enrollment has increased as a result.

Panelists from nonprofits and policy organizations urged further investments to expand access for infants, toddlers and three-year-olds, strengthen mixed-delivery options (school-based, community-based and home-based), and protect federal programs such as Head Start amid national budget uncertainty. Sara Baches of Children Now and Eric Salcedo of the California Budget & Policy Center cited research linking early childhood investments to long-term educational and economic outcomes and expressed concern that access remains unequal statewide.

The hearing also included detailed presentations on two policy fronts: (1) full implementation of universal TK and the related budget estimate in the governor’s January budget, and (2) a proposed alternative methodology to replace the regional market rate survey for setting childcare reimbursement. Department of Finance staff described the governor’s proposed funding levels; the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) questioned some uptake and cost assumptions, particularly the administration’s estimates for additional TK enrollment and the budgeted cost to reduce TK classroom ratios.

Why it matters: The master plan sets a 10‑year roadmap to expand access, improve quality and align funding across early learning programs. Committees emphasized that decisions this year — including rate methodology, whether funds are distributed based on enrollment or attendance, and support for workforce development — will affect program stability, provider viability and family access.

Panelists asked the committees for ongoing legislative attention to technical assistance, grant extensions that support local coordination (such as UPK planning grants and teacher development grants), and statutory clarity to make systems more portable across counties. The hearing closed with a request from committee chairs that agencies return with follow-up recommendations and implementation details, particularly on rate reform and systems integration.

Ending: The committees left the hearing with clear next steps: CDSS will present further public vetting of the alternative methodology at a Rate and Quality Advisory Panel meeting scheduled for May 9, 2025; CDE asked for grant-extension authority to sustain local UPK coordinators and teacher-development pipelines; and the Assembly signaled interest in drafting legislative language to reduce administrative silos and improve portability of child-care eligibility between counties.