Advocates ask lawmakers to treat childcare affordability as a systems challenge; nonprofits warn against duplicate reporting mandates

Meryl Gay, executive director of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance, told the Committee on Children that HB5163 to study childcare affordability is timely. She said families face an affordability crisis where childcare and housing costs outpace incomes and noted roughly 3,800 children are on the Care for Kids wait list. Gay urged policies to stabilize supply, expand subsidies and support the early‑childhood workforce.

United Way witnesses and ALICE research were cited: Daniel Fitzmaurice said ALICE data show more than 581,000 Connecticut households are asset‑limited, income‑constrained, and employed; aligning eligibility and costs with real living expenses should be a policy priority.

Nonprofit representatives (Connecticut Community Nonprofit Alliance) supported transparency but cautioned that SB154/SB155 data‑reporting language risks adding administrative burdens to contractors who already submit detailed fiscal and client‑level data to state agencies. Ben Shakin and Emmy Franklin asked the committee to ensure the state uses existing provider data rather than imposing new reporting columns that would divert nonprofit resources from programs.

Committee members asked for clarification about what providers already report and how the state could consolidate existing information before adding new mandates. Witnesses suggested the department and OPM coordinate with nonprofits to produce public reports without expanding provider reporting obligations.