Council debates whether COA should be barred from awarding grants or delivering direct services

The committee examined expedited Bill 23-25, which as introduced would define the coordinating entity as a neutral convener and explicitly prohibit it from providing direct early care services, awarding grants to providers, entering into contracts with ECE providers, providing goods or services directly to providers, or funding seats for individual children. Council staff and HHS framed this restriction as a way to reduce duplication and preserve the entity as a systems-level convener.

Deborah Lambert (OMB) clarified to the committee that, as drafted, the bill would prevent the entity from awarding or funding grants directly. "The way that it's written is that, you know, they would not be able to award or fund grants," she said. DHHS staff and the council's legal counsel cautioned that allowing COA to fund seats or contractors without clear guardrails could create fiscal and oversight confusion.

COA leaders and supportive councilmembers pushed back, saying modest pass-through grantmaking and pilots (often privately funded and targeted to capacity building) have produced concrete results. COA presented data showing pilots that produced 354 community-based pre-k seats, which COA estimated translated into about $1,900,000 in new state funding. Councilmembers asked staff to draft narrower statutory language and to include guardrails (e.g., fund-source restrictions, transparency requirements) if any grant-making authority is retained.