Policy Pulse #13

In each issue of the Policy Pulse, you will find an overview of what’s happening with Massachusetts and national child care policy and information on what you can do to take action and join the movement for a transformed early education and care system. You’ll also find resources, reports, and advocacy tools. In this issue we focus on the Massachusetts state budget, the federal budget reconciliation process, and the final Early Education and Care Board meeting of FY2025. Let’s dive in.

What To Know

Massachusetts State Budget Is in Front of the Conference Committee

A six-member conference committee will meet throughout June to determine a compromise budget between the House and Senate versions. 

Check out Neighborhood Villages’ new Towards Conference Guide for more details on what funding is secured for early education for FY2026 and what is still in discussion in the conference committee. As always the MA state budget page has more details on this year’s budget process.

$1.3 Billion Supplemental Budget Passed

On June 18, 2025, the legislature passed a $1.3 billion supplemental spending bill. This bill allocates funds collected from the income surtax (also known as fair share) in FY2025 that the legislature did not originally anticipate collecting. This bill includes $45 million for early education workforce, affordability, and quality improvement initiatives in the early education sector. This follows on a supplemental budget bill passed at the end of May that allocated $190 million for Child Care Financial Assistance for FY2025. The bill is now awaiting the governor’s signature.

The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care Held its June Board Meeting 

The Board of Massachusetts’ Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) most recently met on June 11, 2025. Important decisions about the early education and care sector are made at monthly EEC Board meetings, and you can read the wrap-up here! Here are highlights of what happened at the May Board meeting:

• An update on the state budget and residential regulations

• A discussion of the Commonwealth Cares for Children program and EEC’s plans for it in FY2026

• A vote to approve changes to the Child Care Financial Assistance regulations; read more here!

U.S. Senate Considering Budget Reconciliation Bill
The U.S. Senate’s finance committee released their budget reconciliation proposal. Provisions that impact the early education sector include the following: 

• Expanding the 45F Tax Credit for Employer-Provided Child Care. This tax credit is meant to incentivize employers to provide child care benefits to their employees. However, in practice, this credit is mostly used by large corporate employers, many of whom already provide an eligible child care benefit; therefore, the credit does little to improve access or reduce the cost to families. 

• Increasing the Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP). For employers who choose to participate in this program, employees can put money away pre-tax to pay for child care expenses. The current limit for contributions is $5,000. The bill proposes an increase to $7,500. 

• Changing parameters for the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC). This tax credit helps some families defer the cost of work-related child care expenses. The limit in expenses that can be claimed is $3,000 for one child and $6,000 for two or more children. The proposal does not change the amount claimable.

• Cutting safety net programs and adding requirements to qualify for Medicaid (known as MassHealth in Massachusetts) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Read more about the potential impact of Medicaid cuts on the early education field in our recent blog. 

• Limiting the eligibility of many immigrants to access safety net programs, which in turn may make it harder for some families to access child care and other benefits.

What To Do

Tell Your MA Legislators Your FY2026 Budget Priorities!

The MA legislature is wrapping up budget season, and the FY26 budget is currently in conference. You still have time to let the conference committee and your legislators know what your priorities are. In Washington, D.C., the budget reconciliation bill passed the House and is now with the Senate.

Here’s how you can advocate for early education and care this month:

Priority 1: Contact Your MA legislators

Contact the conference committee and your legislators to emphasize your conference priorities. 

If you need help identifying which of your priorities are being negotiated by the conference committee, check out our conference committee guide. You can use this link from our friends at Strategies for Children to email the conference committee.

Priority 2: Support Head Start

If you run an organization or business, show your support for Head Start by signing-on to this partner letter from the Massachusetts Head Start Association. The deadline to sign-on is July 15th. The letter and sign-on information is here.

Priority 3:  Contact Your Federal Legislators!
Contact both of your senators (Senator Warren; Senator Markey) and ask them to continue to stand up for families with young children in budget negotiations.

What’s Next

The next meeting of the EEC Board of Directors will be on September 10, 2025 at 1:00pm. A full schedule of meetings as well as recordings and meeting materials can be found here. We will share a full recap of this meeting in the issue of the Policy Pulse that comes after the meeting.

• The final Massachusetts FY2026 state budget is expected by early July. Stay tuned for more details on its impact.

• The U.S. Senate will debate the finance committee’s version of the Budget Reconciliation bill.