Policy Pulse #21

In each issue of the Policy Pulse, we share an overview of what’s happening in 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. In each edition, you will also find resources, reports, and advocacy tools. In this issue, we highlight the latest in research and data for early childhood education (ECE) in MA, update you on the state budget process and the recent Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) Board meeting, invite you to take action, and let you know what’s coming up next. Let’s dive in!

What To Know

Massachusetts Fiscal Year 2027 State Budget Update

Massachusetts’ Fiscal Year 2027 (FY2027) budget season is in full swing. The Joint Committee on Ways and Means (JWM), a committee that consists of state representatives and senators, is currenting conducting budget hearings across the state to hear primarily from invited governmental officials. On March 23, JWM held a budget hearing on Education and Local Aid. EEC Commissioner and acting Secretary of Education Amy Kershaw and a panel on early education provided testimony on priorities for next year's budget. You can watch the hearing here.

The House Committee on Ways and Means (HWM) is currently examining the Governor’s FY2027 Budget Proposal, which was released in January 2026. HWM will then release its recommendations for the FY2027 budget, typically in mid-April. The HWM’s proposal will then be sent to the full MA House of Representatives for review and discussion. Once the full House decides and votes to approve its proposed budget, the budget will next be sent to the MA Senate Committee on Ways and Means for consideration.

MA House Ways and Means Committee Releases FY2026 Supplemental Budget Proposal

In January, when Governor Healey released her FY2027 budget proposal, she also released a FY2026 supplemental budget proposal, which would appropriate surplus funds specifically from the Massachusetts Fair Share Surtax. On March 18, the House voted to pass its supplemental budget proposal, which allocates $38.7 million to reduce the income-eligible waitlist for the Child Care Financial Assistance program. The $38.7 million also includes $7.5 million for EEC's loan forgiveness program and $8 million for early educators’ personal child care. The Senate Ways and Means Committee will now review the proposal and release its own supplemental budget proposal.

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

The Board of Massachusetts’ Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) most recently met on March 11, 2026. Important decisions about the early education and care sector are made at monthly EEC Board meetings, and you can read the wrap-up here! Some highlights from the March board meeting are:

• An update on the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative and Preschool Access; and 

• An update on Governor Maura Healey’s Inter-Agency Early Education and Child Care Task Force.

New MA Early Childhood Education Data Sets Are Publicly Available

The Massachusetts Education-to-Career Research and Data Hub – E2C for short – contains publicly available data sets for each of the age levels of education in MA, including early childhood education. The E2C Hub is updated regularly with new data sets. Recent additions include Children Enrolled in Formal Early Education and Care Statewide and Early Education and Care's Centralized Waitlist for Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA). If you conduct research or are simply interested in knowing more about the ECE landscape in MA, we encourage you to check out this resource!

New Child Care Financial Assistance (CCFA) Provider Rates Go into Effect in April

Child care providers that participate in the Child Care Financial Assistance program – i.e., they serve families receiving CCFA – are reimbursed for costs associated with providing care to children according to age and program characteristics. The Fiscal Year 2026 budget included funding to increase the overall pool of funding available for provider reimbursement. EEC has since adjusted reimbursement rates, which are different for family child care programs and center-based programs. Rates are retroactive to July 1, 2025 and providers will receive a one-time payment in April to account for retroactive rate increases.

Early Educator Loan Forgiveness Now Open

The Student Loan Repayment Program, specifically for early childhood educators, launched on March 9, 2026. The application for the program will remain open through May 31, 2026. Eligible educators can receive loan repayments of up to $7,500 per year for bachelor’s degrees completed after July 1, 2013 in a qualifying program of study in Massachusetts. To be eligible for the loan forgiveness program, educators must be currently working in an EEC licensed or funded early education and care program and have outstanding loan debt. More information can be found here. 

Inter-Agency Early Education and Child Care Task Force Releases Year Two Progress Report

On March 5, the Inter-Agency Early Education and Child Care Task Force released a report detailing the progress it has made to expand accessible, affordable, and equitable high-quality child care across Massachusetts in its second year and its outlook for its third year. In its second year, using a “whole-of-government" strategy to strengthen the state’s child care system, the Task Force reports expanding health care benefits for early educators, improving economic development support for small, local child care businesses, and expanding career pathways through apprenticeships and higher education opportunities. In its third year, the Task Force will remain focused on building a sustainable, equitable early education and child care system that supports educators, families, employers, and communities across Massachusetts. You can find the report here.

MA Early Childhood Policy Research Collaborative Held Its 2nd Annual Summit

Amaris Kinne, Neighborhood Villages’ Director of Research, and Devin Cole, Neighborhood Villages’ Senior Director of Operations, attended the 2nd Annual Summit of the MA Early Childhood Policy Research Collaborative on March 19 at Wellesley College. Kinne and Cole participated in the Summit’s poster session, sharing results of Neighborhood Villages’ survey research conducted with participants in its Lead Teacher program. The findings shared in the poster were extracted from a longer research brief published last fall.

What To Do

Stay Up to Date as the Massachusetts FY2027 Budget Season Continues to Unfold 

Now is the most critical time to ensure that the early education sector’s priorities are reflected in the final FY2027 state budget. With the budget now under review by the House Ways and Means Committee, it is imperative that legislators on Beacon Hill hear from advocates like you! 

Key priorities for the early education and care sector include:

• Increased funding for the Commonwealth Cares for Children operations grants program.

• Increased funding for Massachusetts’ Child Care Financial Assistance program.

• Increased funding for Head Start.

• Continued funding for child care financial assistance for early educators seeking to enroll their child in care.

Find your legislators and their contact information via the Massachusetts Legislature’s look-up tool here: malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator

What’s Next

• EEC is hosting two informational sessions to provide information on the new Early Childhood Educator Student Loan Repayment Program. They will be on March 25 at 1pm and 7pm. You can find more information and register here.

• The next meeting of the EEC Board of Directors will be on April 8 at 1pm in Boston. 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 next issue of the Policy Pulse.