Sign Up
SB 1369 Connecticut Senate · 2025 Regular Session

AN ACT CONCERNING CHILD CARE SUPPORT FOR CONNECTICUT'S WORKFORCE.

SB 1369 creates Connecticut's Workforce Child Care Program to help working families with children under 13 afford child care. The program caps child care costs at 7% of a family's annual income and provides financial support to licensed child care providers for operational costs, staff training, and facility upgrades. It excludes families already receiving assistance through programs like Head Start, state subsidies, or foster care. The Early Childhood Care and Education Fund administers the program, with providers eligible for grants to support workforce needs and accessibility.
Issues: ✓ Budget & TaxesSupports Budget & TaxesFunds child care program through state grants, increasing public spending on essential services without tax changes, aligning with funding essential programs.85% confidence ✓ EducationSupports EducationProvides state funding to early childhood care providers for staff training and facility upgrades, directly supporting early education access and infrastructure as part of the Early Childhood Care and Education Fund.90% confidence ✓ Labor & EmploymentSupports Labor & EmploymentCaps child care costs at 7% of income for working families, enabling workforce participation by reducing employment barriers; directly supports labor force stability through affordable child care access.95% confidence
Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Floor Vote
Governor
Introduced Feb 20, 2025 Last action Mar 13, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Raised Bill → KID Joint Favorable Substitute Change of Reference · 9 edits
MAJOR
The bill was changed from a 'Raised Bill' to a 'Substitute Bill' with significant modifications to the program name, administering body, eligibility requirements, and reporting deadlines. The program was renamed to include a 'Portal' and the administering board was replaced with an existing commission. New eligibility criteria were added to exclude families already receiving certain subsidies, and the reporting deadline was extended from 2027 to 2029.
Scope change
The bill's scope expanded to include a 'Portal' component and the administering authority changed from a new Workforce Child Care Board to an existing Early Childhood Care and Education Fund Advisory Commission.
SCOPE

Program name changed from 'Workforce Child Care Program' to 'Workforce Child Care Program and Portal' to include a digital enrollment system.

REQUIREMENT

Administering body changed from a new 'Workforce Child Care Board' to the existing 'Early Childhood Care and Education Fund Advisory Commission' established under section 10-511a of general statutes.

Added new definitions for 'Employer' (companies with 200+ employees) and 'Payroll expense' for tax purposes.

Salary enhancement grant program section references changed from sections 6 and 7 to sections 4 and 5 of the act.

Capital improvements section now explicitly includes before-school and after-school programs, summer camps, and youth camps.

ELIGIBILITY

Added new eligibility criteria requiring families to not be receiving subsidies from Head Start, child care subsidy programs, Early Start CT, Smart Start grants, temporary family assistance, or foster care programs.

TIMELINE

Reporting deadline for program implementation reports extended from January 1, 2027 to January 1, 2029.

Program expansion deadline for before/after school programs and emergency coverage extended from July 1, 2026 to July 1, 2027.

FISCAL

Funding source references changed from 'Workforce Child Care Fund' to 'Early Childhood Care and Education Fund' established under section 10-511 of general statutes.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
7
Key actions
1
Committee
2
Mar 6, 2025
Upper · Passed
Joint Favorable Substitute Change of Reference FIN
upper
Feb 20, 2025
Committee
REF. TO JOINT COMM. ON Committee on Children
upper
0 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

No sponsor information available.