Check out our FY 2026 State Budget Priorities designed to invest in the health and education of our kids, make child care more affordable for working families, support our workforce of early learning professionals, and strengthen Rhode Island’s economy. Our top priorities include:
- Stabilizing and Expanding Access to Affordable, Quality Child Care
- Improving Paid Family Leave
- Ensuring Young Children Have Access to Pediatric Care
- Improving the Economic Security of Families with Young Children
- Fixing Early Childhood Special Education Systems
- Investing in Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Mental Health
- Funding Family Home Visiting
We have shared these priorities with Governor Dan McKee and hope they are incorporated into his FY 2026 state budget, which is now being crafted.
In addition, a broad coalition of 38 leading Rhode Island organizations have signed onto a petition urging Governor McKee to remove a regressive requirement that is preventing eligible Rhode Island families from accessing the state’s Child Care Assistance Program and to make funding for our successful Child Care for Child Care Educators program permanent. Click here to see the full petition.