2025 MID-SESSION UPDATE
We are 43 days into the 2025 legislative session, with 62 days left. A lot has happened so far, including some major successes that we are thrilled to share with all of you.
Bills
Our flagship behavioral health item this year is aimed at holding digital media companies accountable for protecting the privacy, health, and safety of kids on social media and, in doing so, preventing certain harms to behavioral health that are associated with such use. House Bill 1834 / Senate Bill 5708 are the result of collaboration between Children’s Alliance, the Attorney General’s Office, and our partners in the Legislature: Representative Lisa Callan and Senator Noel Frame. Both bills needed to be passed out of their respective policy committees by last Friday, and thanks to hundreds of PRO sign ins from Children’s Alliance members, we were successful in doing just that! There are many potential cutoff points to come, and we will continue to ask for your support as we maneuver this bill through the Legislature and to the Governor’s desk.
Other bills on our agenda that made it passed the initial cutoff last week:
Free School Meals (HB 1404 / SB 5352)
Supporting Children in Crisis (HB 1272 / SB 5427)
Cost of Quality Care (HB 1350 / SB 5500)
Early Learning Facilities Fund (HB 1314 / SB 5297)
ECEAP Age Entitlements (HB 1351)
Early Supports for Infants and Toddlers (HB 1357)
BUDGET
Alongside bills, we are also advocating for several budget provisos and urging lawmakers to avoid cuts to critical human services as they grapple with the impending budget deficit. We expect more concrete proposals from the Governor’s office in the coming week and are preparing to work with budget writers and our organizational partners to ensure early learning and health care programs and services are protected from the bulk of spending reductions.
We are particularly concerned about the proposals we are seeing to make cuts to the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) and eliminate Birth-to-Three ECEAP. These changes would negatively impact our youngest learners, especially those from families with low incomes and those in Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color. Due to the high cost of licensed child care, many families with low incomes enroll in ECEAP in order to access the resources and support their children need to enter kindergarten ready to learn. If cuts are made to the program, these children could lose access to early learning entirely.
Progressive revenue solutions, like a wealth tax, would safeguard working- and middle-class families from shouldering the brunt of the budget shortfall. These bills will be introduced soon, and we will certainly want the support of stakeholders as we make it clear to the Legislature that we cannot afford to gut key resources for kids such as early learning.
We thank you for your continued support and are excited to continue advocating alongside you in a time when every voice is needed. Please visit our action center for a list of current action opportunities.