STORM WATCH

Severe weather results in ground stops at major area airports

Gov. Lamont highlights new universal pre-K program. What parents need to know

Starting in 2027, child care will be free or discounted for all Connecticut families. Supporters said the program could pay for itself, but critics warned that it creates "false hope" for parents.

John Craven

Jul 24, 2025, 8:39 PM

Updated 8 hr ago

Share:

Parents can spend thousands of dollars a month on child care. But in two years, it will be free or discounted for every family in Connecticut.
On Thursday, Gov. Ned Lamont highlighted the state’s new universal Pre-K endowment.
Supporters called the program a “revolutionary investment” in kids. But Republicans warned that it gives parents “false hope” because it’s not sustainable.
COSTLY CHILDCARE
For Sarah Rosa, day care means taking her daughter to Norwalk’s Stepping Stones Museum. She had to quit her job because outside child care is too expensive.
“For us, it just – it made more financial sense to not have to pay for day care and just me be child care for our kids,” Rosa said.
But relief is on the way.
Starting in two years, Connecticut’s new universal pre-K program launches for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. Families making up to $100,000 a year won’t pay anything for child care. For everyone else, costs will be capped at 7% of their income.
“This can save them $7,000, $8,000, $15,000,” Lamont said. “And it’s Item 1 in terms of opportunity for folks.”
But many parents can’t even find a daycare slot. To create more space, childcare workers are also getting a raise.
“We have lost passionate, committed educators to burnout and low wages,” said Kyla Siegmann, executive director of the Trinity College Community Child Care Center. “Many of our staff here work two to three jobs just to make ends meet.”
CAN CT AFFORD IT?
So how is the state paying for all this?
This year, Connecticut lawmakers created a new Early Childhood Endowment and funded it with $300 million in state budget surplus. Each year, excess surplus will be added to the fund – which will be invested, along with pension funds. The state treasurer estimates a 6.9% return on those investments.
“That endowment grows over time with the investments, and those ongoing investments with the unallocated surplus and the interest will help it grow over time, and serve more and more families,” said Connecticut Early Childhood Commissioner Beth Bye.
The investment is already paying off, according to Bye. She said that 18 school districts have already offered to open childcare classrooms with endowment funding.
"Right now, parents in Connecticut are paying up to 25% of their income,” she said. “That means it’s harder to buy a home; that means it's harder to get a car to get transportation to work.”
But Republicans believe that the endowment is a house of cards.
“Our state’s finances would be in serious trouble today without federal COVID relief dollars and a booming stock market. Given our pre-pandemic fiscal challenges, we could easily return to that precarious position. Yet Democratic leaders are making long-term promises to early childhood educators based on the assumption that budget surpluses will continue indefinitely,” said Connecticut House GOP leader Vin Candelora (R-North Branford). “I fear the state will inevitably break promises to parents seeking quality child care and to educators who deserve stability, not false hope.”
POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS
Thursday’s event had a political purpose, too. It was a chance for Lamont to show off his progressive credentials as he weighs a possible re-election bid.
“I don't think about it that way,” he said. “But it’s Item 1 in making sure that we make life a little more affordable, especially for our young families.”
Another Democrat is already in the race for governor, state Rep. Josh Elliott (D-Hamden). Elliott has accused Lamont of failing working-class families – most recently by vetoing a major affordable housing proposal and a bill paying striking workers unemployment benefits.
“We are not here to demonize the wealthy,” Elliott said during his campaign launch last week. “But we will talk candidly about a tax code that currently rewards wealth instead of work.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
As for Sarah Rosa, universal pre-K sounds promising. But she isn’t sure it would lure her back to work.
“I think it at least opens up the door to have that discussion, but everybody kind of has to figure out what's best for them,” she said.
The program doesn’t fully launch until July 2027 to give the endowment time to grow. But parents can get their questions answered now, at five “listening sessions” across the state scheduled for September.