March 2022 Monthly Update
Dear Partners and Friends,
The 2022 Legislative session convened on March 14, 2022. We are pleased that the Governor included a $94 million appropriation for early care and education in his executive budget proposal. We know that many young children under age three do not have access to high-quality early care and education in Louisiana. A recent report released by the Louisiana Early Care and Education Commission recommends an investment of $115 million of state funds to fully launch LA B to 3, and invest an increase of that amount every year for 10 years. The $94 million proposed investment is a step in the right direction.
We encourage you to email and call your state legislator about this critical issue and urge them to invest in early care and education that will impact multiple generations of Louisianans.
We are paying close attention to bills related to young children this legislative session. These include:
- HB 417 (Rep. Hilferty) authorizes early learning centers to maintain a supply of auto-injectable epinephrine.
- HB 460 (Rep. Brass) expands the purposes for which a parish governing authority may levy a tax relative to juvenile justice prevention, including early childhood programs.
- HB 650 and 651 (Rep. Hilferty) provides Medicaid coverage of prescription breast milk and provides relative to insurance coverage for prescription breast milk.
As other bills come up that impact our mission, we will be sure to keep you informed!
We are grateful to our state legislators who continue to keep our youngest learners on their minds during the 2022 legislative session. As always, we offer our organization as a resource to answer questions related to our research around early care and education in Louisiana.
Thank you for your commitment to Louisiana’s youngest learners!