Looney and Duff Urge Early Childhood Endowment Board to Prioritize Long-Term Sustainability

HARTFORD — Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff (D-Norwalk) today sent a letter to the Early Childhood Education Endowment Advisory Board urging the Board to ground its deliberations in fiscal sustainability, data transparency, and a disciplined approach to program expansion as the state’s landmark endowment moves into its next phase of implementation.

The Early Childhood Education Endowment was established by the Connecticut General Assembly to provide a long-term, stable source of funding for child care providers and families across the state. The Office of Early Childhood has recently refined its projections of program need, prompting Senate Democratic leaders to call on the Advisory Board to ensure that commitments made to families and providers can be honored not only in the near term, but for years to come.

“Families require stable, affordable care. Providers need predictable funding to maintain and grow capacity. And the state has made a meaningful commitment to strengthening this system. That commitment must remain strong,” Senators Looney and Duff wrote. “At the same time, it is equally important that the system we build is one that can endure — both fiscally and programmatically.”

The senators acknowledged strong investment performance by State Treasurer Russell while cautioning that the endowment must be positioned to weather long-term fluctuations in economic conditions and annual budget surpluses.

“This endowment is intended to be a long-term source of income for Connecticut’s families and providers and therefore must be able to weather economic changes and surplus fluctuations from year-to-year,” Senators Looney and Duff wrote. “As implementation progresses, we are collectively gaining a clearer understanding of the true scale and cost of the system we are working on building.”

In their letter, Senators Looney and Duff asked the Advisory Board to give particular attention to:

• The alignment between projected program costs and the long-term capacity of the endowment;
• The quality, completeness, and transparency of the data informing those projections; and
• The timing and sequencing of program expansion to ensure sustainability.

“Thoughtful deliberation, informed by complete and accurate data, will be essential to navigating the decisions ahead,” they wrote. “Our commitment to continued investment in early childhood remains unwavering and we recognize that additional resources may be part of the path forward. At the same time, it is critical that any expansion of services be matched by a clear and sustainable funding strategy.”

The senators closed by reaffirming the shared goal underlying the endowment’s creation.

“Our shared goal is a system that works — not only today, but well into the future. That requires both ambition and discipline,” Senators Looney and Duff concluded.

The full letter is below.

To: Members of the Early Childhood Education Endowment Advisory Board

Re: Stewardship, Sustainability, and the Path Forward

Dear Members of the Advisory Board,

We write to you at an important moment about the Early Childhood Education Endowment and the families, providers, and communities it is intended to serve.

Recent developments and refined projections of need from the Office of Early Childhood have underscored both the urgency of expanding access to early childhood services and the complexity of doing so in a way that is financially sustainable over time.

As Senate Democrats have reiterated, relying on annual budget surpluses to fund this important program requires honesty and transparency, long-term fiscal discipline, and accurate data. We recognize and appreciate the work of the Advisory Board in helping to guide this effort, and the perspectives each of you brings to the table on behalf of the constituencies you represent.

The need is clear. Families require stable, affordable care. Providers need predictable funding to maintain and grow capacity. And the state has made a meaningful commitment to strengthening this system. That commitment must remain strong.

At the same time, it is equally important that the system we build is one that can endure – both fiscally and programmatically.

The endowment’s investment performance has outperformed initial projections, and we thank Treasurer Russell for his stewardship of these funds. But as he has continued to remind us, this endowment is intended to be a long-term source of income for Connecticut’s families and providers and therefore must be able to weather economic changes and surplus fluctuations from year-to-year.

It is evident that the Office of Early Childhood’s projected costs associated with expanded slots, increased rates, and family fee replacement are significant and continue to evolve as the agency continues to sharpen its capacity to leverage its data to project future needs. As implementation progresses, we are collectively gaining a clearer understanding of the true scale and cost of the system we are working on building.

In this context, we encourage the Advisory Board to remain firmly grounded in its core responsibilities: to exercise prudent stewardship of the endowment, to carefully evaluate data and projections as they are refined, and to ensure that recommendations and decisions are aligned with the needs of Connecticut’s families and child care providers and the long-term sustainability of the fund.

The structure of the endowment—and the statute governing it—contemplates a scaled and disciplined approach to ensure that each step forward is durable and that commitments made to families and providers can be honored not just in the near term, but for years to come.

We also respectfully emphasize the importance of each member fully engaging in this process by bringing forward the perspectives, expertise, and constituencies you represent. The strength of the Advisory Board lies in the diversity of those voices. Thoughtful deliberation, informed by complete and accurate data, will be essential to navigating the decisions ahead.

As you continue your work, we ask that particular attention be given to:

• The alignment between projected program costs and the long-term capacity of the endowment;
• The quality, completeness, and transparency of the data informing those projections; and
• The timing and sequencing of program expansion to ensure sustainability.

Our commitment to continued investment in early childhood remains unwavering and we recognize that additional resources may be part of the path forward. At the same time, it is critical that any expansion of services be matched by a clear and sustainable funding strategy.

We appreciate your continued leadership and partnership in this effort and look forward to working together to ensure that the endowment fulfills its promise in a responsible and sustainable way.

Senate President Martin Looney and Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff