Tuesday, July 15, 2025
Yesterday the DC Council took its first votes on their Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal which includes many important investments and hard fought restorations for early education, youth homelessness, out-of-school-time, and other critical social services for youth but too many major funding gaps remain in the programs children and families depend on. Notably, the budget package voted on today adds $4 million for the Early Childhood Educator Pay Equity Fund and $15 million for child care subsidies. It also protects $2.4 million in funding restored to support some of our most vulnerable District youth. Still, DC Action and our many coalition partners are concerned the budget falls millions short of the true – and recurring – cost of protecting families’ access to early learning, stable housing, quality health care, economic mobility, and more.
“Our children deserve bold and sustained investment—no matter the budget climate,” said Kimberly Perry, Executive Director of DC Action. “We’re grateful the budget the DC Council advanced yesterday increased funding for early childhood education but, concerningly, the increase does not even allow the District to achieve flat funding at the time of growing need. The Pay Equity Fund and child care subsidy program are major successes in driving access to quality and affordable early education for thousands of families and we must ensure these programs can continue meeting growing demand. We will keep pushing to ensure every dollar our children and families need is in the final budget, including by raising revenue to create a more resilient and equitable DC budget for our kids’ futures.”