Ready Louisiana Recognizes Early Care and Education Champions
Governor Edwards, policymakers honored for outstanding efforts on behalf of Louisiana’s youngest children
BATON ROUGE, La. (June 11, 2021) — The Ready Louisiana Coalition today announced its 2021 legislative champions — recognizing state policymakers and elected officials who have made significant contributions to increase funding for and expand access to quality early care and education programs for young children in Louisiana. Coalition leaders including Dr. Libbie Sonnier, executive director of the Louisiana Policy Institute for Children and Charmaine Caccioppi, executive vice president and chief operating officer of the United Way of Southeast Louisiana, met with the champions at the state Capitol to present the awards.
“While we face daily reminders of how much work we have ahead to ensure every Louisiana child has access to quality early care and education, this legislative session we have experienced truly inspiring signs of hope and progress,” said Sonnier. “Over the past few months, we have seen our legislative champions support policies that will transform early care and education in Louisiana in just a few short years — improving our economy and benefitting our children immeasurably during those critical developmental years. The Ready Louisiana Coalition is tremendously grateful for the funding that is being directed to early childhood education in our state from future sports betting revenues, setting up our children for success in school and in life.”
Ready Louisiana’s 2021 legislative champions include: Sen. Cleo Fields, Sen. Patrick McMath, Sen. Ronnie Johns, Sen. Page Cortez, Sen. Rick Ward, Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, Rep. Aimee Freeman, Rep. Rodney Lyons, Rep. Jonathan Goudeau, Rep. Rick Edmonds, Superintendent Cade Brumley, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, Gov. John Bel Edwards, and Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne.
“High-quality early care and education can cost almost as much as public college tuition in Louisiana, making it the largest budget expense for most families with young children in our state,” said Caccioppi. “The research is clear, investing in high-quality early care and education is one of the best investments we can make — yielding a 13 percent return. We can’t thank our champions enough for not only recognizing the critical importance of early childhood education, but for their leadership and steadfast commitment to working to increase funding and implement policies that ensure that these experiences will one day be within reach of all families across Louisiana.”
During the 2021 Regular Legislative Session state legislators passed SB 142 which will have significant, and positive, implications for early care and education in Louisiana. The final version of the legislation, introduced by Sen. Rick Ward, allocates 25 percent of future sports betting revenues, capped at $20 million, to the Louisiana Early Childhood Education Fund (Fund).
The Fund offers local entities a dollar-for-dollar state match to fund early care and education programs, but as of June 1, 2021, the revenue sources for the Fund have generated less than $380,000.
“By committing revenues from sports betting to the Fund, we are stretching state dollars even further through the Fund’s dollar-for-dollar match on local investments in early care and education,” said Sonnier. “Local communities throughout the state are already engaging in efforts to expand access to early care and education. To maximize the impact of these crucial local investments, it is critical that the Fund be able to deliver on the state’s promised match to benefit our state’s children and working parents.”
To learn more about the Ready Louisiana Coalition and the organizations involved, please visit https://www.readylouisiana.org/.