Last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) met to consider the FY2019 funding bill, which includes many of the core federal early childhood education programs. During the Subcommittee markup, the bill was approved by a voice vote, setting up consideration by the full Appropriations Committee as early as this week.

The bill includes the following funding levels for early learning and care programs:

  • Child Care and Development Block Grants Program: $5,226,000,000 (same as FY2018)
  • Head Start: $9,913,095,000 (which is a $50,000,000 increase above FY2018 level), including:
    • $780,000,000 for Early Head Start-Child Care Partnerships (EHS-CCP) and the conversion of Head Start slots into Early Head Start slots ( $25,000,000 increase above FY2018 level)
  • Preschool Development Grants – $250,000,000 (same as FY2018)

Republican and Democratic members of the Subcommittee spoke about the importance of the federal early childhood education programs during Friday’s markup:

“The bill includes increases for important education programs like TRIO, career and technical education, and early childhood education initiatives,” said Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK).

“I want to start today’s discussion by going back a few months. In March, we passed a great Labor-HHS-Education bill. Members on both sides of the aisle were justifiably proud of that bill. We made many good investments—in biomedical research, opioid treatment, public health, child care and early education, Higher Education, and more,” said Ranking Member Rosa DeLauro (D-CT).

FFYF will continue tracking the House Appropriations bill, so check back soon for updates.