We empower states with rigorous evidence to implement effective and equitable policies that ensure all children thrive from the start.
Did you know that a state earned income tax credit positively improves parents’ employment outcomes, as well as improves birth outcomes and reduces racial disparities in low birthweight? Read more in ourPrenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap!
State Policy Action
State policymakers across the country are working hard to improve their prenatal-to-3 systems of care in support of children, families, and the economy. Here is a snapshot of some of the legislation we watched last month.
Early Care and Learning
The Massachusetts Senate unanimously passed anearly education reform bill, which now heads to the house. S. 2707would expand subsidy eligibility to 85% of the state median income, remove copayments for families below the poverty level, cap copayments at 7% of income, make the state’s operational grants permanent, create a career ladder with recommended salaries for early educators, make educator scholarship and loan forgiveness programs permanent, and pilot a public-private matching program to expand child care slots.
Governors in both Utah (H.B. 461) and Indiana (S.B. 2) have signed bills to make children of child care employees eligible for subsidies. Both laws will go into effect this year.
Washington Governor Jay Inslee signedH.B. 2124, which will expand categorical eligibility for subsidies upon securing funding in the state budget. The law grants eligibility to children of Early Head Start, Head Start, and birth-to-five Early Childhood Education and Assistance Programs employees who meet subsidy program work requirements.
In Hawaii, two bills to support the supply of infant and toddler care passed the house and are under consideration in the senate. H.B. 2535would establish a pilot program to contract with providers to reserve certain child care slots for infant and toddler care in each county.H.B. 1964 would establish a subsidy and bonus program to retain the infant and toddler care workforce in home- and center-based care.
Family & Economic Supports
In Hawaii, legislation (S.B. 2474) to create a 16-week paid family leave program passed the senate and is currently progressing through house committees.
The Rhode Island Senate approvedS.B. 2121on Friday. The bill would increase the duration of the state’s paid family leave program from 6 to 12 weeks and would expand the definition of "family" by adding sibling, grandchild, and care recipient for the purposes of caregiving leave.
Following narrow passage in both chambers, Virginia Governor Youngkin vetoedS.B. 1and H.B. 1, identical bills to gradually increase the state minimum wage to $15.00 by 2026.
VirginiaH.B. 150would prohibit the state from requiring families to interview in person for SNAP or WIC applications or renewals. The senate narrowly passed the bill on March 5, and it now awaits action from Governor Youngkin.
The Kansas SenateamendedS.B. 539 to include a refundable child tax credit worth up to $600 per child under age 5. The credit would be available in tax year 2024 and adjusted annually for cost of living. The amended bill passed the senate 29-11 on March 14 and now heads to the House Committee on Taxation. This bill also accelerates the elimination of the state sales tax on food to July 1, 2024, but includes a flat tax, which the governor previously vetoed this session.
Maternal and Child Health
With just-announced CMS approval, New York has become the 14th state to implement Medicaid coverage for doulas! The benefit goes into effect January 1, 2024 with reimbursement up to $1,500 in New York City and $1,350 in the rest of the state.
Idaho Governor Brad Little signedH.B. 633, which will extend postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months. Previously, Idaho was one of only four states that had not taken action to adopt a 12-month extension.
Kansas legislators held hearings on Medicaid expansion for the first time in several years. Unfortunately, the House Health and Human Services Committee voted the bill down.
The Mississippi Senate passed an amended Medicaid expansion bill last week with a veto-proof majority. This amended version of the house-passed bill (H.B. 1725) has lower income eligibility thresholds (100% of the federal poverty level vs. 138%) and additional work requirements. The two chambers must now agree on a proposal, although the governor expressed intent to veto any Medicaid expansion bill.
Washington Governor Inslee signed a supplemental budget bill,S.B. 5950, including Medicaid coverage for doulas. The bill also includes $100,000 to create doula hubs for workforce support. The state must submit a state plan amendment to fully implement the Medicaid benefit. The expected reimbursement rate is $3,500, the highest rate in the nation, and benefits will start as early as January 2025.
SchoolHouse Connection unveiledInfant and Toddler Homelessness Across 50 States: 2021-2022,showing that over 360,000 infants and toddlers experienced homelessness during the 2021-22 program year, but only 11% were enrolled in an early childhood development program. The report presents state-by-state data, along with recommendations for policymakers and communities.
Maternity Leave and Job Satisfaction
Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, an Applied Economics article “Do employers’ offers of paid maternity leave increase women’s job satisfaction?”explores how paid maternity leave impacts job satisfaction for women of childbearing age, finding that the answer to the titular question is yes. The study confirms that women with paid maternity leave offers are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs compared to those without such offers, with consistent results across different age groups and firm sizes.
The Impact of Maternal Incarceration
The Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) released a new report onwomen’s mass incarceration. PPIgathered data from various government agencies to analyze the number of women and girls held in correctional systems, including breaking down specifics such as offense types and facility types across different jurisdictions. Notably, 80% of women who are incarcerated are mothers, and most identified as the primary caregiver for their children.
Governors Advocate for Early Education Investments
The Center for American Progress released a new report: Governors Continue to Call for Investments in Early Care and Education. The analysis found that the majority of governors this year highlighted child care, pre-kindergarten, or both in State of the State addresses. In a clear pattern of bipartisan support, a similar amount of Democrats and Republicans mentioned the issues.
Voters Support Paid Leave Policies for Young Adults
Pennsylvania Paid Family Leave Bill Would Yield Outsized Returns to Families, Employers, and Government
We recently released abenefit-cost analysis of Pennsylvania’s H.B. 181, a bipartisan bill to create a new paid family leave program. The new analysis uses the most rigorous research on outcomes to estimate the bill’s impact on beneficiaries, employers, and the commonwealth. The annual societal benefits of bonding leave would outweigh its costs, with an estimated ratio of 18 to 1.
April 12 Deadline to Apply for FREE Doula Symposium
We continue to accept applications from state legislative staff to attend our Learning Symposium. We encourage legislative staff at any level to apply, regardless of job, position, or party. The 3-day event (July 10-12) in Nashville, TN offers a chance for up to 40 legislative staff members to learn about community-based doulas as a strategy for improving maternal and child health outcomes. Spots are filling up quickly, so applyHERE!
New Blog Posts!
Last month, the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center published a new blog post as part of our effort to share our work and thought leadership with you. The blog is:
How to Identify Rigorous Research for Evidence-Based Policymaking: Among the thousands of research studies we review, only certain ones meet our standards to help us determine a policy or program’s effectiveness. Our latest blog demystifies how we identify causal links between policies and beneficial outcomes for children and families.
Meet Dr. Alex Haralampoudis, our Director of Data and Analytics. Haralampoudis joined the Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center in July 2023. She oversees a newly formed team of talented data analysts responsible for data systems, analysis, management, and security at the Center.
Prior to this role, Alex spent over a decade managing large-scale applied research and program evaluation projects. Her work has focused broadly on the impacts of programs and policies on families living in poverty, leveraging multidisciplinary and cross-institutional collaborations to produce actionable findings. She also taught graduate-level courses in research methods and statistics at Rutgers University and New York University.
Alex earned her PhD from Rutgers School of Social Work, where her dissertation research focused on the impact of state tax policies on family wellbeing. A proud resident of New Jersey (ranked #2 on the Center’sPolicy Impact Calculator!), Alex and her family enjoy spending time outside—at local beaches, playgrounds, and horse farms.
