Raising Illinois recognizes the Illinois General Assembly and Governor JB Pritzker for their continued multi-year investments in our state’s child care system and family-friendly income supports in the spending plan for Fiscal Year 2026 (FY 2026), approved this past Saturday. Nevertheless, the final budget deviates from the Pritzker administration’s Smart Start Illinois initiative by maintaining current funding levels for other critical maternal health and early childhood programs.

The final budget and implementation plan for FY 2026 include a combined $182.5 million in new state funding for the Illinois Department of Early Childhood, the Child Care Assistance Program and Smart Start Workforce Grants, as well as an allocation from Medicaid under existing appropriation authority for Early Intervention (EI). These resources will support the ongoing new agency transition, raise reimbursement rates for home-based child care providers and EI providers for certain services, accommodate growing child care subsidy caseloads and increase early care and learning staff salaries.

Unfortunately, this budget fails to raise reimbursement rates for center-based child care programs in the face of rising operational costs and does little to adequately stabilize our state’s EI system. Moreover, despite our coalition’s dedicated advocacy, there is no additional funding for the Early Childhood Block Grant, Home Visiting or the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity. These programs serve Illinois’ most vulnerable young learners, their families and the workforce that cares for them.

“Raising Illinois thanks the General Assembly for supporting our state’s littlest learners in its FY 2026 state budget,” Raising Illinois Director Simone Santiago said. “As grateful as we are for the approved investments, we are saddened to see a lack of investment in other critical programs that families and providers tirelessly advocated for during this legislative session. Illinois cannot be the best state in the nation to raise a child if families struggle to access child care, home visiting and services for infants and toddlers with disabilities and developmental delays. While we are making progress, we must do more.”

The spending plan also includes $55 million in expanded funding for the Child Tax Credit and the Medical Debt Relief Pilot Program. These supports help to alleviate the financial burden carried by too many families in Illinois as the cost of living continues to climb.

”In this moment in which federally we have legislators turning their back on working families in favor of billionaires, it's incredible to have legislators in Springfield who are champions for early childhood,” Raising Illinois Family Leaders Wendy Mamola and Keith Thompson said. ”We're so happy to see the Child Tax Credit doubled and the continuation of the Diaper Distribution Pilot. As a family of six with twin toddlers, every penny of financial support goes a long way. We know too well what a barrier diaper costs can be, and the extra tax credit is literally what's enabled our family to hold onto our car and to ensure we can get around. At the same time, as a family that's seen the life-changing effect of Early Intervention through our son's experience, we're devastated to see increases to EI funding left out of this budget."