HB 1515

New Hampshire has a child care crisis that directly impacts education outcomes. There aren't enough child care providers, the ones that exist can't recruit or retain staff because the pay is poverty-level, and the waitlists are months long. When families can't find child care, parents — disproportionately mothers — drop out of the workforce.

The legislature recognized this problem and allocated $15 million in the state budget (HB 2) for workforce recruitment and retention grants for child care workers. Then Rep. Len Turcotte (R-Barrington) introduced HB 1515 to repeal that funding entirely.

The timing makes this especially cruel. The federal government simultaneously prohibited TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) funding for child care operating expenses — a major revenue source for many NH child care programs. So at the exact moment when federal support dried up, the state legislature voted to pull its own funding too.

This isn't just a child care bill — it's an education bill. Research overwhelmingly shows that quality early childhood education is the single most impactful intervention for school readiness. Kids who don't have access to quality child care and pre-K programs show up to kindergarten behind, and many never catch up. Killing this funding doesn't just hurt working parents today; it undermines school readiness for years to come.