“With sky-high prices, persistent staffing shortages, low worker pay, and not enough spots to meet parent demand, Massachusetts’ child care sector has emerged from the pandemic in even worse shape. And the dysfunction in the system ripples outward, affecting children’s development and plaguing businesses when their employees can’t find reliable child care. For decades, very little has been done about it.

“This year, however, advocates say they are finally seeing political will on Beacon Hill and beyond to take action.

“For the first time in recent memory, all three key decision makers on Beacon Hill — Governor Maura Healey, Senate President Karen E. Spilka, and House Speaker Ronald J. Mariano — have explicitly said they want to tackle the issue, expressing support for legislation that would infuse the child care sector with public funding, much like K-12 schools already receive. It aims to create a five-year blueprint to provide child care and preschool for all families, and bump up the value of child care subsidies awarded to the state’s neediest families.”

“In a statement, Healey said her administration is ‘actively evaluating’ how to deliver aid for parents and educators through the budget and ‘other avenues.’ Healey is expected to announce her first budget proposal next month.”

— “Long overlooked, child care industry may finally get a permanent lifeline from Beacon Hill,” by Samantha J. Gross, The Boston Globe, February 8, 2023