Vermont lawmakers have approved a bill authorizing $125 million in annual investment to support child care across the state, Vox reports.

According to Vox, as in many states, thousands of Vermont families lack access to any childcare program, and for those able to land competitive slots, average costs exceed $26,000 a year. In addition, programs struggle to hire and retain staff, as childcare workers are among the lowest-paid employees in the state, earning about $15 per hour, often without benefits.

The new childcare bill seeks to expand state subsidies—to be paid for in part by a new payroll tax, of which employers would cover at least 75 percent—for families earning up to 575 percent of the federal poverty level (or $172,000 for a family of four), and families earning up to 175 percent of the poverty line (or $52,000 for a family of four) would pay nothing out of pocket. In addition, providers would be reimbursed at a 35 percent higher rate. The Republican governor, Phil Scott, has previously said he would reject any new taxes, but Democrats have a supermajority in the Vermont legislature and have indicated they would override any veto in June.

Vox reports that to boost childcare access, foundations partnered in 2014 to launch Let’s Grow Kids, which received a $20 million gift from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Other philanthropic investments helped support statewide organizing, ultimately bringing more than 35,000 Vermonters into the campaign. Volunteers wrote op-eds, signed petitions and pledges, turned out for rallies, and testified before state lawmakers. Let’s Grow Kids also established a sister 501(c)(4) organization to exert power in the 2022 midterms, endorsing 130 candidates, of which 117 won.

“Vermont showed that you can have a bold vision, cultivate a broad base of support, persevere though budget battles and pandemics, and make the state a better place for those who don’t have a voice in politics,” Helene Stebbins, the executive director of the Alliance for Early Success, a national nonprofit that supports early childhood advocacy, told Vox. “The hard part is not the policy—it’s the strategy, and the patience.”

According to Vox, New Mexico, the only other state to take comparable leadership in state childcare investments, successfully organized a ballot measure this past fall for universal preschool and child care. But states can’t fix the childcare problem alone, said Miriam Calderon, chief policy officer at Zero To Three, a national advocacy group focused on infants and toddlers.

“In the short term, this looks like not letting tens of billions of dollars in federal child care funding expire in September and protecting child care funds from deep cuts proposed as part of the default debates,” Calderon said. “Long term, we need to pass the Child Care for Working Families Act, which ensures a strong federal and state partnership in funding the early care and education our babies and toddlers and families deserve.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Denis Tangney Jr.)