HB1208
Public education; early childhood care and education, child care access calculation, report.
Status:
Passed
Latest Action:
March 14, 2026
Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
Chief Patron:
Briana Sewell (D)
Session:
2026 Regular Session
Summary
As Passed House of Origin. Public education; early childhood care and education; child care access calculations; report.
Requires the Department of Education to establish and maintain calculations for the provision of early childhood care and education services based on cost of quality rate per child, actual data from the prior year, an estimate of parental demand and choice preferences based on historic growth trends and current eligibility ... (More) criteria, and an estimate of the number of slots to be added to support local or regional economic development efforts and public-private partnerships focused on increasing the supply of child care services, giving priority to localities or regions identified as child care deserts, as determined by the Department. The bill also contains several provisions relating to the use and appropriation of funds as applicable to such calculations, including (i) providing that the calculations shall not obligate the General Assembly to a specific appropriation, (ii) requiring the calculations to be used to provide information to guide the General Assembly in making decisions about the proportion of parental demand for and supply of early childhood care and education services to be addressed and level of appropriation required to address such demand, and (iii) providing that the annual overall funding available for slots shall be subject to appropriation as determined by the General Assembly. Finally, the bill requires the Department to annually submit to the Commission on Early Childhood Care and Education and post on its website a report on the data used to calculate the minimum funding and number of slots for the calculations in accordance with the provisions of the bill. (Less)-
Bill History
- 01/14/2026 - House: Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26104909D
- 01/14/2026 - House: Referred to Committee on Education
- 01/30/2026 - House: Assigned HED sub: Early Childhood and Innovation
- 02/03/2026 - House: Placed on Education Agenda
- 02/03/2026 - House: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208)
- 02/04/2026 - House: Subcommittee recommends reporting and referring to Appropriations (9-Y 1-N)
- 02/06/2026 - House: Placed on Education Agenda
- 02/09/2026 - House: Reported from Education with substitute (18-Y 3-N)
- 02/09/2026 - House: House committee offered
- 02/09/2026 - House: Committee substitute printed 26107408D-H1
- 02/09/2026 - House: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208)
- 02/11/2026 - House: Read first time
- 02/12/2026 - House: Read second time
- 02/12/2026 - House: committee substitute agreed to
- 02/12/2026 - House: Engrossed by House - committee substitute
- 02/13/2026 - House: Read third time and passed House (74-Y 22-N 0-A)
- 02/16/2026 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- 02/16/2026 - Senate: Referred to Committee on Education and Health
- 02/19/2026 - Senate: Reported from Education and Health with substitute and rereferred to Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
- 02/19/2026 - Senate: Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations
- 02/19/2026 - Senate: Senate committee offered
- 02/19/2026 - Senate: Committee substitute printed 26108243D-S1
- 02/23/2026 - House: Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB1208)
- 02/25/2026 - Senate: Reported from Finance and Appropriations (15-Y 0-N)
- 02/26/2026 - Senate: Rules suspended
- 02/26/2026 - Senate: Constitutional reading dispensed Block Vote (on 2nd reading) (40-Y 0-N 0-A)
- 02/26/2026 - Senate: Passed by for the day Block Vote (Voice Vote)
- 02/27/2026 - Senate: Read third time
- 02/27/2026 - Senate: Education and Health Substitute agreed to
- 02/27/2026 - Senate: Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute
- 02/27/2026 - Senate: Passed Senate with substitute Block Vote (37-Y 0-N 0-A)
- 03/03/2026 - House: Senate substitute rejected by House
- 03/05/2026 - Senate: Senate insisted on substitute (38-Y 0-N 0-A)
- 03/05/2026 - Senate: Senate requested conference committee
- 03/06/2026 - House: House acceded to request
- 03/09/2026 - Senate: Conferees appointed by Senate
- 03/09/2026 - Senate: Senate Conferees: Locke, Favola, Pillion
- 03/10/2026 - House: Conferees appointed by House
- 03/10/2026 - House: House Conferees: Sewell, Askew, Kent
- 03/14/2026 - House: Conference substitute printed 26109992D-H2
- 03/14/2026 - Conference Report released
- 03/14/2026 - House: Conference report agreed to by House (76-Y 20-N 0-A)
- 03/14/2026 - Senate: Conference report agreed to by Senate (39-Y 0-N 0-A)
