FFYF Analysis of 2025 State of the State Addresses

Since 2019, First Five Years Fund (FFYF) has analyzed State of the State addresses given by governors across the country. This year’s analysis looked at the 37 governors who delivered addresses before February 20, 2025, and found a large majority (78%) devoted a portion of their remarks to investing in child care, early learning, and policies that help new parents and infants. 

Topline Takeaways 

• The issue saw a near-even split across party lines, with 51% of Republicans and 49% of Democrats devoting portions of their speech to it.
• Topics ranged from the high cost of child care, the importance of child care tax credits (like the CDCTC) in helping parents afford care, the importance of children’s first five years, and investing in child care and pre-K to help expand the workforce and facilitate economic growth.

By the Numbers: 

Of those governors who specifically raised child care, pre-K and early childhood as a priority:

• Half used their speech to highlight that investing in and expanding child care is one of the best ways to get parents into, or back into, the workforce and help the economy;
• Forty percent detailed or acknowledged that the high cost of child care was unsustainable for parents and their states’ economy;
• One-third specifically pointed to tax credits – like the CDCTC – as a critical way to help offset the cost of care for working families;
• One-third spoke about the need to invest in policies that help grow the child care workforce to increase options and spots for kids; 
• One in four pointed to increased funding for child care and early learning as a way to set up children for a strong future and ensure they enter kindergarten ready to learn; 
• One in four highlighted the importance of investing in Pre-K;
• And one in five specifically detailed how increasing targeted funding can help expand child care options.

Executive Director Sarah Rittling released the following statement: 

“Together, these speeches paint a clear picture: In every state in our union, parents need support finding and affording quality care so they can go to work and their kids can thrive. The federal state partnership remains imperative in ensuring families have the options they need.”

What Democrats and Republicans had to say: 

Expanding the workforce and helping the economy:

Kim Reynolds (R-IA): Parents need a solution that meets the demands of their busy lives—one that allows their children to benefit from our successful preschool program and have access to childcare. It’s about more than convenience; it’s about offering our children the educational foundation they need while giving parents peace of mind that their children are cared for throughout the work day. 

Tony Evers (D-WI): This is as much about doing what is best for our kids as it is doing what is best for parents in our workforce and our economy, too. Wisconsin’s child care crisis affects not only our kids, families, and child care providers but our state’s employers, workforce, and economy, too.

Tax Credits

Joe Lombardo (R-NV): “Targeted tax credits for childcare facilities, for example, help working families but also support businesses in building a stronger, more inclusive workforce.”

Josh Green (D-HI): “In our first year, we worked with the legislature to double the earned income tax credit and the food tax credit, and to increase the existing child and dependent tax credit — saving Hawai‘i families about $88 million per year in taxes.”

Cost of Care 

Bill Lee (R-TN):  Both as Governor and as a former business owner, I’ve recognized the difficulty for families to grow and remain in the workforce at the same time. Today, infant care in Tennessee carries virtually the same price tag as in-state tuition at a four-year public college. That is an insurmountable cost for the vast majority of moms and dads who want to be in the workforce. 

Andy Beshear (D-KY): “Many parents are ready to get back to work, but the high cost, and in some places, total absence of child care makes that simply impossible.”

First Five Years Lasts Forever 

Kristi Noem (R-SD): “We are caring for South Dakota moms and babies both before birth and after. Last year, we talked about the first thousand days of a child’s life – from conception to their 2nd birthday. These days are the most crucial to a child’s development.”

Laura Kelly (D-KS): “Research is clear that a child’s experiences from birth to age five determine the trajectory of his or her entire life, from social/emotional development to academic achievement to career success. We’ve done a lot on this front over the past few years. We’ve aggressively tackled our child care crisis, recognizing that shortages across the state and skyrocketing costs have handicapped our workforce, our businesses, and hurt our children during their most formative years.”

How Federal Lawmakers Can Help Support These Efforts 

• Click here to see how foundational federal investments are and how they provide the primary source of funding for public child care and early learning programs and support an early learning infrastructure that benefits children in care and their families.
• And click here to learn how updating provisions of the federal tax code will benefit families and young children.