Smart Start Addresses Governor Cooper’s Proposed Budget Recommendations

Proposal Reflects Longstanding Commitment and Investments in North Carolina’s Young Children, Families, and Teachers

RALEIGH- Governor Cooper’s proposed budget recommendations, Securing North Carolina’s Future, demonstrate a commitment to children and families with a $735 million investment towards key early childhood programs and services.

Key early childhood focused points include:

• Smart Start: $10 million recurring increase in Smart Start’s general appropriation.
• Tri-Share Child Care Pilot Program: Additional funding for a 4^th region in the Tri-Share Child Care Pilot .
• Child Care Stabilization Grants: $200 million in funding for child care stabilization grants.
• Child care subsidies: $128.5 million for child care subsidies that will increase reimbursement rates for providers in rural and low-wealth communities.
• NC Pre-K: $197 million to cover the full cost of care for NC Pre-K students.
• Summer School Programs for Young Children: $24.4 million to provide summer programs for students once they complete NC Pre-K and before they enter kindergarten.
• WAGE$: $26 million to expand the child care workforce salary supplement program funded through Smart Start.

Statement by Amy Cubbage President of The North Carolina Partnership for Children, Inc.

We applaud Governor Cooper for putting forth a budget that heavily invests in young children and their families, the best return on investment our society can make. His budget reflects his ongoing commitment to ensuring that young children have what they need to start out on the right path while making success in the future more attainable.  

The Smart Start Network appreciates and commends Governor Cooper and leaders in the General Assembly for their continued trust in Smart Start and our statewide, community-based infrastructure that supports children and families, especially as we collaborate with so many other outstanding public and private partners across the state, including DHHS, county governments, businesses, non-profits, and faith-based organizations.   

We look forward to continued conversations around funding for our state’s youngest as the Senate and the House build out their budgets for Fiscal Year 2025. Together, we can strengthen early education, improve children’s health, support families, and build early literacy for each child in North Carolina setting them on a positive trajectory before the kindergarten door.  

View the Governor’s press release here and the full recommendations here.

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About Smart Start

Smart Start is a network of 75 nonprofit local partnerships that serve all 100 North Carolina counties. This network is led by The North Carolina Partnership for Children (NCPC) that ensures fiscal and programmatic accountability and coordinates the statewide network to create better outcomes for children and families. For more information, please visit our About Us page.

Media Contact: Jessica Carter, jcarter@smartstart.org, 919.221.1614