When Governor Josh Green, M.D. took office in 2022, he shared his vision for ensuring that Hawai‘i’s children lead a happy, healthy, trauma-free life. His priorities included reducing homelessness, expanding affordable housing, providing universal access to preschool, adopting paid family leave, and implementing universal screenings to ensure developmental issues are detected early.
Since then, early childhood has remained a visible priority at the State Capitol. Each year, Commit to Keiki partners with the Governor and his administration, including hosting an annual partnership breakfast, to highlight early childhood priorities and ensure that the needs of Hawai‘i’s youngest keiki and families remain at the center of policy discussions.
2025 Legislative Wins
The 2025 legislative session marked meaningful steps forward for Hawai‘i’s families:
- $860,000 for Family Support Programs: Lawmakers invested in expanding peer-to-peer family support programs with integrated infant and early childhood mental health services. These high touch, culturally responsive support to hundreds of families in need.
- Stronger Early Learning Workforce: The Legislature also advanced an apprenticeship program to strengthen the early learning workforce, and
- Expand Preschool Access: The Preschool Open Doors program now includes two-year olds while raising income eligibility, making preschool more affordable and accessible to more families.
Expanding Ready Keiki
Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Luke’s Ready Keiki initiative is driving progress toward universal access to preschool by 2032. Fifty new public preschool classrooms will open statewide over the next two years, creating about 1,000 new seats for three and four year olds. Priority enrollment will be given to children in foster care, experiencing homelessness, or from low income families. At the same time, expanded Preschool Open Doors subsidies are making preschool more affordable for thousands of families across the state.
While Hawai‘i is making progress, the national landscape brings uncertainty. Looking ahead, Commit to Keiki’s 2026 Policy Priorities build on recent gains and respond to emerging challenges. Together, we are calling for:
Lead Slate
- Expansion of FCIL (Family-Child Interaction Learning) Programs
- Early Intervention Services Pay Parity
- This is currently being addressed at the departmental level and will not require legislation at this time.
- Fund an Early Childhood Personnel Clearinghouse
- Create/support centralized (No Wrong Door) pathways to public assistance and early childhood programs
Support Slate
- Establish an Early Learning Apprenticeship Program
- Establish Hawai‘i Child Tax Credit
- Establish Paid Family Leave
- Contingent upon bill language that ensures feasible administration without added costs or undue operational disruption to employers
- Preservation of Programming Affected by Federal Cuts
These priorities reflect Hawai‘i’s shared commitment to ensuring every keiki has the opportunity to grow up safe, healthy, and ready to succeed.
