Making Child Care Affordable and Accessible

Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.

I think I know firsthand the challenges of taking care of kids while parents are juggling the demands of work and the unexpected ups and downs of life. I raised five stepdaughters, all while working full time, and now I'm a grandmother to five.

My two grandsons are getting married and want to remain in Maine to raise families of their own. Parents across Maine need high quality, reliable, and affordable childcare -- not just so they can go to work -- but so they can have the peace of mind to know that their kids are taken care of, and they're able to learn and play in a safe and nurturing place. Making childcare more affordable is good for Maine kids, it's good for working parents, and it's good for our economy.

My administration has invested more than $145 million in state and federal funding to expand child care and early childhood education throughout Maine.

We've expanded Pre-K programs across the state, and we've reached the highest enrollment ever in the 2025-2026 school year.

We've supported the renovation, expansion and building of new child care facilities to create more than 6,100 additional child care slots.

We've raised the salaries of nearly 8,000 child care staff, and we've increased funding for our colleges and universities for them to train hundreds more child care workers to fill those critical jobs.

We've also expanded subsidies to make childcare more affordable for families. Right now, the parents of more than 3,000 children are receiving a subsidy paid directly to their childcare provider through our Child Care Affordability Program, and the amount those families pay out of pocket for childcare is capped at an affordable amount based on their income. Well, earlier this week, I visited a childcare center in Biddeford to thank the staff for their hard work, and to sign legislation to put those caps on the cost of child care and other important reforms into state law, and to keep childcare affordable and accessible for Maine families -- and thanks to Senate President Mattie Daughtry and Senator Henry Ingwersen for those important measures put into law.

Now, one of the biggest obstacles for many people today, including young families, is the high cost of living. Affordability -- from healthcare, housing and utilities to the cost of childcare -- costs are just too high, and Maine people, like millions across the country, are feeling it. Childcare is one of those things.

There's a lot more to do, always more. But we're going to continue to do what we can, where we can, to provide some relief to the people of Maine to make this place more affordable to live, work, and raise a family right here in our great state.

This is Governor Janet Mills, and thank you for listening.