Daily News

Sen. Lesser Appointed to Senate Vice-chair of Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission

This week, state Sen. Eric Lesser attended the inaugural meeting of the Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission in his new role as Senate vice-chair. The commission was established in the FY21 budget, and as Senate chair of the Committee on Economic Development, Lesser was appointed Senate Vice-chair.

The commission is tasked with investigating cost, availability, and other concerns surrounding early education and childcare, a growing issue for the Commonwealth’s working families. Since the pandemic hit, the issues of childcare and working life have grown in urgency, with approximately 750,000 children in Massachusetts living in households where both parents work full time and a state childcare system with the capacity for approximately 230,000 children.

“The first forum on the state of childcare in Massachusetts was eye-opening. As noted in the hearing, childcare is a critical enabler of employment and economic growth across our Commonwealth, especially as we recover from the pandemic,” said Lesser. “I am looking forward to working to address these issues with co-chairs Peisch and Lewis as well as other commission members to invest in our childcare workforce, improve funding models, increase pathways to the childcare workforce, and increase equity for families and providers.”