AN ACT LIMITING THE ACCESS OF PRIVATE EQUITY TO FUNDS FROM THE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ENDOWMENT.

Senate
sSB266 / File No. 19 1

General Assembly File No. 19
February Session, 2026 Substitute Senate Bill No. 266

Senate, March 11, 2026

The Committee on Children reported through SEN. MAHER,
C. of the 26th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part
of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT LIMITING THE ACCESS OF PRIVATE EQUITY TO FUNDS
FROM THE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ENDOWMENT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 10 -512d of the 2026 supplement to the general 1
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 2
(Effective July 1, 2026): 3
For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, and each fiscal year 4
thereafter, the Commissioner of Early Childhood may expend, in 5
accordance with the provisions of section 10-512c, funds released by the 6
Treasurer from the Early Childhood Education Endowment, pursuant 7
to section 10-512b, to any early care and education program providing 8
child care services, as described in section 19a-77, or preschool program 9
operated by a local or regional board of education that is (1) receiving 10
financial assistance under Early Start CT pursuant to section 10-550b, (2) 11
participating in the quality improvement system established by the 12
Office of Early Childhood under subdivision (15) of subsection (b) of 13
section 10-500, and (3) participating in the Child and Adult Care Food 14
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Program, 42 USC 1766, as amended from time to time, unless such 15
program has received a waiver from participation in said program by 16
the Commissioner of Early Childhood or is a public school preschool 17
program that offers free or reduced priced lunches pursuant to federal 18
law and regulations , except the commissioner may not expend such 19
funds to any private equity entity until such funds have been expended 20
to all other such early care and education programs and preschool 21
programs. As used in this section "private equity entity" means an 22
individual or publicly traded or nonpublicly traded company that (A) 23
collects capital investments from individuals or entities; and (B) 24
purchases a direct or indirect ownership share of an early care and 25
education program described in this section. 26
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 July 1, 2026 10-512d

KID Joint Favorable Subst.

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill, which has no fiscal impact, requires the Office of Early
Childhood to prioritize all other qualified childcare and preschool
programs for funding from the Early Childhood Education Endowment
before providing funds to programs owned by private equity entities.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

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OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 266

AN ACT LIMITING THE ACCESS OF PRIVATE EQUITY TO FUNDS
FROM THE EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ENDOWMENT.

SUMMARY
This bill limits the early childhood commissioner’s ability to give
funds from the Early Childhood Education Endowment to an otherwise
qualified child care or preschool program owned by a private equity
entity unless available funds were already given to all other qualified
child care or preschool programs. Under the bill, a private equity entity
is an individual or publicly traded or nonpublicly traded company that
(1) collects capital investments from individuals or entities; and (2) buys
a direct or indi rect ownership share of an early care and education
program.
Under PA 25 -93, §§ 3 & 4, each year the early childhood
commissioner must spend the funds released from the endowment for
purposes specified in law, including early childhood care and education
program expansion and health insurance subsidies for program
employees.
Qualified programs include any (1) state -licensed early care and
education program providing child care services or (2) local or regional
school board preschool programs (a) receiving financial assistance
under Early Start CT program ; (b) participating in the Office of Early
Childhood (OEC) quality improvement system; and (c) participating in
a federal food subsidy program, unless the OEC commissioner waives
the requirement or the program is a public school offering free and
reduced price lunches under federal law.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2026
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COMMITTEE ACTION
Committee on Children
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 12 Nay 5 (03/03/2026)