On February 19, Governor Prizker shared his proposed budget for FY26. Included was a $90 million increase to the Smart Start Workforce Grants (SSWG) program. Grant recipients are required to use the grants to raise wages for child care teachers and assistant teachers by at least $2-$3 per hour, creating a wage floor of $17-19 per hour, depending on position type and geographic region. This budget increase will cover expired federal COVID relief funding, bringing the program to its current operational budget of $200 million. Funding for this program is critical to maintaining these wage increases and stabilizing the child care sector.
Ask Your Lawmakers to Support Governor Pritzker's Proposed $90 Million Increase to Smart Start Workforce Grants!
In three easy steps, send a letter to your lawmakers urging them to support the proposed increase:
- Follow the form to review the message body, you can include your own message if you like.
- Fill out your name, email, phone number, and address in the form.
- Click ‘send message’.
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