The Illinois Policy Team at Start Early is pleased to release our annual Illinois Legislative Agenda, a snapshot of the budget requests and legislative priorities for which Start Early will be advocating during the spring 2026 legislative session in the state.
With the new legislative session underway, our team is focused on moving forward funding requests and legislation that will support families and providers across our early childhood system.
Our goals for the year include:
- Increasing funding for the Early Intervention (EI) program, maternal and child home visiting programs, the Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP), the Early Childhood Block Grant (ECBG), the Smart Start Workforce Grant (SSWG), the Early Childhood Access Consortium for Equity (ECACE), and the Early CHOICES initiative
- Supporting legislation to codify in law the framework for a statewide Universal Newborn Support Systems (UNSS) program
- Supporting legislation to authorize Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) to diagnosis autism spectrum disorder
- Supporting legislation to extend the timeline by which Early Intervention (EI) families may request an impartial hearing to pursue due process complaints from three months to two years
- Supporting legislation to create the Family and Medical Leave Insurance Program
- Supporting legislation to create the Newborn Equity Support Transfers (NEST) program
