Staff writer
Working Texas families could soon receive more support for their children under a legislative proposal to boost child care funding by using federal funds.
A final version of the 2026-2027 state budget released by the Texas Legislature on Tuesday includes a $100 million increase in funding for child care scholarships.
Lawmakers developed the proposal by redirecting unused federal money from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, or TANF, to support the subsidies provided by the Texas Workforce Commission.
Initially, the $100 million was included in the supplemental budget bill for the current biennium rather than the bill for the upcoming biennium. It was also initially funded by General Revenue instead of unused federal funds.
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The budget bill will now go before the Texas House and Senate for a final vote before it is sent to the governor for approval.
“This investment will ensure more Texans are able to clock in to work each day and more kids have access to safe, nurturing child care during the critical early years of brain development,” said David Feigen, director of early learning policy for Texans Care for Children, in a statement on Tuesday.
Time is running out for the Legislature to pass laws aimed at improving child care access and quality before the session ends on June 2.
Advocates for early care and education have pushed the matter as a workforce issue because many working families need child care, and more than half a million Texas children lack those services, according to the advocacy nonprofit Children at Risk.
About 95,000 families are on the waitlist for child care scholarships, according to state data. That includes over 33,000 children in North Texas, according to the Texas Association for the Education of Young Children, a nonprofit working to increase access to high-quality early childhood education.
Texas also lost nearly 75,000 child care seats last year, according to Children at Risk. This contributed to a 15% increase in child care deserts—areas defined by ZIP codes with at least 30 children under age 6 where the demand for child care among working parents is at least three times greater than the licensed child care capacity.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman and State Rep. Armando Walle, D-Houston, said in a statement that he’s proud that lawmakers secured the additional scholarship funding through diligent negotiations and collaboration.
“Access to quality child care is essential for both economic stability and our children’s future,” he said. “By exploring every budgetary option and building consensus, we achieved a result that will make a real difference in the lives of Texas families.”
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.
Wilborn P. Nobles III is the workforce readiness and economic mobility reporter for The Dallas Morning News. He previously covered Atlanta City Hall for Axios and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He also worked for The Baltimore Sun and The Times-Picayune. The New Orleans native is a graduate of Louisiana State University.
