In 2021, Success By 6, a coalition of community organizations led by the United Way of Greater Austin, advocated for Austin and Travis County leaders to invest American Rescue Plan Act funds to protect the child care sector during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their advocacy contributed to $15 million in American Rescue Plan funding being allocated to support the child care ecosystem by strengthening quality and capacity, funding additional child care scholarships, and supporting early childhood educators through wage stipends. Recognizing that the recovery dollars were a one-time investment, Success By 6, Austin City Council members and Early Matters Greater Austin (a business community group that had been working for years to strengthen the early childhood sector) joined forces to identify a sustainable revenue source for supporting early childhood programs after the rescue funding expired.

In 2022, they started working with Children’s Funding Project to explore how to secure dedicated public revenue for children via a ballot measure. A team from Austin then joined Children’s Funding Project’s ballot measure cohort and also attended the 2023 Children’s Funding Institute. Working with the nation’s first children’s funding coordinator, the Austin team developed a cost model. Then, using data from the cost model, they built the case to explain why a ballot measure was necessary and shared the information with the community. They also sought feedback from community leaders and elected officials as they determined their path forward. As a result of the feedback they gathered, the coalition determined that a county-level tax rate election that included funding for both child care and out-of-school time programs would be the best way to move forward.

The ballot measure team members rebranded themselves as the Affordable Child Care Now! Coalition, made up of Travis County civic organizations, businesses, and community members convened by United Way for Greater Austin. The coalition led the advocacy campaign that resulted in the Travis County Commissioners Court voting in support of the ballot placement for Proposition A, a property tax increase of $0.025 per $100 of property value. The measure passed in November 2024 with more than 59% of the vote, dedicating an estimated $75 million to increasing the availability of child care and out-of-school time program slots for children from low-income families and expanding the quality and capacity of the child care and out-of-school time systems.