On Tuesday, November 4, Election Day will present opportunities for voters in several communities and states to create dedicated streams of public funding to support key child and youth outcomes. In Colorado, early childhood coalitions are hoping to establish two new voter-approved children’s funds, one in Larimer County and one in a tri-county region that includes Garfield, Pitkin, and a portion of Eagle counties. In Cincinnati, OH, Cincinnati Public Schools is seeking a renewal of the levy that supports Cincinnati Preschool Promise, and in Seattle, WA, the Every Child Ready Levy would renew, and significantly increase, dedicated funding that supports local children from birth to college. Below you’ll find more detail on these efforts to establish, renew, or increase voter-approved children’s funds, as well as a short list of other child and youth funding-related measures we are monitoring!

New Voter-Approved Children’s Fund Campaigns

Garfield, Pitkin, and SW Eagle Counties, CO

Ballot Measure: Measure 7A
Campaign Website: https://www.strongstartbrightfuture.com/
Projected Revenue: Approximately $12 million annually
What It Will Fund: Creates Colorado’s first Early Childhood Education Special District to provide child care and preschool tuition credits for families of children ages 0-5, expand local capacity, and support early childhood education providers.

If passed, Measure 7A would generate $12 million per year through a 0.25% sales tax. The new fund would provide sliding scale, income-based tuition credits to reduce the cost of child care and preschool for children ages 0-5. It also would support early childhood systems capacity building and recruitment and retention efforts for teachers and staff. (To learn more, read the Confluence Early Childhood Development District Service plan.) If voters approve the measure, then a five-seat Board of Directors would govern the service district. Voters will elect the board members voters via ballot alongside Measure 7A on Election Day.

Measure 7A is unique in that it proposes to establish a regional special taxing district that would include multiple jurisdictions. Colorado authorized “early childhood development service districts” with the passage of HB 19-105 in 2019, to provide services for children from birth through 8 years of age. While special taxing districts are a common tool used to dedicate revenue to a variety of services, such as fire protection or community development, Colorado is the only state in the country to authorize special taxing districts focused solely on early childhood. Measure 7A would create the first district of this type in the state. 

The Confluence Early Childhood Education Coalition is a group of business, education, nonprofit, and parent leaders who  have worked for years to lay the foundation for this measure. Earlier this summer, the coalition secured unanimous support from commissioners in all three counties within the region to send this proposal to voters. The Confluence Early Childhood Education Coalition is a member of Children’s Funding Project’s national ballot measure cohort, and Strong Start Bright Future received campaign contributions from our sister organization Children’s Funding Accelerator.

Larimer County, CO

Ballot Measure: Measure 1B
Campaign Website: https://www.helplarimerkidsthrive.org/
Projected Revenue: Approximately $22 million annually
What It Will fund: Tuition credits for children ages 0-5 in child care and preschool programs, early childhood workforce support, and capital projects to increase the number of available early childhood education slots.

Measure 1B seeks to establish an early childhood-focused voter-approved children’s fund by dedicating a 0.25% countywide sales tax increase to address the shortage and high cost of child care and preschool programs for families in Larimer County, CO. The tax will raise up to $22 million per year, with as much as $11 million dedicated to subsidizing preschool and child care for children ages 0-5, $9 million to increase early educator salaries, and $2 million for capital projects that build local capacity and increase the number of available programs. 

The Larimer Thrive by Five coalition and the Larimer County Early Childhood Council have long made the case for increased public funding for early childhood programs and secured approval from Larimer County Commissioners in August to refer the question to voters. While similar in focus to Measure 7A in Garfield, Pitkin, and SW Eagle Counties, CO, (discussed above), Larimer’s Measure 1B uses existing county authority to levy a special purpose sales tax, rather than creating a multijurisdiction fund. Larimer Thrive by Five is a member of Children’s Funding Project’s ballot measure cohort, and Help Larimer Kids Thrive received campaign contributions from Children’s Funding Accelerator.

Renewal Campaigns for Existing Voter-Approved Children’s Funds

Seattle, WA

Ballot Measure: Proposition 1
Campaign Website: https://everychildreadyseattle.com/
Projected Revenue: $1.3 billion over six years
What It Will Fund: “Double high‑quality early learning and childcare; enhance academic, health, and safety supports in K‑12 schools; strengthen the Seattle Promise program for post‑secondary opportunity.” (Source: Every Child Ready, https://everychildreadyseattle.com )

In 1990, Seattle voters passed the Families and Education Levy, a property tax that would raise $69 million over seven years to support Seattle Public Schools students and families with after-school programs, student health services, early childhood development, and other services. City voters renewed the levy in 1997 and increased and expanded it in 2004 and 2011. In 2014, Seattle voters approved an additional, four-year Seattle Preschool Program Levy with 69% support.

As the Families and Education Levy and Seattle Preschool Program Levy were set to expire, former Mayor Jenny Durkan released a Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Action Plan that provided a policy and funding framework for a combined renewal of the two levies. Voters approved the combined Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy  in November 2018. Since then, the levy has invested $619 million over the past seven years to support child care, preschool, K-12 supports, and postsecondary college and career readiness. With the levy set to expire at the end of 2025, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and Seattle City Council announced the Every Child Ready Levy, which proposes to increase the city’s investment to $1.3 billion over the next six years. The Every Child Ready Levy will dedicate approximately half of revenue to expanding early care and education access, including doubling access to affordable child care slots and providing direct payments to child care providers to support retention. Additionally, the fund will expand school-based health services, invest in new postsecondary success programs, and support out-of-school time programs. 

Representatives for the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise levy are participants in Children’s Funding Project’s community of practice for leaders of voter-approved children’s funds, and Children’s Funding Accelerator contributed to Every Child Ready.

Cincinnati, OH

Ballot Measure: Issue 28
Campaign Website: https://yesforcps.org/
Projected Revenue: $48 million annually for Cincinnati Public Schools with $15 million of that total dedicated specifically to Cincinnati Preschool Promise annually
What It Will Fund: Preschool tuition assistance for 3- and 4-year-olds, capacity building for new preschool seats, provider quality improvement training, and workforce recruitment and retention.

In 2013, a three-year community organizing campaign launched to build support for dedicated funding to address significant gaps in kindergarten readiness and a critical shortage of preschool seats in Cincinnati, OH. The initiative gained backing from various sectors, including business leaders, faith communities, and young professionals. On November 8, 2016, voters passed Issue 44, approving the Cincinnati Preschool Promise and Cincinnati Public Schools levy. The levy generates $48 million annually, with $15 million allocated to Cincinnati Preschool Promise. These funds support tuition assistance for 3- and 4-year-olds at more than 100 preschools, quality improvement efforts, and grants for early childhood educators. In 2020, the levy was renewed for another five years, receiving nearly 70% of the vote. The initiative is up for renewal again this year and voters will have the opportunity to approve the continuation of the program for an additional four years.

Cincinnati Preschool Promise leadership participates in Children’s Funding Project’s community of practice for leaders of voter-approved children’s funds, and Children’s Funding Accelerator contributed to the Yes for CPS campaign.

Other Measures We Are Monitoring

Colorado Lodging Tax Initiatives

Colorado state law authorizes localities to levy lodging taxes, meaning taxes on the price of short-term rental rooms or accommodations in hotels, inns, guest houses, and similar spaces. Originally, lodging tax revenue was authorized only for use on tourism marketing and promotion. But in 2022, Colorado’s General Assembly passed House Bill 22-1177, expanding the allowable revenue uses to include support for child care and housing. Multiple communities have chosen to levy lodging taxes to generate local  tax revenue; however, only some choose to allocate a portion of that revenue to child care. Additionally, this revenue is subject to annual budget allocation and is not dedicated funding.

In May 2025, House Bill 25-1247 further amended the lodging tax. The amendment allowed voters to increase county lodging taxes from 2% to a maximum 6% and allowed communities to use the revenue to support public infrastructure maintenance and public safety. Multiple communities have placed measures on the November 2025 ballot to increase or rededicate their lodging taxes, with several indicating that they would spend some new revenue on child care, including Custer, Gilpin, and Eagle counties and Lincoln County.

Be sure to check back for our post-election coverage in November to read about the results of these campaigns!

Hannah Groetsch is a policy associate, voter-approved children’s funds; Dan Whitaker is manager, voter-approved children’s funds; and Olivia Allen is co-founder and vice president of strategy and advocacy at Children’s Funding Project.