S.206 would create a new licensing regime for childcare workers in non-public settings, with full implementation by 2028
The Vermont Senate moved S.206 forward on second reading March 18, ordering the bill to third reading on a 21-7 vote after a lengthy floor debate that surfaced pointed questions about whether new licensure requirements would help or hurt the state’s already strained childcare supply.
The bill, introduced by Senator Virginia Lyons ( D – Chittenden-Southeast District ) and referred to the Committee on Health and Welfare (Chaired by Sen Lyons), would require early childhood educators working in programs regulated by the Child Development Division — excluding public school settings — to obtain a state license through the Office of Professional Regulation. The licensure framework creates three educator tiers plus a transitional category for existing family childcare providers, each carrying its own educational requirements and fee structure.
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What the Bill Does
Under S.206, the Vermont Board of Early Childhood Educators would be established as a nine-member body appointed by the Governor, with representation from each license tier. The three main license categories — Early Childhood Educator I, II, and III — correspond to assistant educator, lead educator, and senior lead educator roles, with educational requirements ranging from a 120-hour certificate program at the ECE I level to a bachelor’s degree for ECE III.
Fees range from a $125 initial application for ECE I up to $225 for ECE III, with biennial renewal fees between $225 and $275. Family childcare providers currently authorized and in good standing with CDD may obtain a transitional license, but that pathway closes January 1, 2029, after which home-based providers would need to qualify under one of the standard tiers.
The Office of Professional Regulation would receive $262,000 in General Fund appropriations in fiscal year 2027 to stand up the program and hire two new positions — an executive officer for the new board and a staff attorney. Full licensure requirements take effect July 1, 2028. A reporting requirement sends OPR back to the Legislature by November 2031 with data on implementation, complaints, and the effect on family childcare home numbers.
The bill’s supporters pointed to a sunrise review commissioned by OPR and to outcomes data from Act 76, the 2023 childcare expansion law. Senator Martine Larocque Gulick ( D – Chittenden-Central District ), reporting for the Health and Welfare Committee, cited longitudinal research showing children who receive high-quality early childhood education have measurably better health, educational attainment, and earnings outcomes into adulthood. She noted that Act 76 had produced more than 1,700 new childcare slots and over 100 new programs since passage.
The Dissent
Two senators who voted no — Senator Terry Williams ( R – Rutland District ) and Senator Russ Ingles ( R – Essex District ) — raised objections that went beyond the bill’s contents to question both the evidentiary foundation and the legislative process that produced it.
Williams pressed the committee reporter on the floor for data showing that professional licensure, specifically, increases the number of available childcare seats. He did not get a direct answer. He noted he had received calls from constituents the previous weekend who said existing regulation and fee burdens were already threatening to put small home-based providers out of business.
“The data shows our problem is not licensure, it’s access,” Williams said. “Programs are not operating at full capacity due to staffing shortages and we’ve lost a significant number of home-based providers. Before adding new requirements and fees, we need to be sure we’re increasing seats, not reducing.”
Williams also raised a jurisdictional question — noting that the word “educator” appeared more than 100 times in the committee report, yet the Senate Education Committee, the body charged with education policy, never reviewed the bill. The Senate President confirmed the committee routing was technically proper under chamber rules but acknowledged no motion had been made to send it there.
Ingles went further, making a formal motion to recommit the bill to the Education Committee before the body voted on it. That motion failed 9-19.
On the merits, Ingles challenged what he described as a one-sided evidentiary record. He told the chamber that research on the long-term effectiveness of early childhood education programs is not settled — that studies exist showing gains often fade after several years — and argued the testimony presented to OPR during its sunrise review may not have reflected that countervailing evidence.
He was also skeptical of the institutional apparatus the bill creates. “I see a monster being created that has not been looked at thoroughly,” Ingles said, citing the new board structure, the licensure categories, and the addition of a staff attorney to oversee the program.
Ingles argued that a bill with this scope — one creating a new licensed profession touching education, childcare access, rural workforce, and state spending — warranted review by the committee responsible for education, not just health and welfare.
“We should get the facts,” he said. “We should make decisions on the basis of competent evidence and we should look at the entirety of the picture.”
The bill now proceeds to third reading in the Senate before moving to the House.
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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