Chris Peusch hopes it’s a sign that early childhood care is starting to get the recognition she thinks it deserves.
Peusch, the executive director of the Maryland State Child Care Association, said that eight Democratic state lawmakers have said they may show up for the association’s annual leadership symposium Thursday, more than she can remember for an event that’s been going on for at least 30 years.
Next year is an election year for all 188 state legislators, but Peusch hopes it’s more than that.
“I understand the politics, but hopefully they find it to be valuable or they wouldn’t show up,” Peusch said Wednesday. “Early childhood education [and] child care impacts children, families, the economy, businesses. It impacts everyone.”
The symposium in Columbia is mainly geared toward child care owners, operators and administrators to provide them updates on early childhood policies, workplace practices and other information.
The morning session will include a panel featuring a number of legislators titled, “How Do We Inspire Workforce and Business Growth in Child Care Early Childhood?”
Participants are expected to include Sen. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City), who serves on the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee, and Dels. Jared Solomon (D-Montgomery), recognized as one of the legislative leaders on early childhood, and Julie Palakovich Carr (D-Montgomery), who chairs the Ways and Means Committee’s early childhood subcommittee.
Other possible attendees include Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard), who chairs the Ways and Means Committee, and Del Jessica Feldmark (D-Howard and Anne Arundel), who sits on the committee. The two also happen to be running for Howard County executive.
One topic that may be discussed is House Bill 1475, for which Feldmark was the lead sponsor in the 2025 General Assembly. The law established a 12-member prekindergarten system analysis work group that is tasked with assessing the state’s mixed-delivery system on full-day prekindergarten that’s part of the multibillion-dollar Blueprint for Maryland’s Future education reform plan.
Del. Greg Wims (D-Montgomery) was appointed by House Speaker Adrienne Jones (D-Baltimore County) to the work group, which held its first meeting last month and is set to hold the second virtually Oct. 16.
Wims, who will participate in the symposium for the first time, said Wednesday he wants to hear from providers on how much the enrollment freeze in the child care scholarships are affecting them. The state Department of Education stopped taking applications in May, after enrollment threatened to bust the program budge, and hoped to reopen applications for new families last month, but enrollment remains frozen.
“The first thing is to listen to these business owners having trouble with the funds being froze,” Wims said Wednesday. “The economic engine in the state of Maryland starts with child care. If you’re home and cannot work, you can’t provide and pay bills.”
Those child care providers will have afternoon sessions with panels including wellness strategies for early childhood professionals, connecting families with community resources and managing workplace dynamics.
Peusch will also provide attendees with legislative updates, including a renewed push in the 2026 General Assembly for a tax on sugary drinks, a proposal that failed to even get a committee vote in Ways and Means during the 2025 session.
That bill would have added a 2-cents-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks, syrups and powders. It would have dedicated up to $189 million for health school lunches and another $50 million toward the child care scholarship program. While it failed in Maryland, other state legislatures, such as New York and Nebraska, looked into similar measures.
Peusch is hopeful for 2026, despite the bill’s failure in 2025.
“What we are able to accomplish this year, I don’t know, but we have to come up with some creative and innovative ways to bring funding and to sustain it,” Peusch said. “The sugary tax is more sustainable. It’s not like waiting for the governor’s budget. Some of that money will be earmarked. Other states are looking at it and we have to also do that.”