Weiser’s plan tackles costs, expands access, and makes investments in Colorado’s youngest residents
Contact:
Katie Farnan
(720) 383-7269
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Denver, CO – OCT 23, 2025 – Colorado Attorney General and Democratic candidate for governor Phil Weiser today has released his comprehensive childcare and early childhood policy platform, outlining his plan to lower costs, expand access, and strengthen early childhood care and education for kids across the state.
Weiser’s childcare plan centers on improving affordability and access in childcare, empowering parents and providers, and making early childhood programs more coordinated and accessible.
“Our lack of a system to support affordable and accessible child care is hurting parents, kids, and families. We must do better because childcare access is part of Colorado’s economic backbone—and supports our economy and society just as our roads and bridges do,” Weiser said. “It’s flat wrong that some parents are forced to choose between having a job or caring for their kids. As governor, I’ll bring a sense of urgency, creativity, and collaboration to address this crisis, because every Colorado kid deserves the best possible start in life.”
Weiser’s childcare platform emphasizes three key goals:
- Lowering Childcare Costs and Expanding Access: Making childcare more affordable by streamlining funding programs, increasing supply, and reducing regulatory burdens that drive up costs and provide no safety benefit.
- Building a Unified, Transparent, and User-Friendly System: Coordinating across state agencies and local partners to create an easy to navigate, one-stop system that connects families to resources and makes it easier for parents to find care for their kids.
- Investing in Early Childhood Health and Education: Strengthening evidence-based programs that support family well-being and child development, such as the Nurse Family Partnership, and prioritizing early childhood mental health.
Weiser also proposes a Childcare Solutions Fund, a collaborative public-private partnership to expand childcare options across the state, modeled after successful efforts in other states. And he emphasized the need to make state regulations work better for families and providers, keeping kids safe while cutting unnecessary red tape that prevents new childcare centers from opening, especially in rural communities where options are even more limited.
“Colorado families deserve better than a patchwork system that’s too expensive and too hard to navigate,” Weiser said. “As governor, I’ll make sure Colorado is a national leader in delivering high-quality, affordable, accessible childcare for every family.”
Earlier this month, Weiser released a summary of his comprehensive vision for Colorado’s future in The Colorado Blueprint, available on the campaign website at philforcolorado.com/the-colorado-blueprint. This chapter is one of several the campaign is releasing over the coming weeks to provide a detailed vision for Colorado’s future, providing an opportunity for feedback and engagement as we work to build a better future.
Background on the childcare crisis in Colorado:
- A family with two children under five spends, on average, 38% of their income on childcare.
- Over 50% of Coloradans live in a childcare desert with limited access to quality care.
- According to the Department of Early Childhood, nearly 7,500 families are on a waitlist or impacted by funding freezes in 2025, based on funding deficiencies in the Child Care Assistance Program (“CCAP”).
- An estimated 10,200 mothers are sidelined from the workforce due to lack of affordable childcare, costing Colorado’s economy nearly $3.8 billion annually.
Weiser launched his campaign in January 2025. Since then, he has earned endorsements from over 160 Colorado current and former elected officials, including Colorado trailblazers Federico Peña and former Governor Roy Romer, and from national elected leaders like Governor Josh Shapiro (D-PA), Governor Maura Healey (D-MA), Governor Josh Stein (D-NC), and Governor Bob Ferguson (D-WA). For more information, please visit https://philforcolorado.com/.
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