Childcare Forum Puts New Hampshire Gubernatorial Candidates' Policy Differences On Display

By Maya Mitchell, New Hampshire Bulletin

With Election Day less than two weeks away, incumbent New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte and Democratic nominee Cinde Warmington on Thursday pitched childcare providers on why they are the best candidate to improve childcare.

During a forum hosted by Early Learning New Hampshire and Save the Children Action Network, candidates were given the opportunity to respond live or by pre-recorded video to questions asked ahead of the event. Warmington attended the meeting and answered questions live. Ayotte did not attend but submitted written responses that were read aloud. More than 90 people from the childcare community attended the virtual event.

The forum included candidates running for all statewide offices, each fielding questions about how they plan to tackle childcare affordability and availability.

Warmington, like many other candidates vying for office in the Granite State, focused her responses on lowering costs for working families.

“I’m shocked to learn that two children in childcare is at a cost of over $32,000 a year right now,” Warmington said. “We have so many people that are not in the workforce because they can’t access childcare, and we absolutely have to be focused on this.”

Warmington said that as governor, she would continue to expand the state childcare scholarship, create more home-based childcare programs for rural families and reduce barriers that are making it difficult to open new programs. The former executive councilor also said she would fund the childcare workforce grant, accusing Ayotte of defunding the program.

“I have visited childcare centers around the state as well, and everyone says their No. 1 priority was to make sure those workforce grants were funded,” Warmington said. “My opponent in the race did defund the program. But it is a critically important program, and we need to make sure that we are funding (it).”

The unsettled fate of the childcare workforce fund has been an issue since Ayotte took office in January 2025 and proposed her first budget as governor.

In 2023, the state budget included $15 million from the General Fund for a pilot program to give childcare providers grants to help them recruit and retain employees, thus improving program capacity across the state. The grants helped programs pay for sign-on bonuses, retention incentives and wage increases, credit toward healthcare and paid time off equivalents, training and credentialing costs, and more.

For the 2025-2026 biennial budget, the Legislature appropriated $15 million in Temporary Assistance for Needy Families dollars rather than state funds amid budget cuts. Before tapping TANF funds for that purpose, the state Department of Health and Human Services had to receive permission from the federal government. That request was denied in October 2025.

Over the past year, lawmakers have tried to figure out how to fund the program. Multiple bills attempted to amend the budget bill to fund the workforce grant with state dollars, as it was in 2023. State officials later went back to the federal government for clarity on the initial denial, and the Administration for Children and Families denied the request again in January and August. The bills regarding the childcare workforce grant were ultimately either tabled or heavily amended, and the biennium ended without the childcare workforce grant having a clear funding source.

As a result, programs have not received the money and are not expected to before the year ends. Ayotte has said she supports the workforce grant and would work with lawmakers to get it funded. In her written response to the forum, she announced that the workforce grant was in her budget request for the next biennium and would be funded with state dollars.

Warmington has previously said she supports increasing childcare for parents who work nontraditional hours, as well as state-funded pre-kindergarten. New Hampshire is among the five states nationwide that do not offer public pre-K.

Ayotte focused her forum responses on her childcare wins during her first term, specifically signing the tax credit for businesses that invest in childcare bills, and her continued work with childcare stakeholders.

Ayotte wrote she was proud of her endorsement of a tax credit for businesses that invest to help expand the number of childcare slots available. The bill had bipartisan support and passed the Legislature, and will allow businesses to collect a credit if they help expand childcare programs by 12 or more seats. Ayotte signed the bill into law in July.

Childcare providers, who are often also business owners, are skeptical that the tax credit will increase the state’s capacity to care for more children due to high startup costs for childcare and limited interest among businesses. Over 97% of New Hampshire businesses employ fewer than 20 people, meaning most may not have enough staff with young children to take advantage of the credit.

The governor also highlighted a $22 million funding increase for the Child Care Scholarship Program. Since she entered office in January 2025, enrollment in the program has increased, with more than 5,900 children enrolled as of July.

Ayotte said that if reelected she will “continue finding ways to ease” the burden of high childcare costs, as well as “cut red tape” to build more housing, lower energy costs and “expand opportunities for affordable education and workforce training.”

“I wake up every day thinking about how we can tackle these challenges, and I certainly don’t have all the answers,” Ayotte wrote. “Advocates and providers like you have played a huge part in what we were able to accomplish on childcare in my first term.”

While the race for governor has been contentious, there are areas of childcare policy where the two candidates agree.

Both support continuing investments in the childcare scholarship fund and building up the early education workforce through collaborations with high schools and community colleges.

The New Hampshire Bulletin, the Granite State's newest independent, nonprofit news organization, delivers accountability reporting on New Hampshire politics and policies. The New Hampshire Bulletin is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.