“Start with child care, because it decides whether a parent can take a job. CAPS serves roughly 51,000 children, down from 72,000 when federal relief was flowing, and reaches about 7 percent of income-eligible kids. I would restore it to the 2023 level, hold reimbursement rates high enough that providers accept the scholarships, add the child care workforce as a priority group, and fund capital grants so small providers can open infant rooms.

Unrestricted lottery reserves have reached $1.7 billion while 128,000 three-year-olds go without. I support a 3K pilot using mixed delivery, targeted first to communities with the weakest third-grade reading scores.

Families also need coverage and cash flow: simpler Medicaid enrollment, twelve weeks of paid parental leave for public employees, full SNAP administrative funding, and no sales tax on diapers.

To pay for it, start with the data center sales tax exemption. State auditors put forgone revenue at $474 million in FY 2025 and found roughly 70 percent of those projects would have come here anyway. Those data center hand-outs could put 20,000 children back into CAPS.

Georgia should also pay a rural differential on CAPS reimbursement, so that serving a county with no other licensed provider is financially viable rather than a sacrifice. Pair that with startup and facility grants targeted to child care deserts, the same way we already recruit doctors to underserved counties.”