Congress’s appetite for early learning legislation appears to grow by the week, with a number of important bills entering the pipeline, including efforts to expand home visitation and child care construction, the Washington State Association of Head Start and ECEAP reports.

Not surprisingly, there is a lot of interest in pre-k access – five bills in the WSA briefing list its expansion as a goal – but I am more interested in the targeted ideas because of the brutal yet promising budgetary climate on Capitol Hill.

Early learning advocates are working with a sympathetic Democratically-controlled Congress and an administration aggressively championing portions of their agenda, but also are confronting record-level budget deficits. There simply isn’t a lot of money.

In this climate, targeted ideas, such as the home visitation plan backed by Seattle’s own Rep. Jim McDermott are intriguing. The Early Support for Families Act would authorize $2 billon in mandatory funds to support “early childhood visitation programs,” WSA said.

Following up on yesterday’s post on building great child care centers, another bill would help providers construct, acquire or improve facilities.

Over at the House Education and Labor Committee, there is a bill designed to increase the number of early education teachers and assistant teachers with baccalaureate and associate degrees, according to WSA.

Pre-K access, though, remains the top dog among early learning issues. Former presidential candidate Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, is driving a bill that would help states establish universal pre-k and “ensure that all children age three through five have access to high-quality, full-day, full calendar year pre-k education,” WSA reports.

Now these bills are tall orders, sure to change, possibly shrink or die in committee. But, there is a lot for senators and representatives to chew on. It will be interesting to see what they create from this legislative stew.

Check out WSA’s excellent federal legislative summary on their website.