FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Clay Gillham
Executive Director
clay@hendersonkychamber.com
270.826.7505
HENDERSON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SUPPORTS INCREASING CHILDCARE & EARLY EDUCATION ACCESS, VETS PROPOSALS FOR POLICY ALIGNMENT
HENDERSON, KY (December 8, 2025) – The release of a list of local Chambers of Commerce who signed on in support of Governor Andy Beshear’s “Pre-K For All” initiative has prompted some community members to question the Chamber’s stance on child care and early childhood education. To maintain transparency and clarify our processes for vetting legislative policies, we offer the following.
The Henderson Chamber believes it is critical for the Kentucky General Assembly to address child care availability and affordability during the 2026 session. Supporting working families and strengthening the workforce through increased access to child care and early education has been part of our public policy strategy for multiple years and is communicated regularly to legislators and community stakeholders.
Over the last several weeks, we have been running the “Pre-K For All” proposal through an array of internal screens including our Education Committee, our Public Policy Committee, our Board of Directors, and our relationships with community stakeholders and Chamber members. While the goal of universal pre-K is clearly supported by our organization, the vetting process raised several critical policy questions, including: How much would a program like this cost, where would the additional funding come from and how would it be sustained? How would existing private childcare facilities be affected (several of whom are members)? How would curriculum be defined and program success measured? Would there be additional cost to the taxpayers? Would every child in Henderson be able to attend Pre-K at no cost, or is this a lowering of the income threshold to receive government assistance? Our staff communicated several times with representatives from the Governor’s office, and while several questions were answered, many could not be answered at this stage in the initiative, as they had not yet been defined.
As a wholly non-partisan organization, we believe our duty to our members is to educate, advocate, and act in the best interest of the Henderson business community, with no bias for party lines. As we monitor news about the upcoming legislative session and follow information released by the Kentucky Chamber, we understand that there are multiple proposals on the table to address this issue. Bearing this in mind, our Board supports the Public Policy Committee’s decision to continue seeking information, monitoring the legislative session, and placing support behind any proposals that fully align with our members’ interests.
About the Henderson Chamber of Commerce
The Henderson Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit corporation incorporated locally in 1950. Today the organization works to strengthen the local economy, advocate for its members and the business community, advance community excellence, and deliver value to its members.