Dozens of community members — including mothers, educators and legislators — gathered Friday at the state Capitol to advocate for early childhood care and education.

State Rep. Lisa Marten (D, Kailua-Lanikai- Waimanalo), co-convener of the Keiki Caucus, said during a news conference that child care concerns are a top priority for her this session.

“We have two bills that are still alive and well that just have one more committee to go in the Senate,” Marten said.

Marten introduced House Bill 2535, which would establish a pilot program to subsidize child care by contracting classrooms in licensed child care centers.

According to the bill, in the first quarter of fiscal year 2022-2023, more than 15,000 families with children under 13 received subsidies from the Child Care Connection Hawaii program for child care services. In addition, child care center providers can face disruptions and closures because of fluctuating enrollment figures, which could affect their funding stability.

HB 2535 moved out of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee on Monday and was referred to the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Friday.

Krystal Baba, a 35-year-old mother, told the Honolulu Star- Advertiser that she hopes to see more quality child care options come out of this legislative session.

Baba said she has a 4-year-old daughter, Kemi, who is currently not enrolled in any school because resources are too expensive, so she has decided to wait until Kemi is old enough to attend kindergarten.

She said she connected with the Partners in Development Foundation during the pandemic so Kemi could receive “some early education care.”

PIDF, Baba said, conducted virtual learning through Zoom classes and sent Kemi books and interactive activities that she could do at home.

Baba said Hawaii’s high cost of living makes it difficult for her to afford child care and even made her consider completely delaying Kemi’s early education because of the costs.

“I’m always having to choose between some source of income, having to piecemeal child care, asking family for help, bouncing between grandparents, cousins, friends,” Baba said.

Baba and her husband rent an apartment unit in Waipahu for almost $3,000 and deem that added child care services would be unaffordable.

She said her friends pay over $2,000 for one child a month in child care support.

“Thankfully, my employers allow me the flexibility to work at home because they understand how hard child care is for me,” Baba said. She works remotely on coordinating projects across the state.

HB 1964 — which would establish a child care provider subsidy and bonus program to retain and attract workers — was referred Thursday to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Baba said child care providers deserve a living wage, and “if we make it an attractive enough workforce, more people will go into this career field, and we need it.”

Johanna Nielsen, Family Hui Hawaii’s director of operations and programs, said the state lost many child care providers over the years, especially during the pandemic.

“It makes it so difficult for families to find the care that they need in order to work and provide,” Nielsen said. “It’s like one big cycle: Without the providers, parents can’t go to work and parents can’t make an income.

“Having classrooms to and having subsidies to attract the educators into the field is so important.”

Nielsen rallied Friday as a mother of two boys, Jace, 8, and Jax, 6, and wants legislators to continue supporting bills that will help the children of Hawaii.

“Our kids are going to be your next leaders, and if you don’t invest in them now, other costs will come later,” she said.

State Sen. Michelle Kidani (D, Mililani Town-Waipio Gentry-Royal Kunia), also chair of the Senate Education Committee, said during the news conference that teachers are “at the heart of early childhood education.”

“The Legislature has supported expanding quality options for early childhood education, and we’re going to continue to do so this year and into the next,” she said.