Senate Bill No. 266 aims to restrict the access of private equity entities to funds from the Early Childhood Education Endowment. The bill stipulates that the Commissioner of Early Childhood may only allocate these funds to programs owned by private equity entities after all other qualified early care and education programs and preschool programs have received their funding. A "private equity entity" is defined as an individual or company that collects capital investments and purchases ownership shares in early care and education programs.

The bill repeals and replaces Section 10-512d of the general statutes, effective July 1, 2026, to implement these changes. It maintains the requirement for the Commissioner to prioritize funding for state-licensed early care and education programs and local or regional school board preschool programs that meet specific criteria, such as receiving financial assistance under the Early Start CT program and participating in quality improvement systems and federal food subsidy programs. The bill does not have any fiscal impact on the state or municipalities.