At the governor’s Economic Summit on Early Childhood in Rockport on Friday, a newly formed group of legislators announced its intent to create a business plan and a vision for statewide investment in programs and services for infants and toddlers.

The 13-member, bipartisan Commission to Develop a Strategic Priorities Plan for Maine’s Young Children has met since September and has come up with a $20 million plan for investment in child care tax credits and subsidies, Head Start funding, preschool expansion and home visitations.

But first, about $1 million must be invested in a business plan for the investments that would include state data and projected social and financial benefits to funding early childhood initiatives, according to House Majority Whip Sean Faircloth, D-Bangor, who initiated the commission and serves as its chair.

“The Commission to Develop a Strategic Priorities Plan for Maine’s Young Children deserves huge credit for working unanimously toward a solution. We decided that if we want businesses, and Maine’s Legislature, to invest significantly in this effort, we need more Maine-based data and long-term assessment,” Faircloth said.

Faircloth compared the business plan for early childhood investment to one he helped create for the Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor.

The commission also aims to coordinate current early childhood efforts in a Children’s Growth Council, which would enlist the help of a child advocate in gathering hard economic data, overseeing a needs assessment and developing a research-based analysis of the effectiveness of statewide investments.

A great deal of nationwide research on the economic benefits of early childhood health care, parenting and education programs has been published. Faircloth cited a statistic from Jeffery Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, saying the average annual inflation-adjusted rate of return on investments in early childhood education for at-risk children is 16 percent.

Faircloth also quoted Nobel laureate economist James Heckman, saying, “Investments in high-quality early education programs have the highest rate of return of any social investment.”

Even though 85 percent of brain development occurs before age 3, state investment in education for school-age children is more than seven times greater – $5,410 per child – than investment in education for children under 3 – $740 per child, Faircloth said. Of the 697 occupations cataloged by Maine’s Department of Labor, 595 are paid more than child care workers.

The commission was scheduled to meet informally with Maine first lady Karen Baldacci and legislative leaders after the session to discuss how they can work effectively with state administration and the Legislature on the commission’s goals.

Anne Ravana may be reached at aravana@bangordailynews.net or 990-8133.