NASHVILLE — Tennessee introduced the Child Care Red Tape Reduction Act in July 2026 to streamline the process for opening and operating early learning facilities in the state. The legislation aims to reduce administrative and regulatory barriers that delay or prevent the establishment and expansion of childcare centers.

The act includes provisions that allow child care agencies to operate in any zoning district that permits office, commercial, industrial, or residential uses, as long as they comply with standardized state fire safety and building codes. It also eliminates duplicate fire safety inspections by requiring that only the state fire marshal or designated agents conduct such reviews, removing overlapping local inspections.

Supporters say these changes address longstanding obstacles. "When somebody wants to alleviate those issues by opening a new childcare center or expanding one they already run, what we've seen is they can spend a year or more navigating overlapping permits, zones, requirements and inspections," said Melanie Shinbaum, executive director of the Nashville Early Education Coalition.

Shinbaum emphasized that while reducing red tape is important, affordability remains a critical issue. We still need to do work on the actual affordability of ongoing care. Childcare is expensive because it is a human service.

It requires people and labor, and the early childhood workforce is underpaid. They do not make living wages, she said.

According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, more than 300,000 children under the age of 5 in Tennessee need child care. A report by the Nashville Early Education Coalition found that Nashville currently meets the childcare needs of only 56% of children age 5 or younger. The coalition’s policy blueprint recommended that Metro Nashville establish a dedicated funding stream to expand childcare access for ALICE families—defined as asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed—and proposed a citywide mixed delivery system to stabilize early childhood education.