* WGEM…

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker released new details about how to improve early childhood centers throughout the state on Monday. […]

Under the Rebuild Illinois plan, $100 million will go towards improving early childhood centers across the state. […]

He also announced that there will be an increase in the reimbursement rates for early childhood centers and homecare providers to allow more open spaces for families in need. […]

“For rural counties, that will mean an increase of 20 percent and overall the increase would be five percent statewide,” Pritzker said.

* WEEK…

Pritzker said the goal of this is to “improve access to stable care for low-income families and increase wages of early childhood providers.”

For those in counties identified as Group 2, the governor announced another 15 percent for reimbursements on top of the statewide 5 percent.

Group 2 counties in central Illinois include Bureau, LaSalle, Livingston, Logan, Menard, Mason, Fulton, McDonough, Knox and Putnam counties.

Pritzker also announced another $3 million in funding for training for early childcare workers and the establishment of the 29-member Illinois Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding.

* And he announced a commission…

Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Monday announced a new commission to study the state’s early childhood education system.

The 29-member group is made up of several state legislators along with the state superintendent of education and other advocates, providers and school officials.

Leading the charge on one of the governor’s campaign promises, the commission is tasked with offering recommendations on how to better use state funds for early childhood services. […]

The commission will be co-chaired by “four of Illinois’ giants in education,” as Pritzker put it: State Sen. Andy Manar, who helped develop the state’s new evidence-based school funding formula; former state House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie; former state board of education chairman and now deputy governor Jesse Ruiz; and George Davis, the longtime leader of the Rockford Human Services Department.