One of the first things Gov. John Hickenlooper did when he took office was assemble a commission of advocates and experts to give him and the state legislature good advice on getting the most out of early childhood development programs.

His appointees on the Early Childhood Leadership Commission got started in 2013 with legislative approval, and this session lawmakers will decide whether the council of advisers should get another four years as a state entity.

The commission released its fifth annual report last week in a ceremony at the state Capitol, outlining achievements and asking for the legislature’s help to do more.

The ECLC represents the state’s braintrust and advocate for programs aimed to help pregnant women and children from newborn to 8 years old form a physical and mental foundation for learning.

Rep. Brittany Pettersen, a Democrat from Lakewood who chairs the House Education Committee, said early childhood efforts pay off in older students and, ultimately, in the labor force state offers to employers, “so Colorado can compete in the global market.”

“We know investments in early childhood are some of the best investment we can make for our future,” she said.

Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne co-chairs the commission with Anna Jo Haynes, CEO and president emeritus of Mile High Early Learning Centers; and Barbara Grogan, the founder and retired CEO of Western Industrial Contractors.

“We couldn’t succeed without the support of the legislature,” Lynne said.

Hickenlooper tasked the commission with finding opportunities to make short-term and long-term improvements to programs, especially education. The commission has been a forum for educators, communities, business leaders and the legislature to work together.

The ECLC supports state education improvement initiatives, dropout prevention for older students and early childhood literacy programs, such as the 5-year-old One Book 4 Colorado, which has distributed more than 300,000 books to kids.Pettersen intends to carry the reauthorization bill.

She already has filed bills for full-day kindergarten and extending the state’s childcare expenses income tax credit.

Thursday the Joint Budget Committee put a request into the state budget, which must be approved by the entire legislature, to reallocate $2.4 million, most of it federal dollars, to help address wait lists for child care across the state.

Executive director Reggie Bicha asked the assembled legislators on Friday to support the transfer on behalf of working families struggling to pay for child care.

“We need your support,” Bicha said. “That was not a unanimous vote, I’m disappointed to say. It was enough to get it through the JBC, and we’re going to need your support.

“We’re not asking for a lot of state dollars. We’re simply asking to use federal dollars that were underspent the previous four or five years to now spend it on working families, on kids who need be in safe and hopefully quality childcare, and it doesn’t cost the state taxpayers any new resources. This should be an easy one for us to move, but we’re going to need your support.”