Over the past decade, investing in learning programs for young children has emerged as a central strategy in states' efforts to improve educational achievement and opportunity. This trend has been fueled by strong public support and a steady stream of research findings on the influence of the first few years of life on cognitive and emotional development, social adjustment, health and economic self-sufficiency. Today, 41 states provide funding for preschool programs that collectively serve more than 800,000 of the nation's 3- and 4-year-olds. States will spend an estimated $3.5 billion this year on pre-kindergarten education, compared with just $200 million in 1998. In a small but growing number of states, such programs are being expanded to include not just disadvantaged children--the population they traditionally serve--but all kids, regardless of family income. This paper looks at current and emerging trends in state early-learning policy through the prism of governors' 2006 State of the State addresses--nearly half of which included proposals relating to the availability, quality and/or structure of early learning programs. It provides a breakdown of these proposals--by topic and by state--and concludes with a brief review of three issues of growing concern and interest to policymakers: alignment, governance and quality rating systems. (Contains 7 endnotes.)