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ANNAPOLIS — Del. Tom Hucker hopes Maryland can become "shovel ready" for universal pre-kindergarten.

The House Ways and Means Committee will hear testimony Tuesday on a bill introduced by Hucker that would require the state Department of Education to begin discussions with superintendents and school boards across the state about how to bring universal, public pre-kindergarten to Maryland.

"Pre-k really is the next frontier," said Hucker (D-Dist. 20) of Silver Spring. "Ninety percent of a child's brain [development] occurs before age 5. So we have to invest dramatically in pre-K for all children in Maryland to ensure that all children are ready to excel in K through 12 education."

State school board Vice President Blair G. Ewing of Silver Spring, who as a long-time Montgomery County school board member advocated for all-day kindergarten, will testify in favor of the bill, along with Montgomery County Councilwoman Valerie Ervin and officials of PNC Bank and the Pew Charitable Trusts' pre-K initiative.

Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring created a Universal Preschool Implementation Work Group for Montgomery County that is evaluating how to respond to a state task force's draft report on pre-kindergarten.

The draft report recommended the state increase access to public preschool with a voluntary, free, universal preschool program.

The Senate Budget and Taxation Committee will hear the Senate cross-file of the bill, introduced by Sen. Nancy J. King (D-Dist. 39) of Montgomery Village, on Wednesday.

The legislation gets the state moving toward universal pre-k without spending money.

The state Department of Education "can do what this bill mandates within their existing resources," Hucker said, echoing an analysis of the bill by the nonpartisan state Department of Legislative Services.

"It also gets the General Assembly on the record for the first time in support of universal pre-K," he said.

President Barack Obama (D) is a supporter of universal pre-kindergarten. He included $10 billion in his federal stimulus proposal to encourage states to increase access to preschool programs.

That money "will go to states that have a universal pre-k plan and are willing to be transparent and accountable about how they are spending the money," Hucker said.

Studies show that every dollar spent on pre-k saves $7 to $20 down the line on costs such as remedial education, he said.

"This is an Investment in our human infrastructure, not just our physical infrastructure," Hucker said.