| Social and Economic Policy Promote the availability of safe, culturally appropriate early care and education services that support the development of young children, economic vitality for families and businesses, and living wages and training for early care and education workers. Issue Team Chair: Karen Tvedt, ktvedt@lwvwa.org |
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Legislation |
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Overview of the 2024 Legislative Session Bills have been sent to the Governor for signature to: The budget passed by the legislature provides additional funding for the following: rate increases for ECEAP ($8.3 million); infant care rate enhancement ($6.2 million); nonstandard hour child care bonus ($772,000); fingerprint background checks ($254,000); training for early learning providers to effectively work with children with special needs ($650,000); coordination between Transition to Kindergarten in schools and local early learning providers ($1.3 million); early learning facilities ($26.9 million); access to early learning programs as provided by 2SHB 2124 ($1.2 million); infant and early mental health consultation ($1.75 million); contracted professional development support for child care providers ($2.5 million); and early care and education pilot programs in Snohomish County, Spokane, and for children of construction workers. The budget also includes $533,000 for an implementation plan to expand access to Washington’s mixed delivery child care system. This plan would cap family contributions to seven percent of household income and include living wages and benefits for the child care workforce. Issues to Watch:
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2024 Early Care and Education Legislation
Bills in green are supported. Bills in red are opposed by the League. Bills in black the League is watching.
SB 5774 Increasing the capacity to conduct timely fingerprint-based background checks for prospective child care employees and other programs. Requires the department to maintain the capacity to roll, print or scan fingerprints in its early learning and child welfare offices for purposes of State Patrol and FBI background checks. This bill passed.
SB 5793/HB 1991 Relating to paid sick leave. Expands paid sick leave to include health-related workplace closures and school and child care closures due to declared public emergencies. SB 5793 passed.
SB 5870 Expanding and streamlining eligibility for early learning programs including Working Connections Child Care (WCCC), the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), and Birth to Three ECEAP. This bill did not pass.
SB 5933/HB 1916 Concerning funding for the early support for infants and toddlers program. Child is counted as receiving early intervention services if services are provided within the month. HB 1916 passed.
SB 5941/HB 2111 Clarifying requirements for subsidized child care. Clean-up of statute to reflect changes made in recent years. HB 2111 passed.
SB 6018 Early learning coordinators at ESDs. Each Educational Service District (ESD) must designate an early learning coordinator to support increased collaboration, recruitment, enrollment, and service delivery across Washington’s pre-k through third grade continuum. This bill passed.
HB 1945 Streamlining and enhancing program access for persons eligible for food assistance. Those eligible for or receiving basic food benefits also meet the income eligibility requirements for WCCC and are categorically eligible for ECEAP. This bill passed.
HB 2101 Eliminating child care licensing fees. The Secretary, Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) may not charge fees to licensees for obtaining a child care license. This bill did not pass; provision also included in SB 6038 but was removed before final passage of that bill.
HB 2124 Supporting and expanding access to child care and early learning programs. Participation in ECEAP, Birth-to-Three ECEAP, Head Start or Early Head Start is an approved activity when determining eligibility for Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) benefits. This bill passed.
HB 2195 Strengthening the early learning facilities grant and loan program by revising criteria and providing resources to the early learning facilities development account. This bill passed.
Other Bills
Bills in green are supported. Bills in red are opposed by the League. Bills in black the League is watching.
SB 6038 Reducing costs associated with providing child care. Eliminates child care licensing fees and includes a tax performance statement to extend the B&O tax exemption to include income from the care and education of children up to age 12 (or to age 18 for children with special needs). This bill passed without the provision eliminating licensing fees.
SB 6171 Relating to studying child care for criminal justice personnel. DCYF to conduct a feasibility study and cost estimates for providing child care for the children of peace officers and criminal justice personnel during shift work and abnormal work hours that precludes them from using community child care services. This bill did not pass.
HB 1451 Relating to expanding the child care workforce. OSPI to establish a child care worker pilot program. DCYF must contract for the development of a model program manual to assist youth who routinely care for younger relatives; provide recommendations to expand the substitute pool for providers; and contract to expand the child care workforce and establish new affordable high quality child care and early learning programs. This bill did not pass.
HB 1537 Relating to licensing requirements for child care centers and indoor early learning programs. Proposes increased group sizes for preschool and school-age classrooms and reduces square feet per child from 35 to 34. This bill did not pass.
HB 1697 Making the early achievers quality rating and improvement system voluntary. This bill did not pass.
HB 1739 Relating to instruction for child care providers. The department must create an instructional handbook for providers. Providers are exempt from obtaining an early childhood education certificate if they have read the handbook and submitted a signed attestation that they have read it (or if their center attests that the provider has read the handbook and implemented the instructional material). This bill did not pass.
HB 2046 Establishing alternative requirements for child care providers in under-resourced areas. Defines child care deserts, and directs DCYF to annually publish list of rural counties that are child care deserts, allowing increased group sizes for preschool and school-age classrooms and reduced square feet per child. In child care deserts, DCYF must provide 24 hours’ notice prior to entering an agency’s facility for purposes of inspection. This bill did not pass.
HB 2092 Concerning school construction assistance program funding for preschool and before- and after-school programs. Changes formula to account for services to preschool-age students as well as students in before-and-after school care. This bill did not pass.
HB 2179 Local licensing and regulation of child care programs. Provides that counties with populations of less than 100,000 may adopt and maintain ordinances for the licensing and regulation of child care centers and family home providers. This bill did not pass.
HB 2243 Creating the children’s social equity land trust to deliver revenue for child care programs, with priority given to funding rural areas that lack sufficient child care (child care deserts). Requested by the Dept. of Natural Resources. This bill did not pass.
HB 2264 Excluding certain family home-based child care providers from the list of agencies subject to licensure and regulation by DCYF. Exempts from licensing providers who regularly provide child care services in the provider's home in family living quarters for not more than three children at any given time. This bill did not pass.
HB 2300 Relating to child care provider qualifications. Establishes work equivalency as an alternative to certification requirements for all child care positions and requires DCYF to implement a noncredit-bearing, community-based pathway for providers to meet professional education requirements associated with licensing. This bill did not pass.
HB 2322 Creating a tax preference child care requirement; intends to encourage employers to assist employees with child care costs. This bill did not pass.
- If you are interested in a particular bill, use the links above to go to the webpage for that bill. These pages include staff summaries and reports including who testified PRO versus CON on the bill. There is also information about how to access videos of hearings that have been held.
- Read and take action through the LWVWA Legislative Action Newsletter, distributed each Sunday during the legislative session.
- You may also express your opinion on legislation with the LWVWA issue chairs. We will take your perspectives under consideration as we determine our support for legislation and prepare testimony. Please direct questions or comments to Karen Tvedt, Early Care and Education Issue Chair.