OLYMPIA – State Representative Kristine Reeves (D-Federal Way) met with the White House this week, speaking to senior administration officials about the need to improve child care access and affordability, and the efforts the Washington State Legislature has taken in recent years and are considering this session to tackle the child care crisis.
“High-quality, affordable child care is critical to supporting working families and our state’s economy,” said Reeves. “But over half a million children in Washington don’t have access to licensed child care, and even when it is available, the cost often puts it out of reach for most families.”
In addition to high costs for families, the child care industry suffers from a lack of workforce. Child care workers—who are disproportionately women and women of color—lead the industry without sufficient compensation and often without employer-provided benefits. Before the pandemic, 43% of child care providers turned over every year because they weren’t earning a living wage, and the situation has only gotten worse.
The Washington State Legislature has taken multiple approaches to tackling this crisis, both through policy work and budget investments. Most recently, the Legislature passed the Fair Start for Kids Act in 2021. The law was intended to make child care more affordable for families, stabilize and expand the diverse child care workforce, support the expansion of child care, and strengthen prevention and intervention services. To accomplish this, the Fair Start for Kids Act implements measures such as increasing child care subsidy rates, reducing families’ copays, and offering business and mental health supports for providers.
A strong advocate for working families, Rep. Reeves helped spur the conversation around child care back in 2018 by passing legislation and creating the Childcare Collaborative Task Force to study the problems with affordability and accessibility to employer-supported child care in Washington state. She then followed up on that work in 2019 with the Washington Childcare Access Now Act, which put Washington on a data-driven path to affordable and accessible child care for all working families.
This session, the Legislature is considering several bills to expand upon the work of previous years, including legislation to expand eligibility for the Working Connections Child Care program (SB 5225) and to extend unemployment insurance eligibility for workers that have to leave employment because they are unable to reconcile care obligations for a child or vulnerable adult (HB 1106), as well as legislation to strengthen working families’ economic security by expanding the Working Families Tax Credit (HB 1477).
Rep. Reeves also highlighted efforts to direct funding to address the child care crisis, such as the capital gains tax passed by the Legislature in 2021. The new law, which has not gone into effect due to pending litigation, implements a 7% tax on the sale of stocks, bonds, and other long-term capital assets, with the first $250,000 in profits exempted annually. Once the measure goes into effect, each year the first $500 million in revenues collected from the tax will be dedicated to the Education Legacy Trust Account to fund early learning, child care, and K-12 education in Washington state.
This session, Reeves has followed up on recommendations of the Childcare Collaborative Task Force by making budget requests to better invest in Washington’s child care workforce. A few examples include more than $270 million to increase Working Connections Child Care reimbursement rates to the 85th percentile; $1 million to fund the Child Care Access and Living Wage Proviso; nearly $90 million to increase Early Childhood Education Assistance Program (ECEAP) rates; more than $80 million to add new ECEAP slots; and a request to eliminate background check and licensing fees for child care providers.
Rounding out the discussion, Rep. Reeves discussed her ongoing work to develop legislation on universal child care in Washington.
“Child care is critical for families’ economic security, our state’s economic prosperity, and for ensuring our state’s children get a fair start in life,” said Reeves. “By ensuring access and investing in child care, and therefore in our children, we are making an investment in the future of our state.”
Rep. Reeves attended the White House event, convened by Jennifer Klein, Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council and Zayn Siddique, Deputy Assistant to the President for Economic Mobility, with lawmakers from across the country. The event provided an opportunity to identify policy areas lawmakers prioritized in their home states and share ideas and goals with peers from Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Virginia.