STATE BUDGET BOOSTS FUNDING FOR CHILDREN’S HEALTH AND EARLY LEARNING

Over the weekend, the Washington legislature unveiled a new, two-year state budget that boosts funding for a variety of programs that will positively impact Washington’s children and families. 

We are grateful to see legislators fulfill their commitment to early learning by increasing the rate of Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) to the 85th percentile of market rates. This will provide early learning educators greater support and expand families’ access to child care. The legislature also funded the expansion of home visiting, and grants that will resource providers who work with children with complex needs. We are also pleased that they provided full funding for the implementation of Senate Bill 5316, which would waive fees for background checks, and Senate Bill 5225, which would extend child care subsidies to immigrant families, child care employees, and families involved in therapeutic courts.  

We also thank legislators for partial funding of Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) slot conversion and expansion, Tribal Early Learning grants, and the Equity Grants. 

For health equity, we are pleased to see that the legislature has funded almost all of Children’s Alliance’s oral health and behavioral health priorities. This includes the full requested amount for Skagit Valley College’s dental therapy education program and funding for seven oral health capital projects at Washington’s community health centers. A 15% Medicaid rate increase for behavioral health providers is included in the budget, which will help address many of our state’s current behavioral health workforce issues. 

We are also thrilled to see that the budget includes sufficient funding for start-up costs to build the Tubman Center for Health & Freedom to address disparate health outcomes for Black and Brown Washingtonians, as well as funding to maintain services provided by our state’s School-Based Health Centers, where many of Washington’s most underserved children receive necessary medical, dental, and behavioral health care. 

Lastly, we saw results from our efforts with partners to advance momentum for progressive revenue and critical cash back programs. Legislators funded the continuation of the local Guaranteed Basic Income program in Tacoma, (GRIT), allocated funding to pursue a study on wealth taxes, and provided resources for the Working Families Tax Credit administration, outreach, and technical fixes. 

We are grateful to our legislators who have pushed for these wins during a tighter budget year. We also urge lawmakers to consider options that would generate progressive revenue for the state, such as changes to the estate tax and passage of the wealth tax, so we can fully fund our state’s commitment to families in future years.