Ready for Week Two…
(Photo Courtesy: Erica Hallock)
Trivia!
The Joel Pritchard Library is the latest building on the Capital campus to be undergoing a complete overhaul. When it reopens in 2026, which legislative chamber will assume offices in the enlarged building?
The Joel Pritchard Library in 2014
(Photo Courtesy: ThurstonTalk)
Highlights of the Week
The Roster is Complete! Final Legislative Appointments Made and Lawmakers Sworn In
This has been a most atypical year with a high degree of movement with sitting legislators assuming statewide or Congressional office, accepting leadership jobs within the Ferguson administration or timing their retirement so an appointment was necessary. After this week, the Senate and House are both finally back to “full capacity.”
The King County Council appointed early learning and housing champion Emily Alvarado to serve as Senator in the 34th Legislative District, with Brianna Thomas receiving the appointment for Alvarado’s House seat. The Council also appointed Janice Zahn to represent the 41st Legislative District in the House seat vacated by Representative Tana Senn, now Secretary of the Department of Children, Youth and Families.
With the high number of former House members now serving in the Senate, we could start a friendly wager about the number of times testifiers mistakenly refer to these new Senators as “Representative” during their remarks. Change continues to be the theme of 2025.
Senate Fiscal Committee Holds Early Learning Work Session
On Tuesday, January 21, the Senate Ways and Means Committee held a work session on developments in early learning. The committee heard a briefing from committee staff followed by presentations from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and the Department of Children, Youth and Families. The work session is available to watch on TVW.
Given the work session was in a fiscal committee (and with our state’s budget crisis), you will not be surprised by the questions and discussion focused on budget and costs.
Senate Labor Committee Hears Child Care Workforce Standards Bill
On Monday, January 20, the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee held a public hearing on the Senate vehicle for the Child Care Workforce Standards Bill, SB 5062 (Stanford). We included a more detailed summary of the concept of the Workforce Standards Board in last week’s Notes from Olympia if you want to reference the details.
The bill generated a hearty debate. Check it out on TVW – it is in the first bill in the hearing.
Child Care Siting Bill
On Tuesday, January 21, the House Local Government Committee heard HB 1212 which is prime sponsored by Representative (now Senator) Alvarado. This bill would require that child care centers be permitted as outright uses in all zones except for industrial zones.
Now you may be asking, what happens to this bill with Senator Alvarado in the Senate? The bill stays alive and keeps moving and the second sponsor (Representative Duerr) becomes the prime sponsor.
Notably at the hearing, the Association of Washington Cities Government Affairs staff testified in appreciation for Senator Alvarado’s engagement with the cities over the interim on the development of this bill.
The bill is scheduled for executive session (vote) on Friday, January 24th.
What’s on Deck for Next Week
Tuesday, Jan. 28: House Education Committee Hear Bill on Transition to Kindergarten
- The House Education Committee will hear HB 1450 (Santos) sponsored by the Committee Chair, Representative Sharon Tomiko Santos. The bill language may be familiar as it closely reflects the 2023 legislation (HB 1550) as it passed the House before it was amended in the Senate.
Tuesday, Jan. 28: Public Hearing on Child Care Notification Requirements and Liability Insurance
- The House Early Learning and Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing on HB 1282 (Pollet) which makes changes to notification requirements to parents if a program has a change in licensing status; changes regarding what information is to be publicly posted; and directs DCYF to look into liability insurance issues.
Wednesday, Jan. 29: House Fiscal Committee to Review Early Learning Budget
- Following in the footsteps of their Senate counterparts, the House Appropriations Committee will be looking at fiscal issues around early learning. As in the Senate work session, I will be particularly interested in the committee member questions.
Thursday, Jan. 30: Early Learning Facilities Bill Receives Hearing
- The House Capital Committee will hear HB 1314 (Callan/Abbarno). This bill aims to make improvements to the Early Learning Facilities Fund program. Check out last week’s Notes from Olympia for a more detailed description of the bill’s contents.
Friday, Jan. 31: House Child Care Workforce Standards Board Bill Scheduled for Vote
- Friday, the House Labor and Workplace Standards Committee will vote on HB 1128 (Fosse), the House vehicle for the Child Care Workforce Standards Board. This bill was heard in the first week of session.
Bills, Bills, Bills
Bills continue to be introduced at a fast clip, and we encourage you to glance through the bill tracker that we update every Thursday and post on the top of our Policy and Advocacy Resources page. If there is a bill you would like us to do a deeper dive on, send us an email.
Addressing the Affordability Challenge for Families
A flurry of bills have been introduced this session by legislators from both sides of the aisle to address the affordability challenge of raising young children. There are bills to remove sales tax on diapers and “essential child care products” HB 1307 (Caldier)/HB 1318 (Rule). There is even a bill to exempt “permanently from the sales and use tax purchases of products for young children” SB 5341 (Fortunato).
Delaying Implementation of Fair Start for Kids Act
House Appropriations Chair Representative Timm Ormsby introduced HB 1489 (Ormsby) which included former Governor Inslee’s proposed budget proposal to delay two provisions in the Fair Start for Kids Act due to the state’s budget situation. The first would delay the income eligibility expansion for Working Connections Child Care from 60% of State Median Income to 75% of State Median Income from July 1, 2025 to July 1, 2029. The second would extend the implementation date for ECEAP entitlement from the 2026-27 school year to the 2030-31 school year.
When are the Upcoming Legislative Committee Deadlines
In parenting there is an expression that “the days are long, but the years are short.” In the legislative world, time takes on an entirely different pace – you might look at your watch for the first time and realize it is 3:30 p.m. and you haven’t even had a chance to eat anything all day! It is not uncommon for people associated with the legislative process to forget the day of the week. Thank goodness for smart phones.
Time, though, is an important construct of the legislative system as built in deadlines (or “cutoffs”) serve as filters to winnow down the volume of policies that are still eligible for consideration. And bills that do not advance past these cutoffs are considered “dead” in legislative vernacular. Like the English language, there’s always an exception to every rule and we will explain these exceptions in future newsletters.
For now, Olympia’s eyes are on these upcoming deadlines:
Friday, February 21: Policy Committee Cutoff (All bills must be passed out of the policy committee of their house of origin)
Friday, February 28: Fiscal Committee Cutoff (All bills must be passed out of the fiscal committee of their house of origin unless they are considered Necessary to Implement the Budget).
These back-to-back-cutoffs mean fiscal committees will likely be working the weekend of February 22.