The Capitol building on a mild Winter day.

(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Trivia is Back!

How many balls did former Washington Governor Dixy Lee Ray hold to commemorate her inauguration in 1977?

Breaking News – Governor-Elect Ferguson Releases Budget Priorities for 2025-27

As we were going to “press,” Governor-Elect Ferguson released a 14-page document outlining his budget priorities for 2025-27. We will be reviewing the proposals in detail and provide a thorough review in next week’s Notes from Olympia, but did want to share highlights of his proposal for Working Connections Child Care.

Per the Fair Start for Kids Act of 2021, income eligibility for Working Connections Child Care is slated to rise from 60% of the State Median Income to 75% of the State Median Income on July 1, 2025. In his proposed budget, Governor Inslee proposed delaying that expansion until the 2029-31 biennium to save $296 million.

Governor-Elect Ferguson proposes a modified approach to this expansion at a cost of $100 million. Under the Ferguson proposal, families with a household income up to 75 percent of the State Median Income and where one parent works for a small business would be eligible for Working Connections Child Care. The proposal does not define small business.

What’s on Deck for Week One?

The first week of the legislative session will be a mix of pomp and circumstance; grounding and orientation; and getting down to business! Simply put – no one is easing gently into the 2025 legislative session.

Saying Goodbye and Welcoming New Leaders

Starting out the week, newly elected (and re-elected) legislators will be sworn in on Monday, Jan. 13th at 12:00 p.m.

Incoming Governor Ferguson will be officially sworn in on Wednesday, Jan. 15th at 11:30, followed by his inaugural address. (And, per this week’s Trivia, the party celebrating his inauguration will be Wednesday evening).

Before the incoming Governor assumes the office on the second floor of the Legislative Building, outgoing Governor Jay Inslee will provide his final State of the State Address on Tuesday, Jan. 14th at 10:30 a.m. Both of these addresses will be made before a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Legislative Committee Work Begins

Legislative committees released their schedules for the first week and they are getting down to business right out of the gate.

Budget Hearings

Senate Ways and Means, House Appropriations and the House Capital Committee will accept public testimony on Governor Inslee’s proposed Operating and Capital budgets throughout the week. The respective Transportation Committees will also be accepting public testimony on the proposed Transportation budget. Note that these budget hearings are very full, so testimony is typically limited to 60 seconds. Virtual testimony is available, and written testimony is accepted up to 24 hours after the start of the hearing.

• Operating Budget: Senate Ways and Means Committee will hear testimony on the proposed Operating Budget on Tuesday, Jan. 14th starting at 4:00 p.m. You can sign up to provide oral or written testimony here. The House Appropriations Committee will hold its public hearing on Monday, Jan. 13th starting at 4:00 p.m. You can sign-up to provide oral or written testimony here.
• Capital Budget: Senate Ways and Means Committee will hear testimony on the proposed Capital Budget on Monday, Jan. 13th starting at 4:00 p.m. You can sign-up to provide oral or written testimony here. The House Capital Budget Committee will hold its public hearing on Thursday, Jan. 16th starting at 1:30 p.m. You can sign-up to provide oral or written testimony here.

Here is a refresher as to what was included in Governor Inslee’s budget as related to early learning.

Work Sessions

Both the Senate and House early learning related policy committees are scheduled to hold early learning related work sessions on Tuesday, Jan. 14th. Work sessions are informational presentations where invited guests come before committees to educate committee members on specific topics. Public testimony is not accepted at work sessions, and the committees do not take any action on the topic.

On Jan 14th, the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee is holding a work session at 8:00 a.m. focused on updates on implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act and an overview of the Cost of Quality Care Rate Model. At 1:30 the same day, the House Early Learning and Human Services Committee will hold a work session providing an overview of child care and early learning programs.

We will recap these work sessions in next week’s Notes from Olympia.

Bill Action

Finally, some committees will be not only holding public hearings, but also executive sessions (votes) on bills. For example, on Jan. 14th, the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee will hold a public hearing on SB 5130 (Sen. Claire Wilson) which would permanently eliminate child care licensing fees. Want to provide oral or written testimony on this bill? Sign in here.

Bills, Bills, Bills

In our state, legislators can “pre-file” bills the month before the legislative session begins. These pre-filed bills are then introduced – and considered “real” bills – on the first day of the legislative session.

It is always interesting going through the pre-filed bills. Here’s one that caught my eye – SB 5159 by Sen. Sharon Shewmake would establish a “Trick or Treat Day.” In essence, Sen. Shewmake is trying to get our state to collectively trick or treat on a Friday or Saturday evening. Fascinating, right??? Even though my children are grown, I can see the appeal.

Start Early Washington will produce an updated bill tracker on a weekly basis containing relevant early learning and other bills of interest. This bill tracker lives on our website so you can reference it at any time, it will be updated every Thursday, and it will be linked weekly in this newsletter. Feel free to flag if there are any bills we are missing.

We will provide a more thorough review of pertinent legislation in upcoming editions of this newsletter.

Each year the Illinois General Assembly passes legislation that can have an impact on families, or the organizations in our communities providing early childhood or related supportive services to families. Start Early leads on some of these legislative changes, often in coalition with others, and in other cases we contribute our early childhood lens and expertise to support the efforts of another lead organization. The 2024 Legislative Summary provides a listing of those bills that became law in the spring 2024 session that we thought would be relevant to families with young children and the field.  We hope that this is a resource you will download and share with colleagues and families alike. We are happy to provide additional information about any of these initiatives or connect you with other advocates where needed. Initiatives that were led by Start Early are marked “*”. 

Illinois’ Early Intervention (EI) system is currently in crisis, resulting in thousands of families of eligible infants and toddlers with delays or disabilities across the state experiencing long waitlists for services, with service delays having nearly doubled in just the past two years. EI providers, many of whom have advanced degrees, are choosing to leave EI and work instead in hospitals, school, private practice or other settings with better benefits and higher pay. The state has invested in cross-state research and cost modeling that shows Illinois provider reimbursement rates are significantly lower than other states, and far below the true cost of delivering services. This provider shortage, combined with high caseloads and low compensation have led to high turnover within the field and unfilled vacancies, all of which have a substantial impact on the children and families waiting for EI services to begin. 

To address this crisis, this October, Start Early and Raising Illinois launched the Babies Can’t Wait: We Need Early Intervention campaign with a virtual kick-off event and held nine local rallies and press conferences across the state over ten days. In partnership with our hosting organizations (Advance Preschool, Autism Society, Champaign County Home Visiting Consortium, COFI, Early Childhood Forum of Central IL, Good Shepherd Center, Illinois Developmental Therapy Association, SAL Community Services, Southern IL Coalition for Children and Families, SPARK, and United Palatine Coalition), we were able to bring over 1,000 advocates together in-person and virtually to call for the urgent need for a $60M additional investment to address the current crisis in our state’s Early Intervention program. In addition to making their voices heard at the rallies, EI families have started an online petition which has garnered over 2,100 signatures in support of the $60M increase for EI in the FY26 state budget, and many families and providers have been featured in media coverage of the campaign in outlets like Capitol News, Chicago Tonight and Chronicle Illinois. 

With just a few months left before Governor Pritzker shares his budget proposal, we aren’t slowing down! We’re proud to share that over 40 organizations have signed onto our fact sheet calling for a $60 million budget increase for EI in FY26. We urge you to join us in taking action for Early Intervention by signing the parent-led petition and by sharing your EI story. Together, we can make a better EI system for our providers and the families they serve. Our #babiescantwait. 

Holiday tree displayed in the Capitol building.

(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Trivia!

The newest reconstructed building on the Capitol Campus is named after former State Senator Irving R. Newhouse. What was the building’s original name and what is former Sen. Newhouse’s political legacy in Washington State?

Tana Senn Announced as New DCYF Secretary

Governor-elect Ferguson has selected a familiar face to lead Washington’s Department of Children, Youth and Families with today’s announcement of State Representative Tana Senn as the incoming Secretary. Representative Senn is the current Chair of the Human Services, Youth, and Early Learning Committee and was the key architect of the Fair Start for Kids Act. I’m sure I speak for all of us when I wish her the very best at leading a complex state agency that oversees not only early learning but also Child Welfare and Juvenile Rehabilitation – we are very excited to work with her in this new role!

Release of Governor Inslee’s Proposed Budgets

On December 17th, Governor Jay Inslee released his final proposed biennial budgets. In what may be his final press conference as Washington’s Governor, Governor Inslee laid out the strategy behind his final budgets given the state’s fiscal challenges. (As a reminder, our state has a total of three budgets – Operating, Capital and Transportation). These comments were made after he bestowed a special honor to his wife, Trudi, by gifting her with his official Washington pin honoring her as the inspirational Washingtonian for the day. Governor Inslee said he had been waiting to do this for 12 years.

• Proposed New Revenue. Governor Inslee started his remarks by reflecting that when he assumed office in 2013 the state was still recovering from a recession that resulted in deep and painful cuts, particularly to human services programs. The Governor contrasted the situation today that while our state’s costs are up, we are not in a recession and our economy is booming. He then laid out his plan to adopt a wealth tax that would place a 1% tax on Washingtonians with assets over $100 million. According to the Governor, this would impact approximately 3,400 individuals and would generate $10.3B in revenue over four years (2025-2029).The Governor’s budget also includes an assumed $2.6B in revenue from increased Business and Occupations Tax Revenues, among other proposals. In all, the Governor’s released budget assumes $12.9B in new revenue over the four-year (2025-2029).
• “Book One and Book Two Budgets.” Our state’s governor is required to propose a balanced budget. Typically, during tough financial times, a “Book One” budget achieves that balance with an “all-cuts” approach and a “Book Two” budget typically contains proposed revenue to “buy back” some of the cuts. The budget released publicly this week is the “Book Two” budget in that it contains revenue – and a significant amount at that. Governor Inslee’s “Book One” budget was not released publicly, so it is not clear what his proposed “all-cuts” budget would look like.
• What about our incoming Governor? Great question! Come January 15, 2025, we will have a new Governor when Bob Ferguson is sworn in, and he will have an opportunity to put his mark on the budget. We do not expect him to submit a line-by-line “replacement” budget. Instead, the expectation is that he will submit to the Legislature his own priorities, which he has signaled to be around increased funding for local law enforcement and housing. More to come…

Proposed Early Learning Investments

• Working Connections Child Care.
  • Fund Working Connections Child Care Subsidy at the 85^th Percentile of the 2024 Market Rate Survey ($272.81M for child care centers and $183.54M to fund the Family Child Care Collective Bargaining Agreement for the 2025-27 biennium – for a total of $456.35M).
  • Delay Expansion of Working Connections Child Care Eligibility to the 75% of State Median Income until State Fiscal Year 2031 (Savings of $119.5M for the 2025-27 biennium).
  • Working Connections Child Care Outreach ($4.8M for the 2025-27 biennium).
  • Child Care and Development Fund Compliance ($67.49M State General Fund + $20.53M Federal for the 2025-27 biennium – for a total of $88.02M). Funding would support enrollment-based payments, prospective payments, 12 months of full eligibility, adding additional children during the eligibility period and restricting overpayments in certain circumstances.
  • Consolidation of Seasonal Child Care (Savings of $3.12M over the 2025-27 biennium). Program deemed longer needed because it has been absorbed into Working Connections Child Care.
• Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP)
  • Delay Implementation of Entitlement Until the 2030-31 school year (Savings of $145.89M over the 2025-27 biennium).
  • Rate Increase of 18% for School-Day Programs Starting in State Fiscal Year 2026 ($55.68M for the 2025-27 biennium).
  • Slot Conversion/Expansion – Convert 250 Part-Day Slots to School-Day and add 500 School-Day Slots ($9.39M over the 2025-27 biennium).
  • ECEAP Underspend – Sweep funding for 845 currently unfilled part-day slots (Savings of $17.04M for the 2025-27 biennium).
• Early Learning Facilities
  • $50M for competitive grants through the Early Learning Facilities (ELF) Fund – including $45M for eligible organization grants and $5M for health and safety minor renovations.
  • $8.629M for 9 school district projects recommended by the Department of Commerce.
  • Additionally, the Department of Commerce’s Local Community Projects budget includes $5M for Willard Early Learning Center (Tacoma) and the Department of Commerce’s Building Communities budget includes $1.57M for Jefferson County Early Learning & Family Support Center (Sequim).
• Additional Early Learning Investments
  • Home Visiting
    • The proposed 2025 Supplemental Budget (the current fiscal year we are in) presumes $400,000 in savings from the Home Visiting Services Account underspend.
  • Transition to Kindergarten
    • Funding to OSPI to distribute grants – in collaboration with DCYF – to support school districts in blending ECEAP and Transition to Kindergarten classrooms ($2M for the 2025-27 biennium).
  • Professional Development
    • Funding for DCYF to continue contracting with an organization that provides “relationship-based professional development support” to child care providers in various settings to establish and support new child care programs. Funding to support the opening of approximately nine new child care businesses per year. ($500,000 for the 2025-2027 biennium)
  • Continue Pierce County Pilot
    • Continued funding to support efforts in Pierce County to implement a countywide resource and referral linkage system and a voluntary newborn support program ($2.5M for the 2025-27 biennium).

Washington State Standard State Budget Resource

On December 9th, the Washington State Standard featured an excellent overview detailing the state’s budget situation. The article described the contributing factors of stagnant revenues and increasing costs, including expenses slated to come on-line in the next biennium such as the next steps of the Fair Start for Kids Act. It also included potential options on the table for raising new revenue. Worth a read!

2024 Legislative Committee Days

Olympia was a flurry of activity during the week of December 9^th for the annual rite of passage known as “Committee Days.” During Committee Days, current, future and soon to be former Senate and House members gather at the Capitol campus for a busy week of work sessions, meetings and fundraisers sprinkled in.

It is an intense week followed by an immediate reprieve – kind of like if the first day of school was immediately followed by winter break! Newly elected legislators received a taste of what awaits them in January – lobbyists chasing them down, their days blocked out in 15-minute increments, and jumping constantly from one topic to another. It is fair to say every Committee Days participant left exhausted and maybe a tad nervous about their session stamina!

Legislative Changes. As we wrote in our November Notes From Olympia, changes in the legislative make-up did not stop after the election. Last week, the King County Council appointed Tina Orwall to fill the seat of retiring Senator Karen Keiser of the 33rd Legislative District and also appointed Edwin Obras to fill Orwall’s House seat.

Over in the 26th Legislative District, Deborah Krishnadasan was appointed to fill the Senate seat of departing Senator Emily Randall who was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Senator Patty Kuderer of the 48th Legislative District is expected to resign her Senate seat early in the new year to assume the elected position of Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Reportedly, her two seatmates, Representatives Vandana Slatter and Amy Walen, are both interested in that Senate seat. Should one of them receive the appointment, their House seat would also need to be filled by appointment.

Making matters even more interesting, the rumor mill is also going strong that some sitting legislators could be heading to the Ferguson administration to lead state agencies. If that occurs, of course their legislative seats would need to be filled by appointment.

If you are one of those people that select an inspirational word for a new year, perhaps you might want to select “change” or “patience.”

Committee Work Sessions. The work sessions during Committee Days often provide insight into 2025 priorities. Given the state’s precarious budget situation, it was not a surprise that both the Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations Committees dedicated time to briefing their committee members on the budget situation.

• House Appropriations Committee. On Monday, December 9th, the House Appropriations Committee held a full work session. Related to child care, the Department of Children, Youth and Families’ Allison Krutsinger and Nicole Rose presented to the Committee on “Child Care Access and Affordability” (their presentation begins at 48:50). Their accompanying PowerPoint includes helpful data about subsidy utilization and provider capacity.
  • Additionally, the Committee’s Budget Coordinator Mary Munroe presented a helpful budget overview that provides an excellent primer on the state budget process. This is one I am keeping as a resource!

• Senate Ways and Means Committee. Over in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, on December 12th, the Committee heard the latest updates about our state’s caseloads and revenue forecasts (these two presentations started out the work session). This information was included in our November Notes from Olympia, but for reference, the caseload forecast information is here and the revenue forecast information is here.

Prefiled Bills

At the start of December, legislators can “prefile” bills with the Code Reviser’s Office. The Code Reviser’s Office is a critical support to the legislative process. For an inside look at how the Code Reviser’s Office helps with bill drafting, check out TVW’s behind the scenes explainer. (On a side note about the Capitol campus construction, with the Pritchard library construction underway, the amazing staff of the Code Reviser have been moved to the modular building on the northwest part of campus, the former temporary home of the Senate Republicans).

Prefiling opened on December 2nd for the 2025 session. Prefiled bills will be introduced the first day of session, Jan. 13th, and will then be assigned to a committee to proceed through the legislative process.

Related to early learning, three bills have been introduced to date. We’ll cover them briefly in this edition and dive deeper into their detail at the start of session:

• HB 1033. Sponsored by Rep. Couture, HB 1033 would allow counties to opt to act as the regulatory and licensing authority for child care centers and family home providers. The bill would also require DCYF to complete a study on the rate of utilization of this new local licensing and regulation option, and analysis of perceptions from providers, local governments, and DCYF of the local and state licensing and regulatory options. Effective 7/1/26.
• HB 1082. Sponsored by Reps. Senn and Eslick, this bill would allow licensed child care providers until August 1, 2028 to demonstrate experience-based competency as an alternative to comply with current child care licensing rules. It would also direct DCYF to convene a stakeholder group to improve early learning and school-age staff qualification requirements and verification processes.
• SB 5062. Sponsored by Senator Stanford, this bill would create the Washington State Child Care Workforce Standards Board with specific designated members and would requires the Board to adopt statewide rules every four years establishing minimum child care employment standards relating to compensation, health and safety, and other working conditions. The bill would exclude the licensing of child care facilities from the Board’s purview.

Start Early is excited to announce the launch of Every Child Ready Chicago’s (ECRC) Strategic Framework, a living document that will guide our work for the next several years. Building this Framework was made possible by the insights and expertise of those on the ECRC Executive and Advisory Committees. Almost a full calendar year’s worth of multiple rounds of brainstorming and feedback sessions allowed us to identify the most salient areas of work to focus our actions over the next several years in pursuit of strengthening Chicago’s early childhood system to allow it to meet the needs of all families. We would like to extend a heartfelt thanks to all of our community and city partners who contributed their time to making this Framework a reality. 

Every Child Ready Chicago is a public-private partnership led by the Mayor’s Office in partnership with Start Early working to ensure all children in Chicago enter kindergarten ready to succeed in school and life. ECRC is guided by a vision of a coherent prenatal-to-five system that provides equitable access to supports and services that ensure the highest outcomes for our city’s youngest learners. This initiative first launched in 2019 and has continued working to build on Chicago’s robust history of investing in early learning opportunities.  

The ECRC Strategic Framework describes the next phase of our work together and the strategic action we plan to take that will be supported by Working Groups that will launch in 2025. The three inaugural Work Groups will be a Governance & Funding Work Group, a Data Work Group, and a Family & Community Engagement Work Group. 

Connecticut’s Governor Ned Lamont has a bold vision for the long-term success of his state: He wants to make Connecticut the most family-friendly state in the nation. And he and other state leaders are grounding that vision with a forward-leaning investment in early childhood. Under the leadership of Beth Bye, Commissioner for the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC), they are going deep and wide in building a strong early childhood system because they believe that being family-friendly is a pragmatic, economic decision essential to secure the state’s future.

I am impressed with the comprehensive approach Governor Lamont and Commissioner Bye are taking to design their early childhood strategy, and think it is worth shining a spotlight on it for other states to consider.

Last month I was honored to join a convening of Connecticut’s government and advisory leaders, policymakers, and early childhood experts to participate in a panel discussion, “Shaping Connecticut’s Tomorrow: A Conversation with Early Childhood Leaders,” alongside Ellen Galinsky, President of Family and Work Institute, Michelle Kang, CEO of NAEYC, and Commissioner Bye.

When Connecticut’s leaders talk, I hear three themes that I think will ensure their success:

• Align your leaders and your resources
• Don’t play favorites: invest in all the essentials for a strong system
• Plan for multi-generational success

Align your leaders and your resources

Connecticut created a shared understanding and alignment around early childhood for the state’s governance bodies through its Blue Ribbon Panel Report. Connecticut is fortunate to have multiple entities, beyond the OEC, that provided guidance and input into the design of a system that will transform early childhood care and education. Together they co-created and committed to a plan featuring common priorities:

• Workforce and Quality
• Equity and Access
• Systems Building and Funding and Costs

I recall a conversation I had with Commissioner Bye several years ago about ways states could address the entire early learning system by taking an approach that better aligns all its resources. The Blue Ribbon Panel Report maps smart resource alignment and allocation to achieve shared goals – for example, providing stable housing for families in addition to high quality early childhood education, and health screenings to address the needs of the whole child. Additionally, as Connecticut strengthens their focus on Birth through Age 3, they are comprehensively approaching the infant/toddler funding challenge by blending and braiding federal and state funds to remove some of the burden on programs.

Don’t play favorites: invest in all the essentials for a strong system

Connecticut’s holistic approach to addressing early childcare and education is comprehensive and thoughtfully weaves together all the elements necessary for a high-quality, equitable early childhood system. Too often states invest unevenly, which diminishes (and sometimes undermines) their overall impact.

The Blue Ribbon plan prioritizes equity for the families with the greatest needs, prioritizes the success of the early childhood workforce, and focuses on stabilization and system building.

I want to particularly call other states’ attention to Connecticut’s focus on the early childhood workforce. The Connecticut plan highlights the importance of providing high quality professional learning for teachers, including career pathways for ECE professionals to get their credentials and increase their knowledge so that they are eligible to receive higher wages. We know that quality professional learning can provide powerful and rich onboarding to staff new to the field and improve the work environment to create a culture that is inclusive and supportive and fosters ongoing learning. As a field, we want to develop professionals’ skills, knowledge, effectiveness, and confidence to increase retention and wellbeing. And Connecticut is showing us how.

Plan for multi-generational success

Family voice is evident throughout Connecticut’s plan and early actions. From philosophically focusing on parents as their child’s first teacher to engaging with parents as thought partners in the convening I attended, Connecticut shows a commitment to thinking about the success of young children through the lens of the whole family. They encourage and prepare families to use their voices to advocate for the needs of their young children now, through their elementary years, and beyond. For the Governor’s “most family-friendly state” vision to be achieved, this is essential.

The early childhood ecosystem must include fully funding early learning and care, as we cannot provide high quality childcare on the back of parents. Connecticut understands that in order to do so, the state will need to provide equitable community and policy supports for parental leave, childcare subsidies, affordable housing and health care screening so that opportunity gaps are addressed. These investments in families create intergenerational benefits that will have a wide-reaching and lasting impact, from the socioeconomic success of individual households to the growth of the entire state’s economy.

Frederick Douglas said, “It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” I am heartened to see Connecticut carry out his words through policy and planning that invests in the early years. A family-friendly state indeed; let’s all pay attention to Connecticut’s next steps together. This is a model worth watching.

On December 7th, 2024, Start Early partnered with the Mayor’s Office, Chicago Public Schools, and the Every Child Ready Chicago (ECRC) Advisory Committee to host the inaugural ECRC Strengthening Inclusion Symposium, which brought together nearly 100 early childhood professionals, families and advocates to explore resources, participate in professional development and engage in meaningful discussion about how to best support young children with disabilities in Chicago. This event was made possible with contributions from early childhood organizations across the city who came together to lend expertise, share resources and facilitate trainings and activities for professionals and families – and through generous support from Crown Family Philanthropies.  

For a full list of the day’s events, check out the event program.

The Symposium opened with remarks from the Mayor’s Office and Chicago Public Schools, highlighting the importance of ensuring inclusive environments for children with disabilities in early childhood settings, as well as a powerful keynote address from Jaclyn Vasquez, an advocate and parent who shared her family’s inspiring story navigating the Early Intervention and Special Education systems in Illinois.  

From there, attendees were invited to break out into sessions focused on best practices for inclusion in early childhood classrooms, managing mental health needs and alternatives to suspension and expulsion in early childhood programs and resources for navigating the transition from Early Intervention to Special Education in Chicago. These sessions offered professional development credit and were led by experts from the University of Denver, Birth to Five Illinois: Region 1-A, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago Public Schools and STAR NET.  

Throughout the day, attendees were invited to visit exhibit tables hosted by 15 organizations that answered questions, distributed materials and resources and engaged some of the event’s youngest attendees in fun, educational activities.  

Earlier this week, Governor JB Pritzker selected Dr. Teresa Ramos as his pick to run the Illinois Department of Early Childhood (IDEC). Dr. Ramos is a long-time partner and friend to Start Early, having worked with us both inside and outside state government to improve the lives of young children and their families. 

“Dr. Ramos is an excellent choice to lead the Department of Early Childhood,” Celena Sarillo, Executive Director of Start Early Illinois, said. “We now know IDEC will be headed by a smart, principled and dedicated public servant who hopes to build a state agency that works for children, their families and the entire early childhood workforce.” 

The Department of Early Childhood, of which Dr. Ramos will be Secretary pending Senate confirmation, aims to improve access to critical early learning and care services by better aligning and coordinating programs, data and policies. The new agency is central to the governor’s ongoing plans to strengthen and expand early childhood programing across the state. 

Beginning in July of 2026, IDEC will administer the Child Care Assistance Program, the Early Intervention program, evidence-based home visiting programs, as well as infant, toddler and preschool programs currently funded by the State Board of Education. It will also license and monitor child care programs.   

Start Early looks forward to deepening our partnership with Dr. Ramos and collaborating with her growing team at IDEC in the months and years to come. 

The Capitol building on a calm October day.

(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Trivia!

Who cast the first Electoral vote for Ronald Reagan in the 1976 election? Hint: they are a current Washington State Senator.

Bonus Question: What did former Governor John Spellman call this now State Senator and his then-group of House Republican colleagues during the 1982 state budget crisis?

State Budget Shortfall Woes to Dominate 2025 Legislative Session

With the 2025 legislative session right around the corner, all attention is on the state’s growing budget shortfall. Here are some resources and context to help understand Washington’s precarious financial situation.

OFM Director Calls on State Agencies to Prepare Budget Reductions:

On November 8, Office of Financial Management (OFM) Director Pat Sullivan released a memo to state agency directors, statewide elected officials and presidents of higher educational institutions directing them to work with their OFM analyst to propose budget reduction options for the 2025 supplemental budgets and the 2025-27 biennial budgets by November 15, 2024.

In the memo, Director Sullivan projects a budget deficit ranging from $10-12 billion over the four-year outlook. In short, the state’s current revenue is insufficient to meet current commitments.

Director Sullivan suggests agencies consider actions that will produce immediate savings such as hiring freezes, delaying programs that have not yet been implemented, identifying under-expenditures and use of non-State General Fund wherever possible.

On November 19, the OFM website was updated to include a Budget Reduction FAQ and on November 20, the site was updated to include the various state agency budget reduction options. It is important to emphasize these are all just options and the budget writing process has just begun. If an item is on one of these lists, it does not mean a reduction is imminent.

Resources: To learn more about Washington’s fiscal outlook, here are a few resources.

• The Washington State Standard has a helpful article describing the situation. The Washington Research Council produced a brief “Anatomy of the Projected State Budget Shortfall” that highlights their perspective on the matter.
• The WA Research Council also prepared “Washington Faces an Estimated $5.1 Billion Shortfall” that includes interesting data. (Note that the projected shortfall has grown since release of this brief, but the underlying information is informative).
• Finally, the Research Council posted a blog specifically focused on the Fair Start for Kids Act budget implications.

State Revenue Forecast:

On November 20, the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council met to receive the latest revenue forecast from its Executive Director, Dave Reich. The bottom line is Near- General Fund collections are down $400 million through 2029 from the September 2024 forecast.

This breaks down as:

• 2023-25 biennium (current): (-$89M)
• 2025-27 biennium: (-$181M)
• 2027-29 biennium: ($-131M)

The primary reasons for the drop in revenue, that continue to be lower than forecasted, are retail sales and reduced Business and Occupation Tax collections. The forecast suggests that reduced inflation and lower interest rates will lead to improved revenue growth. So, good news on the horizon, hopefully.

Overall state revenues are projected to grow 2.6% between the 2021-23 and 2023-25 biennia and by 7.6% between 2023-25 and 2025-27 biennia.

When asked about plans for Governor Inslee’s final budget, OFM Director Pat Sullivan replied that they are considering the release of a “book one” budget consisting of all-cuts as well as a “book two” budget that would offset some of the cuts with new revenue. Additionally, Sullivan noted that much of the drivers of the budget crunch lie in increased costs in maintenance level expenses and he specifically cited new expenses coming online for the Fair Start for Kids Act for Working Connections Child Care and ECEAP. Finally, Sullivan noted that overall state revenue for the upcoming 2025-27 biennium is down about $1 billion from earlier projections, further challenging the budget process.

Senate Ways and Means Chair June Robinson and House Appropriations Chair Timm Ormsby were asked about their approaches to the budget crisis. Both chairs responded that they are weighing a range of options, including evaluating recommendations from state agencies, recommendations they will receive from the outgoing and incoming Governor, revenue options as well as potentially delaying any ramp-ups of new programs slated to go on-line.

Next Steps for State Budget:

Outgoing Governor Jay Inslee will release one final budget in mid-December. Per state law, he is required to submit a balanced budget. With our state’s projected deficit, he can meet this requirement by proposing budget cuts, new revenue, or a combination of the two. We will be producing a summary of this budget following its release.

Incoming Governor Bob Ferguson will also have a chance to put his mark on the budget, but given the timing and the scarcity of funding, it is highly likely he will rely on Governor Inslee’s budget as a base.

State Election Results

In what can only be deemed as NON-breaking news, the following is a brief recap of some of the key take-aways from the state election results:

• Governor-Elect Ferguson hitting the ground running. Shortly after it was clear he was heading from the Attorney General’s Office (AG) to the 2nd Floor of the Legislative Building, Governor-Elect Bob Ferguson announced his senior staff, most of whom he is bringing over from the AG’s office. He also announced a 53-member transition team designed to assist him in preparing for his new role. Note their first meeting is scheduled for Friday, November 22nd – the same day you are receiving this newsletter.
• Capital Gains Funding Preserved. More than 64% of Washingtonians voted to preserve capital gains funding to support investments in education, including in early learning.
• New State Senate Leadership. On November 11th, Senate Democrats selected Senator Jamie Pedersen from the 43rd Legislative District in Seattle to serve as its Senate Majority Leader. Senator Pedersen assumes this role after Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig of Spokane announced he would not seek re-election. With this appointment, Washington is the first state in the nation to have both of its chambers led by LGBTQ+ leaders at the same time!
• New Addition to House Leadership. Earlier this week, House Democrats voted to affirm the leadership of Speaker Laurie Jinkins from the 27th Legislative District in Tacoma as well as Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon from the 34th Legislative District in Burien. They also elected Representative Chris Stearns from the 47th Legislative District in Auburn to serve as the new Speaker pro tempore.
• Democrats pick up one seat in the Senate and one in the House. While the Senate race in the 18th Legislative District is still close and will likely go to a recount, it does appear that the Democrats picked up one seat in both the Senate and the House. If Adrian Cortes prevails over Brad Benton in the 18th Legislative District Senate race, Democrats will hold a 30-19 advantage in the Senate and Democrats will hold a 59-39 advantage in the House (the Democrats picked up a seat in the House in the 26th legislative district when Adison Richards defeated Jesse Young for an open seat that was previously held by Republican Spencer Hutchins who decided not to run for re-election).
• More legislative changes coming. We’re not quite done yet with the moving chairs. A new Senator will need to be appointed in the 26th legislative district as sitting Senator Emily Randall was elected to Congress. In addition, Senator Karen Keiser of the 33rd legislative district is expected to resign shortly, and her seat will need to be filled. Finally, the seat of Senator Patty Kuderer of the 48th Legislative District will need to be filled after she was elected as the incoming state Insurance Commissioner. Of course, if any of the seats are filled by House members, the process to fill the House seats will begin.
• Committee Configurations and Assignments. We expect announcements shortly about legislative committee structures, membership and timing. Stay tuned!

Updated Caseload Forecast Released

On November 13, the Washington state Caseload Forecast Council met to release the latest projected caseloads for entitlement programs. The caseload forecasts help project what the state will need to budget for programs ranging from K-12 enrollment to Medicaid to prisons. Together with the revenue forecast, this data will inform the Governor’s budget that will be released in mid-December.

The National Home Visiting Summit offers leaders across home visiting an opportunity to learn and share about innovative practices in the field, build connections with each other, and leave with actionable steps to promote systems change. Our team heard from Jackie Cordova, HIPPY Program Director with Parent Possible in Denver, CO, about the impact the Summit has had on the work she does. Here is Jackie’s Summit story: