Washington State Capitol Building
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Trivia!

The Capitol Campus is undergoing a great deal of construction. What major campus building is completely closed, necessitating a temporary move four miles away to Tumwater?

Highlights of the Week

A day in Olympia during the legislative session can often feel like a week as the days are filled with committee hearings, legislative meetings and sprinting across the Capitol campus to get to the next appointment.

I have to say the campus feels a tad quieter than usual – even during the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, traditionally a very busy day. It appears people are taking advantage of the virtual option and testifying and meeting virtually rather than making the trek to Olympia. As previously shared, the Washington State Legislature does work on the federal holidays that fall during the legislative session. For the MLK holiday, the Legislature honored the life and legacy of Dr. King during their Floor session.

In many ways, we are readjusting to an in-person legislative session. It is a bit like riding a bike; some days, we may be missing a wheel! Note that despite fewer people on campus, parking can still be challenging as a staff parking lot has been converted to a temporary building and the DASH shuttle is not in service this year.

Senate Early Learning and K12 Committee Work Session on Early Learning. On Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Senate Early Learning and K12 Committee held a work session on a number of early learning topics, including the implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act, the Recommendations from the Child Care Collaborative Task Force, and recommendations for child care workforce and compensation (starts at the 1:00 mark).

The presentation kicked off with Allison Krutsinger from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) providing updates on the implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act (starts at 1:01) and COVID-related grants (starts at 1:08 mark).

Next was an update on the Child Care Collaborative Task Force, which was housed at the Washington Department of Commerce and co-convened with DCYF. The Task Force was charged with developing recommendations to improve access to child care, a new approach to the child care subsidy model and strategies for businesses to support child care (starts at the 1:11 mark). Co-Chairs Ryan Pricco (Child Care Aware) and Amy Anderson (Association of Washington Business) presented the most recent recommendations focusing on the true cost of quality child care, including background on the cost estimation model (starts at the 1:13 mark) followed by the four recommendations. An interesting discussion on the future of Early Achievers starts at the 1:22 mark.

Finally, Meka Riggins (Child Care Aware) presented on the Liberatory Design Process undertaken to develop recommendations related to workforce recruitment and compensation recommendations (starts at the 1:30 mark). Child Care Aware convened a diverse set of child care providers to discuss challenges and opportunities in the field and design recommendations and advocacy priorities for the workforce. The design team’s recommendations start at the 1:36 mark. Finally, the committee heard from providers Desiree Hall from Stay and Play Child Care Learning Center in Seattle, Nicole Sohn from the Discover Journey Center in Spokane, a family home provider Holly Lindsey in Longview, and Lupe Mendoza, a parent from Walla Walla, on field experiences (starts at the 1:38 mark).

Sen. Patty Murray Holds Capitol Early Learning Press Conference. U.S. Senator Patty Murray, new Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, hosted a press conference on child care at the Legislative Building Wednesday, Jan. 18. Susan Lee, Director at the Refugee Women’s Alliance, spoke along with Lauren Hipp from MomsRising. Child care champions State Senator Claire Wilson and State Representative Tana Senn also spoke and were joined by Sen. Jesse Solomon, Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self, Rep. April Berg, and Rep. Monica Stonier.

Sen. Murray described the challenges in child care today, such as providers lacking sufficient funds to stay open; limited child care options; the need for facilities particularly in rural areas; child care staff leaving the workforce for better paying jobs in the retail and food service industry; and the lack of affordable options for parents.

Sen. Murray noted that the recent federal spending bill increased federal child care investment by over 30% or $1.8B. This increase is expected to provide additional funding for child care access to an estimated 130,000 more children. However, Sen. Murray was clear that bold action is needed and we are still a long way from saying “mission accomplished.”

State Sen. Claire Wilson and State Representative Tana Senn spoke to the increased state investment in child care over the past several years. This included the passage of the 2021 Fair Start For Kids Act, which provided an additional $1.1B in investments, including reduced family co-pays, bonuses for non-standard hours, increased home-based services such as home visiting, and grants to early learning providers to remain open.

What’s on Deck for Next Week

Dairy Day! Who doesn’t love free food? Particularly when that free food involves ice cream and cheese!

One of the biggest highlights of the legislative sessions is the “food days.” The food days involve various food-related associations coming to the Capitol to demonstrate the value of their product to the state of Washington. These “food days” generate an unbelievable level of excitement. It is kind of like when you were in elementary school, and there was an assembly with a person doing all of the yo-yo tricks. We are all giddy!

If you are on campus on any of these days, you will witness long lines of people patiently waiting for free potatoes, beef or ICE CREAM! The first food day is scheduled for next week on Jan. 25 with Dairy Day. The mezzanine around the third floor of the Legislative Building will be filled with representatives of the Washington State Dairy Association handing out free ice cream, cheese and yogurt. It will be a very good day.

Photo proof that I have been enjoying ice cream giveaways at capitals for decades (June 1992, Washington, D.C.)
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Oral Arguments Before State Supreme Court Jan. 26. On Jan. 26, the Washington State Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hearing oral arguments on the constitutionality of a capital gains tax in its temporary building in Tumwater.

The Supreme Court has already acted to allow the State Department of Revenue to begin collecting the tax prior to the Court’s final ruling and all the revenue forecasts assume receipt of this revenue. The funding is primarily designed to support the implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act.

Helpful Legislative Engagement Tips and Legislative Cutoff Dates

I am all about not reinventing the wheel. On Sunday, Jan. 15, the Spokesman Review’s Jim Camden had an informative column compiling resources to help stay engaged with the legislative process. Check it out!

Legislative Cutoff Calendar. The 105-day “long” legislative session moves really fast and it won’t be long before we are facing “cutoff” deadlines. These cutoffs are designed to serve as a filter, reducing the number of bills considered throughout the process. The first cutoff is scheduled on day 40 (Feb. 17), when all bills must be approved by their respective policy committees. From that point, the cutoff dates come at a quicker clip, with the fiscal cutoff scheduled for day 47 (Feb. 24).

This cutoff calendar is particularly important to review if you are planning to visit the Capitol as there is always a swirl of activity around these cutoff dates.

Bill Tracker: Key Early Learning Bills

As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will update with a weekly bill tracker. Please note that legislation changes quickly, so the version on our website may not represent a bill’s latest version as it is published the Thursday of each week.

Early Morning at the Capitol Building
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

Trivia!

You will not be surprised to see this week’s trivia relates to the tradition of “swearing-in” of elected officials. In Washington state, how many mother-daughter combos have served in either the State Senate or House of Representatives?

Highlights of the Week

Governor Inslee’s State of the State
(Photo Credit: Inslee delivers State of the State: “Bold actions for building a stronger Washington”)

State of the State

On Tuesday, before a Joint Session of the Senate and House of Representatives, Governor Jay Inslee provided the first in-person State of the State in three years. Prior to the Governor’s remarks, the Lt. Governor introduced many distinguished guests, including the members of the State Supreme Court and other statewide elected officials. I had forgotten that dignitaries representing partner countries also attend. The Ukrainian Consulate General received a prolonged standing ovation, conveying Washington state’s support for the people of Ukraine.

A summary of the speech themes and pictures from the event can be found on the Governor’s Medium page.

Governor Inslee spent much of his time focusing on the related challenges of housing and behavioral health. He stated the fundamental, underlying challenge is that our state does not have enough housing supply for all Washingtonians. He cited the need to build another 1 million housing units within the next 17 years to meet demand.

The Governor utilized the “faces in the gallery” tradition started by President Ronald Reagan in 1982, where a politician invites people impacted by programs or policies to be their guest in the gallery, and then they are called out in the speech. In this instance, Governor Inslee included a mom and daughter who benefited from the state’s housing investments and noted the need to meet the needs of so many other families.

While promoting his proposed $4 billion housing referendum that would need to be approved by voters, he urged swift action rather than addressing the housing crisis “bit by bit.”

Representative Peter Abbarno of the 20th legislative district provided the Republican response to the State of the State. He focused on Republican priorities of affordability, public safety, education and housing/homelessness. He also spoke to the challenge of securing child care throughout the state. He shared his family’s stress with finding affordable child care when his children were born.

Budget Hearings

This week’s major committee focuses were public hearings on the operating, capital and transportation budgets. On Wednesday, the House Appropriations Chair noted 175 individuals were signed up to testify on various parts of Governor Inslee’s proposed budget. I did not get the number from the Senate Ways and Means Committee, but I would guess their list was just as long.

Both operating budget public hearings opened with an overview of Governor Inslee’s proposed budget by the Director of the Office of Financial Management, David Schumacher. Some challenges that will impact the budget include:

• The transition from COVID-19 infusion of federal dollars in prior years to more “typical” budgets. We are seeing the ramp-down of many of these federal investments
• Inflation is driving up costs
• The state (and nation) is facing continued economic uncertainty
• Recruitment/retention concerns with the workforce

Given these realities, Governor Inslee’s budget prioritized what he considered the most pressing needs and to continue working on what is currently in motion, rather than starting new programs.

After watching two long nights of public testimony, a clear common priority arose – workforce. Almost every person testifying identified needs to address the workforce recruitment and retention concerns throughout nearly every sector.

Following this public process, much of the budget discussions will shift behind the scenes. It is certainly not too early to weigh in with budget writers about your priorities.

A procedural note – these budget hearings were my first experience participating in hybrid committee hearings and the switch from virtual to in-person testimony throughout both evenings was rather seamless. Kudos to the staff for their preparation to continue this accessibility.

House Brain Development and Early Learning Work Session

On Tuesday, Jan. 10, the House Human Services, Youth, & Early Learning Committee held a work session on brain development and early learning. As with all committee hearings and floor action, this work session can be rewatched on the TVW website.

The early learning section of the hearing starts at about the :22 minute mark in the recording with Dr. Patricia Kuhl from the University of Washington Institute for Learning and Brain Sciences (ILABS). Dr. Kuhl provided the committee with an overview of the critical and extensive research on infant brain development and the Labs’ “science to practice” philosophy that provides a “what do we do about it” approach to what they have learned from their research. This includes programming related to the importance of “baby talk” and “parentese” on brain development (:39 minute mark). Rep. Jamila Taylor asked a critical question about the inclusion of parents of color, specifically black mothers, in the research and potential differences in “parentese” in black communities (:45 minute mark). Dr. Kuhl also provided insight from their bilingual brain studies (:52 minute mark) and reading group programs (:55 minute mark). Slides from the ILABS presentation can be found here.

Following Dr. Kuhl’s presentation, Allison Krutsinger and Genevieve Stokes from the government affairs team at the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) provided an overview of early learning programs and funding streams for the committee (1:04 minute mark). The presentation starts with an overview of child care, Early Achievers, ECEAP and Head Start. There were interesting discussions about the coordination between DCYF and OSPI and family supports, (1:30 minute mark) followed by family support and services including home visiting (1:38 minute mark) and a Fair Start for Kids update (1:41 minute mark). Slides from the DCYF presentation can be found here.

The DCYF materials contain a treasure trove of valuable data and a wonderful overview of early learning. It is another one I am going to file away for future reference.

What’s On Deck for Next Week

The agenda for week two includes continued “work sessions” to educate and expose lawmakers to issues before their committees as well as a ramp-up of bill hearings.

Early Learning Work Session. On Wednesday, Jan. 18, the Senate Early Learning and K-12 Committee will hold a work session focused on:

• Implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act
• Recommendations from the Child Care Collaborative Task Force
• Workforce and compensation recommendations
• Perspectives from child care providers and families

Hearing and Vote Expected on HB 1199. Summarized below, HB 1199 (Senn and Eslick) would prohibit certain limitations on the provision of center-based and family child care by various homeowner and other associations. It is scheduled for a public hearing in the House Housing Committee on Monday, Jan. 16, with a vote expected Thursday, Jan. 19.

Bills

Following is a brief summary of early learning related bills:

HB 1199 (Senn and Eslick). HB 1199 prohibits associations of apartment owners, homeowners associations, and associations of unit owners from restricting or limiting the use of a unit within the association for licensed family home or center-based child care. These associations may enforce other association regulations for child care providers that are identically applied to other residences and structures. Associations willfully violating this act may be subject to paying the provider a civil penalty up to $1000.

SB 5225 (Wilson, C.). SB 5225 aims to increase access to child care through several strategies. First, the bill provides child care subsidies for employees of child care centers or family home providers and caps copayments for these employees. The bill also provides access to child care subsidies for parents participating in a specialty or therapeutic courts and prohibits immigration status as a barrier to qualifying for child care subsidies for student parents.

SB 5316 (Wilson, C.). SB 5316 repeals statutes requiring applicants to child care and foster care entities to pay state and federal background check fees. Previously, applicants to child care and foster care facilities had to pay the costs for the Washington State Patrol and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) background check fees. Last session, those fees requirements were eliminated and the state covered the costs. This bill would make state funding of those fees permanent.

SB 5332 (King). Prohibits cities, towns, and counties from authorizing or through inaction allowing for sanctioned or unsanctioned homeless outdoor encampments near schools and early learning facilities.

Child Care Development Block Grant (CCBDG) Increases. The Omnibus National Spending Bill signed into law by President Biden Dec. 29, 2022 provided a $1.9 billion (or 30%) increase to the CCDBG. The state of Washington is expected to receive an increase of approximately $27.5 million from Grant Year 2022 to Grant Year 2023.

On Jan. 10, the Center for Law and Social Policy released a state-by-state analysis of distribution estimates for the increased funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG).

This increased funding will become part of state budget considerations.

2023 Legislative Information is Live!

Now that the 2023 Legislature has been sworn in, the legislative website has been updated to include contact and background information on each Senator and House member. Also included is access to calendars and schedules; committee schedules, agendas and documents; and other detailed information on committee membership and more.

A really cool feature is the ability to sign up for bill tracking for specific bills of interest. And, there is the ability to sign-in to testify in person or remotely, provide written testimony or let your position be known for the record. Note that if you want to testify either in person or remotely, you must sign-in at least an hour before the start of the hearing. This gives the staff time to figure out logistics.

Finally, as noted last week, TVW is a great resource to catch all legislative activity live or after the fact.

Bill Tracker: Key Early Learning Bills

As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will update with a weekly bill tracker. Please note that legislation changes quickly, so the version on our website may not represent a bill’s latest version as it is published the Thursday of each week.

This newsletter will be distributed every Friday morning during the legislative session. It is intended to keep you abreast of legislative activity, highlight important upcoming events, deadlines and share trivia with the help of our adorable Capitol Ambassador, Ollie.

Ollie, our Capitol Ambassador, eagerly awaits the start of Legislative session
(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

2023 Legislative Session Awaits!

The 105-day legislative session kicks off Monday, Jan. 9. And while it is “go time” for all the players involved in the legislative process, I think I am not alone in experiencing a level of trepidation around what to expect. Think extreme Sunday “scaries” mixed with back-to-school anxiety.

We have not seen a “normal” legislative process for nearly three years, and I do not expect this year to be a full return to previous experiences. On the positive side, we know that most legislative committees will maintain some ability for people to testify virtually. As we saw during the 2021 and 2022 years, this virtual option greatly increased access to the legislative process (even for people on airplanes and ski slopes – two of the most memorable moments of the past two years). We know legislative staff and TVW have been hard at work to make the hybrid nature of in-person and virtual testimony as seamless as possible. Note, questions remain as to how committee chairs will navigate the virtual/in-person balance and we can expect variance among committees.

On the uncertainty side, there remains concern that the typical legislative session steady diet of close quarters, lack of sleep and stress will result in the spreading of illnesses. And while people used to “power through” being sick, hopefully our collective experience over the past three years will lead to people leveraging technology and staying home when ill!

Additionally, the legislative campus is undergoing a few major construction projects and a temporary building has been erected in the parking lot historically occupied by legislative staff. If you are coming to Olympia, acquaint yourself with Capitol campus parking information as many of the usual parking areas will likely be full. (You can fully expect I will don a hard hat and include an upcoming trivia question or two about capital construction!).

Finally, the House has instituted some additional security procedures and staff may need to escort visitors up to legislative offices for meetings. Also, expect a cap on the number of meeting attendees – no more stuffing 10 people in tiny offices. Keep this in mind if you are coming to the Capitol.

Patience and flexibility continues to be the themes!

What’s on Deck for the First Week?

The first day of the legislative session includes the requisite pomp and circumstance, with “Opening Day Ceremonies” slated for noon Monday. This will include swearing-in of newly elected members. Our House of Representatives will also vote to affirm the recommendation that current Speaker Laurie Jinkins continue in this role. Unlike the “other Washington” that is garnering great attention this week, this vote is expected to be procedural – she has the votes!

On Tuesday, Jan. 10 at noon, Governor Jay Inslee will present his annual State of the State Address to a joint session of the Senate and the House. This will be Governor Inslee’s first in-person State of the State since 2020. Expect Governor Inslee to reinforce his priorities laid out in his proposed budgets released in December. On Wednesday, there will be a Joint Session for the State of the Judiciary. Given the state Supreme Court plans to hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the capital gains tax, this could be an interesting State of the Judiciary.

Legislative Hearings/Work Sessions. Lawmakers in our state can begin “pre-filing” bills starting the first Monday of December. A quick perusal of the pre-filed bill list is a good reminder of the wide range of issues our Legislature considers. Among many others, there are proposed bills to establish a wine retailer’s sellers permit, related to the sale of cosmetics tested on animals and another about courthouse facility dogs. The magnitude of complex policy and budget questions reinforces the importance of being clear in your desired action and succinct in your talking points.

Some of these pre-filed bills are scheduled for public hearing in the first couple of weeks of session. Because the first weeks are a bit slower, it is common that legislative committees use this time to hold “work sessions” where they do a deeper dive on an issue of interest, without a specific bill before them for consideration. For example, the House Human Services, Youth and Early Learning Committee will hold a work session on brain development and early learning on 1/10 at 1:30 p.m., the House Finance Committee will hold a work session on the state’s tax system on 1/12 at 1:30 p.m. and the Senate Human Services Committee will have an overview of the Department of Children, Youth and Families on 1/10 at 10:30 a.m.

Public Hearings on the Budget. The hot ticket legislative committees during the first week of session are the public hearings on Governor Inslee’s proposed budget convened by the Senate and House fiscal committees. The schedule is as follows:

• Senate Ways and Means Committee Public Hearing on Operating Budget, 1/10 at 4 p.m.
• House Appropriations Committee Public Hearing on Operating Budget, 1/11 at 4 p.m.
• House Capital Budget Committee Public Hearing on Capital Budget, 1/12 at 1:30 p.m.
• Senate Ways and Means Committee Public Hearing on Capital Budget, 1/12 at 4 p.m.

These public hearings typically open with an overview of the proposed budget by the Governor’s Budget Director, followed by the opportunity for presentations by statewide elected officials like the Superintendent of Public Instruction or the Commissioner of Public Lands Following these presentations, public hearings commence where individuals are invited to share brief (emphasis on brief) remarks on what is in – and more importantly NOT in – the proposed budget.

These hearings are always a tad chaotic as lobbyists hop up and down, speaking on behalf of their clients. This year will be particularly interesting with the added dynamic of virtual testimony as well. We lovingly refer to these evenings as “cattle calls.” (By the way, I just looked up the definition and apparently the phrase comes from the acting world where cattle calls were massive auditions to fill parts for plays or movies. I guess we are auditioning to be included in the final adopted budget!)

Note that if you want to testify, you need to sign-in via the leg.wa.gov website at least an hour before the hearing. Committees also accept written testimony and you can have your position noted for the legislative record.

Legislative Preview with Legislative Leaders

On Jan. 5, the Allied Daily Newspapers/Washington Association of Broadcasters held a 2023 legislative preview.

The morning began with release of a recent poll of registered Washington voters conducted by Crosscut and the Elway Group focused on top priorities for legislative action. The poll found the top issues include the economy/cost of living (the only issue identified by both Democrats and Republicans as a top concern), housing/homelessness and public safety. After years of being at the forefront, COVID-19 dropped dramatically as a primary issue of concern for voters.

Following the overview of the poll, the Spokesman Review’s Laurel Demokovich moderated a panel of the four corners of legislative leadership – Senate Majority Leader Andy Billig, House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, Senate Minority Leader John Braun and House Republican Leader JT Wilcox. This session is an opportunity for the press to ask questions.

Before the panel was interrupted by a fire alarm that necessitated the building’s evacuation (don’t worry – there was no actual fire), the legislative leaders discussed their approaches to many of the issues elevated in the voters’ poll. The two issues that received the most attention during the abbreviated time were housing/homelessness and the need to address workforce challenges in a broad manner.

The legislative leaders noted there is bipartisan agreement as to what are the major challenges (e.g. behavioral health, housing, workforce), but their approaches to addressing them differ. Senate Majority Leader Billig discussed child care more than once and emphasized it is both a workforce and education issue. He also cited that workforce challenges impact child care as other sectors. When asked to identify strategies to address workforce, Senator Billig noted the issue is complex and will require multiple solutions.

Following the return after the fire drill, the lead budget writers from both parties outlined their priorities and challenges and Governor Jay Inslee wrapped up the morning doing the same, with a great focus again on housing. We can expect to hear many of Governor Inslee’s talking points at his State of the State next week.

The session ended taking up most of the morning. TVW has a link if you want to capture the remarks. It is a good grounding about what to expect next week, and how issues will be approached.

Legislative Leadership Preview 2023 Priorities
(Photo Credit: TVW Screenshot)

Legislative Resources

If you are wanting to follow Olympia activity, my go-to websites are TVW.org and the Legislature’s website, leg.wa.gov.

TVW is our state’s version of CSPAN. TVW covers every committee hearing, Floor session, press conferences and, since the pandemic, both the Senate and House Rules Committees. If you miss something live, you can go to the menu on the left and scroll down to media archives.

I serve as a member of the TVW board of directors and believe TVW is an invaluable asset. We truly could not have done our jobs during the pandemic without TVW and their ability to evolve to meet ever-changing needs is appreciated. Note that in addition to covering live activity, TVW also produces weekly shows such as “Inside Olympia” where decision makers discuss and debate hot topics. They also produce great documentaries. I recommend “Reforming the Juvenile Justice System in Washington State.”

Leg.wa.gov is a site that contains a mountain of information about our legislators and the legislative process. The website will be updated to include all of the newly sworn-in Senators and House members after Monday’s swearing in. (Helpful hint – all legislative emails are firstname.lastname@leg.wa.gov). Additionally, the website will include committee members and committee meeting times and all sorts of helpful information. I will include the updated links in next week’s Notes.

Other helpful government websites:

Office of Financial Management (Governor’s Budget Shop)
Fiscal Information (where to access the various budget proposals)
Governor’s Official Webpage

Federal Spending Bill Passed – Major Increases for Early Learning

Right before the end of the year, Congress passed, and President Biden signed, a $1.7 trillion spending bill. The numbers are still being crunched and details being unearthed, but we know the package made a number of positive investments in early learning, including:

• $8 billion investment in the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG) (a 30.1% increase over Federal Fiscal Year 2022)
• $12 billion for Head Start and Early Head Start ($960 million increase over Federal Fiscal Year 2022)
• Five-year reauthorization of the Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program along with funding increases (bringing total funding to $1.4 billion over five years and a doubling of the tribal set-aside)

These increases are welcomed for Washington’s children and families and this additional federal funding will play into our state budget discussions. More to come here for sure.

Start Early Washington Resources

A reminder that Start Early Washington maintains and regularly updates a robust set of resources on our website.

These include an overview of Governor Inslee’s proposed budget, Fair Start for Kids Act analysis and a summary of federal investments in early learning. Note, we will produce a weekly bill tracker that will be included on our resource page (and linked in this newsletter). We will also include Senate and House budget analyses when that time comes.

In addition, our website includes an overview of Start Early Washington’s 2023 budget priorities, the Home Visiting Advocacy Coalition’s budget ask and a resource highlighting the importance of investing in the home visiting workforce.

Bill Tracker: Key Early Learning Bills

As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will update with a weekly bill tracker.

Please note that legislation changes quickly, so the version on our website may not represent a bill’s latest version as it is published the Thursday of each week.

A note from the author: I took a tumble down my icy front steps and broke my wrist. It is a little challenging to write and type at the moment, so please be patient with this quick budget summary!

Governor’s Budget Summary

On Dec. 14, Governor Jay Inslee released his proposed $70 billion 2023-25 biennial budget. At the press conference announcing his proposed investments, Governor Inslee highlighted his priorities of housing and behavioral health.

Of course his budget includes a number of other worthy and needed investments, as outlined in his Budget and Policy Highlights. Note that page 30 includes a summary of the Governor’s ECEAP investments. Now that the Governor’s priorities have been released, attention turns to the Legislature as they will begin to build their budget when they gather in Olympia on Jan. 9.

Budget writers are closely following the state’s revenue picture. Also on Dec. 14, the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council released an update showing General Fund-State revenue collections for Nov. 11 – Dec. 10, 2022. Overall revenues came in $4.5 million lower than forecasted in November. Revenue Act collections (e.g. sales and business and occupations tax) came in $39.1 million higher than the November forecast. Conversely, non-Revenue Act Collections (e.g. property tax) came in $44.7 million lower than forecasted. Given this fluctuation, we will continue to monitor revenue collections closely as they influence state spending.

Governor Inslee’s proposed budget includes the following key early learning items:

Child Care

• Family Child Care Collective Bargaining ($231.165M). This funding would increase the Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) hourly rate to $3.85 in SFY 24 and $4 in SFY 25; increase the base subsidy rate to the 85th percentile of the 2021 market rate survey, increase the cost of care rate enhancement to $2,100 per month; pay for background checks and fingerprinting for licensed family home providers.
• Child Care Center Rate Increase Working Connections Child Care ($142.4M in new funding). This funding would ensure all providers are paid a rate that reflects at least the 85th percentile of the 2021 market rate survey. This includes a subset of providers who were paid at a rate that exceeded the market rate and will not receive a reduction in payment.
• Equity Grants ($18.69M).
• Working Connections Child Care Complex Needs ($15.396M).
• Background Check Fee Assistance ($897,000). This funding includes payment of background check application fees and fingerprint processing fees for FY 24.

ECEAP

• Rate Increase ($107.026M). This funding includes a 40% rate increase.
• Expansion ($83.583M). This funding supports 2,000 new slots per year; of these, 1,700 are school-day and 300 working-day.

Early Learning Facilities (Capital Budget)

• Early Learning Facilities Expansion ($40M).
• Facilities Minor Renovation ($5M).
• School District Funding ($5.4M). Funding for Bethel School District $1.08M; Highline School District $809,000; Issaquah School District $1.057M; Orondo School District $1.080M; South Bend School District $300,000; and the Toppenish School District $1.08M.

Home Visiting

• Contract Adjustments ($9.3M).
• Expansion ($1.5M). This funding would serve 160-200 new families.

Other Early Learning Investments

• Audit Resolution ($2.583M). This funding is in response to the State Auditor’s findings, which includes funding and FTE staff to allow DCYF to perform cost allocation at the child-level detail.
• Dolly Parton Imagination Library ($5.279M).
• Pierce County Prevention Pilot ($1.742M). This funding would continue the pilot in Pierce County for universal newborn supports and resource linkages.
• Tribal Early Learning Grants ($10.279M). This is one-time funding to provide early learning grants to provide culturally appropriate early learning opportunities for Tribal children.

Brenda Smith has taught at Educare Chicago, a program of Start Early, for 13 years. In that time, she’s seen first-hand how providing for the needs of families can uplift not only her students, but the communities in which they live.

The team at Educare Chicago worked to identify the family’s needs and address them as much as possible. Start Early’s quality early childhood programs often help families access community services that they might otherwise not be aware of or are otherwise unable to use because of systemic barriers.

“We made sure that she was able to get him here,” Brenda explains. “We provided her with carfare. We gave her gift cards to get things that she might’ve needed, that she wouldn’t have been able to receive if she wasn’t here.”

Mental health consultants and family support specialists on staff also worked with the student’s mom, connecting her to a wide range of supportive services.

“We had wonderful mental health consultants that took care of her, mentally and emotionally, in ways that us, the teachers, couldn’t,” adds Brenda.

After her son graduated from the program, the mother continued to occasionally visit Educare Chicago’s campus and provide the team with updates on her life.

“She has her own apartment now, and she has a job now,” says Brenda. “We provide our parents with so much information and so much family support.”

Partnering with parents and connecting them with services and resources to help understand their children’s developmental needs is a core component of Educare Chicago’s approach to ensure students grow up healthy, supported by their families and ready to learn.

“We have a program that links parents up with other organizations,” Brenda says. “These organizations help them if they want to go to school, if they have loans that are overwhelming them, if they need a car, if they need somewhere to live, if they need furniture… They provide that kind of help for our parents.”

The focus on providing for parents and families at Educare Chicago is indicative of the support that well-resourced early childhood learning programs can provide. Brenda, who worked at several daycare centers prior to her work with Educare Chicago, says that this approach makes a significant difference in the educational and social outcomes of its students.

“I’ve been in this field for a long time, and I have never been at a center that cared as much and had the same amount of compassion for its parents and families as Educare Chicago,” she says.

For over 40 years, Start Early has worked directly with families and children from before birth to entry into kindergarten. We provide doula and home visiting services and quality center-based care that ensures children are ready to reach their full potential in school and in life.

Five years ago, Start Early was honored to be one of 18 organizations that received a major investment from Ballmer Group, each focused on addressing economic mobility. Ballmer Group recently renewed its commitment to Start Early for another 5 years.

Our vision is that every community has a comprehensive, equitable prenatal-to-five system that delivers excellent programs through a stable, well-supported and compensated workforce. The flexible, multi-year funding grant from Ballmer Group has allowed Start Early to build new partnerships, advance core program priorities, and bring new capabilities to our work. For example, Start Early’s merger with the Early Learning Lab brought human-centered design approaches to build more equitable solutions, programs and policies informed by community voices.

Supporting the Early Childhood Workforce Is Critical to the Success of Young Children

Early childhood educators serve young children in their most critical developmental years and lay the foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing. They provide stable and nurturing relationships that promote brain development and build the social, emotional, and academic skills of our youngest learners who will become our future workers, innovators, and leaders. Yet they are often underappreciated and under-compensated. Unfortunately, low wages, combined with limited access to professional development and growth opportunities, created a workforce crisis, only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s important that educators get the training and support they need to grow their knowledge and skills and collaborate and share best practices with colleagues. Support from Ballmer Group allowed Start Early to expand professional development opportunities to prepare the workforce to meet the ever-changing needs of young children and families. Today, we support nearly 300,000 early childhood professionals and impact 1.5 million young children annually.

Our work is focused on creating virtual and face-to-face training and resources on topics of vital importance to our childcare and workforce, including family economic mobility, equity, recruitment, and family engagement. In 2020, Start Early was awarded one of four highly influential Office of Head Start National Centers — the National Center for Parent, Family and Community Engagement.

Equitable Systems Create Endless Possibilities for ALL Children and Families

At Start Early, we are focused on driving forward a unified prenatal-to-five system. We have long believed that universal programs, with a common definition of quality, a shared measurement for assessing progress and the ability to scale innovation and best practices can have transformative and sustained impact on millions of children.

We’ve continued to grow our systems-building work and now partner with advocates and public sector leaders in 17 states, promoting more equitable practices and policies that benefit 6.5 million children. We recently supported states and communities in maximizing American Rescue Plan Act funds to advance their early childhood programs and services.

We are grateful for Ballmer Group’s continued support of Start Early’s mission. As champions of early learning, we are committed to helping families with young children thrive. We will continue to deepen our support for early childhood professionals. And we will stay relentlessly focused on driving forward an early learning system that’s seen as an integral part of our nation’s commitment to children, families and future generations.

Ballmer Group is committed to improving economic mobility for children and families in the United States. They fund leaders and organizations that have demonstrated the ability to reshape opportunity and reduce systemic inequities. To learn more, visit: www.BallmerGroup.org.

Our Capitol Ambassador Ollie loves fresh snowfall

(Photo Credit: Pam Toal, Ollie’s mom)

With the 2023 legislative session rapidly approaching, there is a lot of news to share, so let’s get to it!

Getting Organized …

Election Results

Now that every county has certified its election results, we have a picture of the make-up of the 2023-25 Legislature. (Note there is one more procedural step – the Secretary of State must certify the final results by Dec. 8).

Heading into the 2023 session, Democrats maintain a majority in both the State Senate (with Democrats holding 29 seats to Republicans’ 20) as well as the House of Representatives (with a 58-40 edge). For the first time, women hold a majority of seats in the Senate Democratic Caucus. And, given the virtual nature of both the 2021 and 2022 legislative sessions, a large number of lawmakers (including those elected in 2020) have never participated in an in-person legislative session.

Last week, legislators-elect gathered in Olympia for new legislator orientation. Included in the new member class are three former lawmakers returning to legislative service – Senator-Elect Claudia Kauffman from the 47th legislative district; Representative-Elect Beth Doglio from the 22nd legislative district; and Representative-Elect Kristine Reeves from the 30th legislative district.

Newly Elected Members to the House of Representatives

(Photo Credit: Representative-Elect Kristine Reeves Twitter page @RepReevesWA)

Late Breaking Election Results. A number of elections were extremely close, with the declaration of a winner coming down to the wire. As a prime example that every vote counts, a Whatcom County initiative focused on early learning passed by twenty votes (54,290 to 54,270).

Five House Members Moving to Senate. A total of five former House members now hold the title of Senator-Elect: Matt Boehnke from the 8th legislative district; Noel Frame from the 36th legislative district; Drew MacEwen from the 35th legislative district; Sharon Shewmake from the 42nd legislative district; and Javier Valdez from the 46th legislative district.

Four Incumbents Defeated. Only four incumbents lost, with two of those losing to members of their own party. In the Senate, Incumbent Republican Senator Simon Sefnik (who was appointed to fill the term of the late Doug Ericksen) lost to Democrat Sharon Shewmake in the 42nd legislative district. In the House, Republican incumbent Rob Chase lost to Republican Leonard Christian in the 4th legislative district; Republican Incumbent Robert Sutherland lost to Republican Sam Low in the 39th legislative district; and Republican Incumbent Greg Gilday lost to Democratic challenger Clyde Shavers in the 10th legislative district by only 211 votes.

2023 will bring many new faces to Olympia. An exciting time!

Leadership/Committee Jurisdictions and Assignments

The Democratic and Republican caucuses in both the Senate and House of Representatives recently met to decide their leadership and, in some cases, committee jurisdictions and assignments.

Each caucus maintained its top leader, with Senator Andy Billig continuing as Senate Majority Leader; Representative Laurie Jinkins as House Speaker; Senator John Braun as Senate Minority Leader; and Representative J.T. Wilcox as House Minority Leader. In addition, House Democrats selected Representative Joe Fitzgibbon as Majority Leader, replacing the recently retired Pat Sullivan.

The House announced some changes to the subject areas considered by standing committees. Most notably for early learning, Representative Senn’s House Children, Youth and Families Committee has been renamed House Human Services, Youth and Early Learning and its subject matter expanded to include economic assistance programs, developmental disabilities, youth development and children’s mental health.

There does not appear to be subject area changes to the Senate Committees, but the faces on some committees will change. Senator Mark Mullet will now be the lead on the Senate Capital Budget Committee, and Senator-Elect Kauffman will serve as Vice Chair of Senate Human Services Committee. Here is a link to the Senate Democratic news release with a full listing of leadership and committee assignments.

As of this writing, other committee assignments have not been released.

Legislative Committee Days

On Dec. 1 and 2, legislators convened in Olympia for what is referred to as “committee days.” Over the course of two fast-paced days, each standing committee got one, two-hour slot to focus on priority issue(s).

Committee days serve as a reminder of the breadth of issues lawmakers tackle on a daily basis. Committees held work sessions looking at areas from affordable housing to the state’s assistance for Ukrainian refugees to police accountability. These work sessions provide a great opportunity to glean data points from PowerPoints and hear questions from lawmakers that give insight into their thinking on a matter.

Amongst these busy two days, two primary issues stood out. Not surprisingly, the state’s fiscal outlook received attention in a number of committees. The State’s Economist Dr. Steven Lerch presented to both the Senate Ways and Means Committee and the House Finance Committee. (See Revenue Update for our summary of the state’s fiscal outlook).

In the House Appropriations Committee, Budget Coordinator Mary Mulholland presented an excellent preview of the 2023 budget process. This House Appropriations preview may be the most thorough overview of state budgeting I have seen. It is worth a look and a “file away” for reference as the legislative session progresses.

The second issue that received a great deal of attention was child care. The House Children, Youth and Families Committee held a work session that focused exclusively on workforce shortages and challenges in recruitment and retention. This work session included testimony from providers representing the Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP), child care centers and family child care homes describing their current realities.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee held a work session in follow up to the “Blueprint for Recovery from the Washington State Senate Special Committee on Economic Recovery” report. Chaired by Senators David Frockt and Shelly Short, this bi-partisan report included recommendations for the state’s economic recovery following the pandemic. At the top of the recommendation list was the need to increase access to affordable child care and support providers to build capacity. Child Care Aware’s Ryan Pricco was charged with providing the Committee with an update on the status of the child care industry.

All committee day work sessions can be found at TVW.org. Look under “media archives” to find specific sessions.

Capital Gains Update

As we have reported, the Washington State Supreme Court is scheduled to begin hearing oral arguments on the constitutionality of a capital gains tax beginning Jan. 26, 2023.

The state’s Department of Revenue (DOR) is currently pursuing rule making related to tax collections. On Nov. 3, Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a motion with the State Supreme Court asking that the Court allow the DOR to complete its rule making and begin collecting the capital gains tax prior to the Court’s final ruling.

On Nov. 30, the Supreme Court unanimously granted the Attorney General’s request, allowing the DOR to collect the tax prior to the Court’s final ruling.

All of the revenue forecasts include revenue from the capital gains tax.

Revenue and Caseload Forecasts

Recently, state budget writers received updated forecasts that help guide how much money the state has to spend (aka the revenue forecast) as well as its major cost drivers (aka the caseload forecast for entitlement programs). These numbers will inform Governor Inslee’s budget which is expected to be released around mid-December.

Caseload Forecast. Early Childhood Education Assistance Program (ECEAP) and Working Connections Child Care caseloads are both forecasted. For the current fiscal year (SFY 23), ECEAP caseloads are projected to decline by 2540 from the June forecast – a 16.7% drop for an expected caseload of 12,659. The state Fiscal Year 2024 and 2025 caseloads are also expected to be lower than projected in June, with expected caseload of 14,437 and 14,905, respectively. Risks to the ECEAP caseload projections include the lingering impacts of the pandemic, a tight labor market and, “potentially, competition with other early learning options.”

Working Connections Child Care caseload projections are also lower than the June forecast. The projection for the current state fiscal year is a caseload of 24,300 which is 700 families less than what was expected in June. The caseload is expected to rise to 27,392 in SFY 24 and to 28,135 in SFY 25. The forecast notes the pandemic altered work patterns which, in turn, impacted child care utilization, leading to a decline in Working Connections Child Care usage. Additionally, the forecast notes that increased eligibility made possible through the Fair Start for Kids Act should impact caseloads with more families participating.

Revenue Forecast. In short, because revenues did not slow as quickly as projected, the state’s overall revenue is expected to be higher than the September projections by $762 million in our current 2021-23 biennium and $681 million for the upcoming 2023-25 biennium.

While these numbers represent good news, the Governor’s Budget Director David Schumacher and legislative members of the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council emphasized that many moving pieces could complicate the construction of the biennial budget. Director Schumacher stated the budget situation is much tighter than the revenue alone indicates.

Importantly, the forecast council meeting showed that many caseloads are rising, which generate additional costs for the state. In the K-12 system, for example, inflationary cost increases alone will cost $1.5-$2 billion.

Although the base budget does not assume a recession, the state Economist’s “pessimistic” budget outlook (which Dr. Lerch said is much more likely than his optimistic forecast) has a decline of $5.3 billion in revenue for the 2023-25 biennium.

House Appropriations Chair Timm Ormsby noted that in addition to caseload and inflationary costs, the Legislature will need to consider the major workforce challenges “all around” as well as pressing needs in housing.

A few other items of note:

• The revenue projections assume the State Supreme Court will uphold the new capital gains tax and assumes revenue.
• The budget grew 20.4% between 2019-21 and 21-23 (largely due to COVID-19 funding) and is only projected to grow 3.5% between 2021-23 and 2023-25.
• While real estate is projected to be on the decline (impacting real estate tax revenue), consumer spending has been higher than expected and, with higher inflation, items are more expensive and the state accumulates more sales tax.
• Downside risks to the revenue forecast include: increasing interest rates could lead to recession, rise in technology sector layoffs, continued high inflation, uncertainty around the Russia-Ukraine war and potential rail and port strikes.

Maternal Infant Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) Reauthorization

On Friday, Dec. 2, the U.S. House of Representatives passed HR 8876, the Jackie Walorski Maternal and Child Home Visiting Reauthorization Act of 2022, by a vote of 390-26. The entire Washington state Congressional delegation voted in favor of the bill.

The next step is the U.S. Senate, so stay tuned.

Start Early Washington Resources

A friendly reminder that the Start Early Washington State Policy Resources page contains a number of policy resources, including our organizational 2023 budget and policy priorities, the Home Visiting Advocacy Coalition’s 2023 budget ask as well as a new resource highlighting challenges facing the home visiting workforce.

As the legislative session progresses, our resource page will include weekly bill trackers along with budget and other analyses.

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Raising a child is one of life’s most pivotal roles. Parents often turn to each other for support during the critical stages of their child’s development, but not all parents have access to the resources they need.

For Alex, home visiting helped bridge the missing pieces of her Native heritage and supported her in reclaiming family traditions stripped from her through her great-grandfather’s U.S. Native boarding school experience.

Alex received home visiting services for the first time when she was pregnant with her oldest son, Mateo. But growing up, home visiting was already a part of her life as her mother was a tribal home visitor and a passionate advocate for early learning. Inspired by her mother, Alex felt she was destined to work in early learning, yet it wasn’t until motherhood that she intimately understood the precious rewards of home visiting support.

“Learning about the growth and development of my baby from my home visitor was fascinating! And that feeling like I’m succeeding as a first-time parent took me a long way.” Alex experienced a substantial shift in knowledge and confidence through her relationship with a home visitor; she was determined to support families in a similar way.

Bridging the Missing Pieces

The concept of home visiting is not new to Native families; Alex shared that home visiting is one of the most traditional things a Native family can do. Its critical process passes down knowledge and skills to preserve generational culture and heritage. In addition, home visiting creates a strong sense of community where the intrinsic needs of a child – during a foundational time in life – are addressed through trusted partnerships and shared goals.

Through home visiting, Alex established a special connection with local tribes as well as her own. Alex is an enrolled member of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska but lives and works in Washington state. Connecting with other members of the Haida Tribe and creating a sense of community was not easy so far away from Alaska. However, her home visitor was able to help connect her to local resources and inspire her to the place where she is now — celebrating her cultural heritage and reclaiming family traditions lost through her great-grandfather’s boarding school experience.

Native children were forcibly removed from their families and placed in government operated boarding schools between 1869 and the 1960s. The schools used “systematic militarized and identity-alteration methodologies,” to force white assimilation. They changed children’s names, cut long hair, and prohibited any use of Native languages and cultural practices — or else they faced brutal punishment. – “All the hurt and the rage: Elders recall trauma of Native boarding schools.”

Alex’s great-grandfather had 17 siblings. He was displaced from his family when he was taken to a boarding school – never to be reunited. As a result, her family lost a great deal of their cultural heritage and traditions; Alex knows very little about her native language, songs, dances, or traditional medicines because her great-grandfather was deprived of his cultural identity.

Instead of a rich sense of cultural identity, the historical trauma of Alex’s great-grandfather’s experiences were passed down through her aunts, uncles and mother. For Alex, home visiting support provided a way to heal from this generational pain by offering resources to traditional activities and connection to a shared community. Home visiting helped Alex find a new sense of hope and resiliency. In realizing that she was experiencing the collective intergenerational trauma of losing language, culture and identity, Alex now has a path forward for her family and tools to support other families experiencing generational trauma.

Alex’s great-grandfather, George Nix, was Alaska’s first professional football player (1926)

Near@Home is a great resource to help home visitors have difficult conversations, particularly when reflecting on times of trauma. When home visitors are equipped with tools to tackle difficult conversations, they can safely, respectfully and effectively discuss ACES (adverse childhood experiences), trauma, and other hard topics with parents by focusing on hope, respect and resilience.

Communities of Practice for Home Visitors

Communities of practice are another support Start Early Washington facilitates for home visiting professionals. Our community of practice, “Supporting Native Families,” aims to provide opportunities for professionals to understand tribal communities better and walk away with strategies and ideas to better serve Native families in Washington.

Washington state is home to 29 federally recognized tribes. Each tribal nation is uniquely different, including the size of the reservation, number of citizens and financial resources. Similarly, they each have unique cultural identifiers and shared experiences.

With this in mind, there’s a lot for home visitors to learn when engaging with Native families. Families feel more connected and appreciate when home visitors make the time to understand family culture and dynamics.

“I think all home visitors want to achieve that goal — to understand each member of the family. But when families know that someone wants to learn about their culture and identity, when someone takes an interest in what’s important to the family and genuinely supports the caregiver and child — that’s empowering.” – Alex

Visit our page to learn more about home visiting work in Washington and supports provided by Start Early Washington’s home visiting team.

(Photo Credit: Erica Hallock)

2022 General Election

What do we know so far? While the news is predominantly focused on national races, we are closely following the results here in Washington state. With an entirely vote-by-mail system in our state, it can take days to know the outcomes, especially if a large number of voters submitted their ballots on election day.

The Washington state Secretary of State has a website where you can track the results of federal, state and local races. The website notes when updated numbers are due to be released, voter turnout and the number of ballots counted as well as those left to be counted. County officials certify their results on Nov. 29 and the Secretary of State will certify final results by Dec. 8.

What are we watching? As a reminder, the current breakdown of the Washington State Legislature sits at 28 Democrats and 21 Republicans in the State Senate and 57 Democrats and 41 Republicans in the House of Representatives.

Roughly 24 hours after the release of the first results, here are the initial takeaways:

Tight Races. As of 5 p.m. Nov. 9, the tightest contests can be found in the following races:

• 10th Legislative District, position one (Island County and parts of Skagit and Snohomish counties): Democratic challenger Clyde Shavers leads Republican incumbent Greg Gilday 53%-47%
• 26th Legislative District (parts of Kitsap and Pierce counties): State Senate Democratic Incumbent Emily Randall holds a 52%-48% lead over Republican challenger Jesse Young and, to fill Rep. Young’s open House seat, Democrat Adison Richards leads Republican Spencer Hutchins 51%-49%
• 42nd Legislative District (parts of Whatcom County): all of the Democratic candidates hold slim leads over their Republican challengers. State Senate candidate Democrat Sharon Shewmake is leading the incumbent Republican Simon Sefnik 51%-49%. In the House of Representatives position one, incumbent Democrat Alicia Rule holds a 52%-48% lead over Republican challenger Tawsha Thompson. And, finally, in the open House of Representatives position two race, Democrat Jim Timmons holds a 51%-49% lead over Republican Dan Johnson.

Vulnerable Incumbents. Initial results indicate four Republican incumbents may be vulnerable. This includes:

• Republican Rob Chase in the 4th District (parts of Spokane County) is trailing his Republican challenger Leonard Christian 51%-47%
• As noted above, Republican Incumbent Greg Gilday is trailing his Democratic Challenger in the House of Representatives position one seat
• In the 39th District (parts of King, Skagit and Snohomish counties), Republican Incumbent Robert Sutherland is trailing his Republican challenger Sam Low by a wide margin of 55%-42%
• Republican Incumbent Simon Sefnik, who was appointed to fill the term of the late Senator Doug Ericksen in the 42nd District, is trailing Democratic challenger Sharon Shewmake by 51%-49%

As more votes come in, these results could change.

Whatcom County Early Learning Initiative. Initial results show that the Whatcom County’s Children Initiative is failing 51%-49%.

Stay tuned for another “Notes” focused on election results.

Capital Gains Tax Status Update

The Washington State Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of a capital gains tax Jan. 26, 2023. Oral arguments will be held in Tumwater because the Temple of Justice, where the Court usually meets, is closed for a two-year renovation.

On March 1, 2022, Douglas County Superior Court judge Brian Huber ruled the capital gains tax unconstitutional. Following this action, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson asked the state Supreme Court to accept the case on direct appeal, to which the Supreme Court agreed.

On Nov. 3, Attorney General Ferguson filed a motion with the Supreme Court asking the Court to allow the state’s Department of Revenue (DOR) to start collecting the tax before the Court makes its final ruling. DOR is currently pursuing rule-making related to tax collections. The Court will consider the Attorney General’s motion at a conference on Nov. 29.

As a reminder, the capital gains tax is intended to provide significant funding for early learning and the Fair Start for Kids Act, specifically. This Start Early Washington resource identifies investments in the Fair Start for Kids Act that were initially supported with short-term federal COVID-19 dollars with the intent for capital gains tax revenue to serve as the funding source once the short-term federal funds conclude.

Fair Start for Kids Act Resource

As we prepare to enter another two-year budget development process (one with a tightening fiscal picture), Start Early Washington put together a resource laying out which budgetary components of the Fair Start for Kids Act are laid out in statute and which are deemed “subject to appropriations.”

It is important to remember the funding of all policies is ultimately determined through the budget process, and while it is preferable to have specific funding levels set out in statute, the Legislature can change statute to fund at a different level – or not at all.

This resource breaks down which parts of the Fair Start for Kids Act are in statute, which are subject to appropriation and what this all means.

State Budget Preparations

Our last couple of “Notes From Olympia” have focused on summarizing the budget requests (known as decision packages) submitted by the Department of Children, Youth and Families (DCYF) to the Governor’s Office of Financial Management (OFM) for inclusion in the Governor’s budget. Additional resources are available through DCYF’s Government Affairs webpage which has been updated to include summaries of some of the agency’s decision packages.

Staff at OFM are busy reviewing and building the Governor’s budget which is expected to be released around mid-December. The state’s next revenue forecast will be released Nov. 18. The status of the state’s revenue picture will impact what is (and is not) included in the Governor’s budget proposal. The last revenue forecast in September projected a sharp decline in available revenue for the upcoming 2023-25 biennium. Many eyes will be on the Nov. 18 revenue forecast to see if the projection continues to decrease.

On Nov. 4, the state’s Economic and Revenue Forecast Council met to receive an economic review from the state’s economist, Dr. Steve Lerch. Not surprisingly, most of Dr. Lerch’s report focused on concerns about the potential for an upcoming recession and the impacts of high inflation on our state’s economy.

Legislative Committee Days

Each year in late November/early December, the Legislature holds “Committee Days,” where members of the existing committees meet and hold work sessions on issues likely to garner attention in the upcoming legislative session. The event is timed to occur before the “legislative session freeze” commences, wherein elected officials are barred from fundraising. This means that committee days also include a hearty number of evening fundraisers.

This year, the Senate and House of Representatives are scheduled to meet Dec. 1 and 2 in person, and the two days are jam-packed with legislative committee work sessions. I view this as a test to gauge how ill-prepared I am for a return to walking on marble, dressing professionally and being social for an extended period of time. (High likelihood I will fail this test.)

Of note for early learning, the House Children, Youth and Families Committee will hold a work session at 1 p.m. on Dec. 1 focusing exclusively on early learning recruitment issues. Also on Dec. 1, the Senate Ways and Means Committee will hold a work session at 3:30 p.m. that looks at the state’s revenue and economic picture as well as implementation of the state’s COVID-19 recovery plan including a segment on how child care providers utilized stabilization funds. Finally, the first will also include a work session for the House Appropriations Committee that includes a 2023 Session Budget Preview.

While Committee Days will see a return to in-person work, TVW will continue to stream all the committee meetings, so you can catch them live or by accessing the media archives at tvw.org. It is important to note that unlike committee hearings, work session presenters are by invite-only, so the public cannot testify during these committee day activities. However, when the legislative committees pivot to bill hearings come January, public testimony will be back, and work is underway to continue to incorporate the availability of virtual testimony.

Child Care Center Coming to Capitol Campus

This fall, the state’s Department of Enterprise Services announced it selected KinderCare Learning Centers to operate the second child care center in Olympia to serve state employees and their families. Located right across from the Capitol campus at Maple Park Avenue SW and Capitol Way South, the center hopes to open soon and will serve children from six weeks to five years old.

I saw the center recently in Olympia and it looks ready to welcome children!

There’s been a national discussion about increasing our aptitude in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM)/science technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM). America is underperforming other industrial nations, and these areas are increasingly playing a critical role in career success.

Much of the conversation focuses on improvements in the middle and high school years. But we can begin building STEM/STEAM skills much earlier than that—as soon as a child starts speaking.