child care
Washington lawmakers begin to drop bills ahead of upcoming session
Providing striking workers with unemployment checks. Protecting unspent gift card balances for consumers. Keeping the old name for a new state building. These are among the matters Washington lawmakers are teeing up for debate in the 2024 session. Legislators on Monday could begin pre-filing bills for introduction on the session’s first day, Jan. 8. To […]
Looking for child care in Washington? A new online marketplace aims to help
Parents across Washington may soon be able to search in one place online for child care openings in their neighborhoods. Kinside, a Seattle-based startup, has launched a website where families can find real-time prices and openings at child care centers. Currently, the program only allows people to search for openings in the Seattle area, but […]
State hauls in nearly $900M from first year of capital gains tax
Washington’s new capital gains tax brought in $890 million in its first year, state officials said Wednesday. Those proceeds, garnered from the state’s wealthiest residents, will be funneled into early learning and child care programs, and to school districts in need of dollars for construction and renovation projects. “The new funds could not come at […]
Washington may avoid child care cliff, but many providers are still struggling
Washington is unlikely to see a huge drop in child care services even as federal pandemic aid supporting providers dries up. Expiration of the funds led to nationwide concerns that millions of children could lose care. About $24 billion from the American Rescue Plan Act was distributed to states to help keep child care centers […]
Women workers could bear economic brunt as federal child care funding ends
A huge chunk of pandemic relief funding that kept child care programs afloat for the past few years is set to run out Saturday, and policy advocates say the economic impact will be profound, with the ripple effect hurting labor force participation and consumer spending at a time when the country is still trying to […]
Democrats push to extend federal child care grant program
WASHINGTON — Congressional Democrats introduced a bill Wednesday to extend funding for five years for a pandemic-era child care subsidy program set to expire at the end of the month. The legislation would extend the child care stabilization grant program, which Congress established in 2021 to help child care providers meet additional costs during the […]
Business leaders hit the road to press for more child care investment
Washington business leaders this week are traveling the state with progressive Democrats and early learning advocates to drive home the need for more resources for child care. Members of the Association of Washington Business and the current and former lawmakers embarked Monday on a statewide bus tour to meet with child care providers and raise […]
Farm families are struggling to grow their businesses in child care deserts
Kerissa and Charlie Payne are beginning farmers living their dream of raising two daughters on a farm in Central Ohio. By conventional measures, their livestock farm, Covey Rise, is a success. Yet, below the surface, the challenge of finding quality affordable child care has kept their business from growing and reaching its full potential. “It […]
The state’s child care gap proves tough to solve
Growing up, Shannon Edwards watched as her mom, a child care provider, was often forced to choose between maintaining her own income and keeping her center affordable for families. Now a preschool teacher herself, Edwards understands how unfair that choice is. Still, providers make it everyday. “It takes a lot of patience and a certain […]