New Washington bill aims to end fees for child care providers

Dana Christiansen, owner of Tree Hill Learning Centers in Vancouver, Wash., and Camas, is struggling to balance rising costs with the goal of paying her staff a living wage and keeping her facility running. Christiansen says raising prices for parents is necessary but challenging, especially when many families are already stretched thin.

“A small change like removing licensing fees could make a big difference,” Christiansen said. “It would show the Legislature supports us and allows us to focus on what matters — caring for children.” A July 2024 study from the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) estimates that 323,000 children in Washington ages 5 and under need care because both parents work, but only 29% are served by licensed child care. For school-age children, the study estimates that 456,000 need care, but only 12% are using a licensed provider. Senate Bill 5130, sponsored by Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Auburn, aims to eliminate licensing fees for child care providers, a move Christiansen believes would help reduce costs for businesses and expand access for families. The fees, though, currently generate about $2 million annually for the state, and removing them would require replacing that revenue from the general fund. The bill is set for an executive session in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education on January 29. In Washington, child care licensing fees are annual costs based on the number of children a center is licensed to care for. For family home child care the figure is $30 per year, and for centers it starts at $125 for the first 12 children plus $12 per additional child. Larger centers like Tree Hill, which care for over 100 children, pay higher fees. Christiansen estimates her center’s licensing fees at $1,500 annually. “It’s kind of a situation where every little bit helps. These centers really need it, as they’re struggling to keep up with the rising costs,” Christiansen said. “It’s not a huge amount of money, but it’s something that can make a difference. Every little bit helps.” Rising child care costs and impact on families In 2023, child care costs remained high for many families in Washington. The average annual price of center-based childcare was $20,370 for an infant and $17,976 for a toddler. These costs often exceed the Department of Health and Human Services’ recommendation that families spend no more than 7% of their income on child care. For a married couple earning the median income of $134,049, center-based child care for just one infant would use 15.2% of their annual income. For single-parent families earning the median income of $41,994, the same care would consume a staggering 48.5% of their income. “Most of the families who leave do so because one parent stays home, as their salary doesn’t exceed their tuition costs,” Christiansen said. According to Amy Anderson of the Washington Child Care Centers Association, Washington state and the District of Columbia are among the regions with the nation’s highest child care costs. “I just think that the system is not set up to support parents or kids, and I truly don’t know how people make it work,” said Natalie Johnson, a parent of children who attend Tree Hill. “If we were starting our family now, like when we had my kids, we couldn’t afford child care. One of us would not be working, you know.” Johnson is a mother of two: a 4-year-old son in full-time child care and a 7-year-old daughter in second grade in after-school care. Her daughter has been in full-time child care for most of her life. Before moving to Camas in 2020, Johnson’s home was 45 minutes from her daughter’s child care provider. When she became pregnant with her son, her family could no longer afford the child care their daughter was attending, so they decided to relocate closer to more affordable child care. They ended up at Tree Hill. “We couldn’t afford it at the time. Even when we signed my son up, we had no idea how we would make it work. We only got in at that time, I think, because of the pandemic — some people had dropped out,” Johnson. “Now, it’s nearly impossible to get into the good places. I think they open their waitlist once a year, for about a week, and if you don’t get in, you’re out.” Christiansen says staffing costs account for more than 50% of the budget at her facility. Additional expenses include food, utilities, insurance, curriculum, toys, supplies, and building maintenance. “I don’t think we’re in a position to lower our costs,” Christiansen said. “Every single year, my goal is to avoid raising tuition, but when you look at the numbers, we’re running a business. We need an emergency fund and other financial safeguards, so we often find ourselves having to raise tuition.” The “Fair Start for Kids Act” and other legislative efforts Despite legislative efforts like the Fair Start for Kids Act of 2021, which promised gradual increases to provider rates and expanded family eligibility, the future of such initiatives remains uncertain due to the state’s budget shortfalls. The Fair Start for Kids Act represented a $1.1 billion commitment to making child care and early learning more affordable for families in Washington. It aimed to expand access, cap copays, and provide additional resources to support both child care providers and workers. This initiative helped establish a more integrated system of child care and early learning, making them both more accessible and affordable while ensuring that providers and workers have the support they need to deliver high-quality care. Alongside SB 5130, which proposes waiving child care licensing fees, other bills proposed this session, such as House Bill 1350, aim to modernize child care reimbursement rates to better reflect the actual costs of providing high-quality care. By adjusting reimbursement rates for inflation and increasing operational costs, this bill seeks to make child care more financially sustainable for providers while maintaining quality care for families relying on subsidies. Meanwhile, House Bill 1314 and Senate Bill 5297 propose substantial investments to expand early-learning capacity by allocating funds to the Early Learning Facilities Fund. These investments aim to increase the availability of early-learning spaces, particularly in underserved areas, ensuring that all families have access to high-quality early-education opportunities. If SB 5130 passes, child care licensing will still exist, but providers will no longer be required to pay licensing fees — these costs would instead be covered by the Department of Children, Youth, and Families. Licensing remains a crucial process to ensure safety standards are met. Agencies must still apply for new licenses or renewals, and DCYF will continue to review applications to ensure compliance with all requirements. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington temporarily suspended child care licensing fees from July 1, 2021, to July 1, 2023, as part of broader efforts to support child care providers. This initiative, alongside one-time grants, aimed to stabilize the child care provider market during a challenging period. According to DCYF, despite the suspension of fees, there was no significant increase in licensing applications during that time, likely due to external factors such as the challenges brought on by the pandemic. “We saw that as a value-add to the system. We also saw it as an efficiency in our administration of government, that those licensing fees were collected. It took a step off our tasks, so to speak. During that time, we felt, and heard, that it had a positive impact,” said Alison Krutsinger, DCYF public affairs director While DCYF does not currently take a position on the proposed bill to permanently waive licensing fees, the agency has previously expressed support for the concept. However, they are unable to predict whether eliminating the fees would significantly impact the number of licensing applications.

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