WashingtonWashington board studies child care jobs and recommends work standards
Washington law provides for a board to study child care jobs, hear public comments, and recommend employment standards, beginning with staffing and worker retention.
What it does
A state board must study child care jobs and recommend employment standards. It must first focus on staffing, hiring, keeping workers, and staff-to-child ratios.
The governor appoints a board that includes workers, employers, parents, training representatives, and state agency leaders. The labor department director must call its first meeting.
The board must hold public hearings and publish reports on its findings and recommendations, including how members voted on each recommendation.
Argument forWorkers, employers, and parents could share information at public hearings, helping the board develop recommendations based on child care job conditions.
Argument againstThe board could use public staff time and money to study child care jobs and prepare recommendations that do not themselves set binding standards.
More detail
The board must study child care work and recommend employment standards to the labor department director. The board studies workers providing care at licensed or certified providers. Certain private schools and their employees are excluded. Recommendations may cover the state, specific child care jobs, or regions. The board cannot recommend rules about facility licensing or standards less protective of workers than other applicable laws or rules, or earlier board standards. The board must meet quarterly. Its initial investigations, hearings, data gathering, and recommendations must prioritize staffing, recruitment, retention, and staffing ratios.
The governor must appoint the board, and the labor department director must convene its first meeting. The governor appoints representatives of child care workers and employers, including family child care providers, along with the other listed representatives. Members include child care worker and employer representatives, including a small business with 15 or fewer employees, as well as parent, training, and state agency representatives. Six members must vote in favor for the board to approve recommendations. Initial appointments were due by September 1, 2026, and the first meeting was due by October 1, 2026.
The board must hold public hearings, gather information, and publish reports with its findings and recommendations. The board may consider pay and benefit information, worker and employer input, and information from government sources. The board must allow a member's minority report to be included if that member requests it. Reports must show each recommendation's votes for and against, including how each board member voted. The reports must be made public on the labor department's website.
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Where it stands
- Introduced
- Passed House
- Passed Senate
- To Governor
- Became Law
Looking ahead
No hearings or votes scheduled.
History
- 2026
- Mar 23Effective date 6/11/2026.Latest
- Mar 23Chapter 148, 2026 Laws.Major
- Mar 23Governor Bob Ferguson signed.Became Law
- Mar 12Delivered to Governor.To Governor
- Mar 11President signed.Major
- Mar 11Speaker signed.Passed Senate
- Mar 9Passed final passage; yeas, 68; nays, 27; absent, 0; excused, 3.Passed House
- Vote recorded Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#2). Result: pass.Lower
- Mar 9House concurred in Senate amendments.
- Mar 4Third reading, passed; yeas, 28; nays, 19; absent, 0; excused, 2.Minor
- Vote recorded 3rd Reading & Final Passage as Amended by the Senate (#9). Result: pass.Upper
- Mar 4Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.Minor
- Mar 4Floor amendment(s) adopted.
- Mar 4Held on calendar.
- Feb 27Placed on second reading by Rules Committee.Minor
- Feb 24Passed to Rules Committee for second reading.
- Feb 23Minority; do not pass.Minor
- Feb 23LC - Majority; do pass.Minor
- Feb 23Executive action taken in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 10:30 AM.
- Feb 20Public hearing in the Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce at 8:00 AM.
- Feb 17First reading, referred to Labor & Commerce.Minor
- Feb 13Third reading, passed; yeas, 63; nays, 29; absent, 0; excused, 6.Minor
- Vote recorded 3rd Reading & Final Passage (#42). Result: pass.Lower
- Feb 13Rules suspended. Placed on Third Reading.Minor
- Feb 132nd substitute bill substituted (APP 26).Major
- Feb 12Rules Committee relieved of further consideration. Placed on second reading.Minor
- Feb 9Referred to Rules 2 Review.Minor
- Feb 9Minority; without recommendation.Minor
- Feb 9Minority; do not pass.Minor
- Feb 9APP - Majority; 2nd substitute bill be substituted, do pass.Major
- Feb 9Executive action taken in the House Committee on Appropriations at 10:30 AM.
- Feb 6Public hearing in the House Committee on Appropriations at 10:30 AM.
- Jan 12By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.
- 2025
- Feb 12Referred to Appropriations.Minor
- Feb 7Minority; without recommendation.Minor
- Feb 7Minority; do not pass.Minor
- Feb 7LAWS - Majority; 1st substitute bill be substituted, do pass.Major
- Feb 7Executive action taken in the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards at 10:30 AM.
- Jan 15Public hearing in the House Committee on Labor & Workplace Standards at 8:00 AM.
- Jan 13First reading, referred to Labor & Workplace Standards.Minor
- 2024
- Dec 23Prefiled for introduction.Introduced
Economy & Jobs