This bill adds a new section to chapter 43.216 RCW to create an eligibility pathway for Washington’s Working Connections Child Care program for applicants or household members employed by a “small business” (defined as independently owned with 50 or fewer employees), subject to the program’s other requirements. It reenacts and amends RCW 43.216.802 and amends RCW 43.216.810 to set specific household income eligibility thresholds, timing, and rulemaking requirements, and to continue a time-limited apprenticeship pathway for the first 12 months of enrollment in a state registered apprenticeship. Under the changes, household income at application must be at or below 60% of state median income under subsection (2), with expansions above 60% up to 75% delayed to begin July 1, 2029, and a further expansion to 85% delayed to begin July 1, 2031 and made subject to appropriation for RCW 43.216.802(4). The department must adopt an income phase-out period by rule and must adopt copayment models for these new pathways that align with copayments for households at the same income levels under RCW 43.216.804. Beginning November 1, 2024, households that are assistance units eligible for or receiving basic food benefits under federal SNAP or the state food assistance program are to be treated as meeting the household income eligibility requirements. The department is prohibited from considering a child’s citizenship status when determining eligibility. The apprenticeship pathway mirrors the same income thresholds and copayment alignment for the first 12 months of enrollment. Legally, the bill creates a new program eligibility pathway and makes statutory amendments that change eligibility bands and effective dates (a substantive eligibility expansion and delay), imposes procedural rulemaking duties on the department, requires copayment alignment, and ties later expansions to available appropriations. The act is declared necessary for immediate preservation of public peace, health, or safety and is effective July 1, 2025. The text provided does not name which state department is responsible, does not show the new section number added to chapter 43.216 RCW, and does not include appropriation amounts or full prior statutory context, so those details are uncertain from the extracted facts.

If enacted, more families would become eligible for Working Connections Child Care: employees of independently owned small businesses (50 or fewer employees) and people in the first 12 months of a state-registered apprenticeship could qualify for subsidies at higher income thresholds (initially up to 75% of state median income, and potentially up to 85% by July 1, 2031 if the Legislature provides funding). Households receiving SNAP or state food assistance will be treated as meeting the program’s income test starting November 1, 2024, so those families are likely to gain faster access to child care help. Copayments for these new eligibility groups will be set to match the copayment level for households at the same income under current program rules. The unnamed state department that runs the program will need to write rules, set a matching copayment model, and create an income phase-out period, which will require administrative work and potentially additional budget authority; the higher 85% threshold is explicitly tied to future appropriations, so expanded costs to the state and to providers depend on the Legislature funding that change. Key details are missing from the excerpt—specifically which department is responsible, the new statutory section number, and the appropriation amounts—so the timing and scale of implementation beyond the July 1, 2025 effective date remain uncertain.