This bill amends existing Washington law in chapter 43.216 RCW governing Working Connections Child Care and child care subsidy rates, adds new statutory sections in that chapter, and repeals RCW 43.216.827 (Prospective payments). It changes eligibility and procedural rules: beginning November 1, 2024 the department must treat households that are members of an assistance unit eligible for or receiving basic food benefits (federal SNAP or state food assistance) as meeting the household income eligibility requirements for Working Connections Child Care, and the department is prohibited from considering the citizenship status of an applicant’s or consumer’s child when determining eligibility. The bill also states that certain income eligibility requirements do not apply to households covered under RCW 43.216.808 and 43.216.814. The bill directs the Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) to adopt implementing rules (including an income phase-out period) and to use the completed child care cost methodology under RCW 43.216.829 to recommend subsidy rates. It declares legislative intent to increase subsidy rates toward the full cost of high quality care and sets explicit market-rate percentile targets: base rates must reach the 85th percentile of market beginning July 1, 2026 based on the market rate survey published before May 20, 2025, and must reach the 75th percentile beginning July 1, 2027, with bargaining required between the state and the exclusive representative for family child care providers over implementation. The bill establishes new market rate survey validity criteria effective with the survey published by June 1, 2028 (minimum provider response rates and maintenance thresholds) and directs DCYF to evaluate options to support access to affordable health insurance for licensed or certified providers. It also affirms that the act does not diminish family child care providers’ collective bargaining rights under RCW 41.56.153. The bill changes payment procedures for subsidized care: DCYF must adopt temporary center-specific rules by October 1, 2026 allowing licensed or certified child care centers that accept subsidy payments to claim daily subsidy payments by attendance bands (16+ days, 9–15 days, 1–8 days) with half-day or partial-day rates; that center-specific provision expires July 1, 2027. A permanent rule added to chapter 43.216 requires licensed or certified child care providers (not limited to centers) to be able to claim daily subsidy payments using the same attendance-band structure and half-day/partial-day rates, with that provision taking effect July 1, 2027. Beginning July 1, 2026, the bill prohibits providers from receiving a subsidy base rate different from the rate for the child care subsidy rate region where the provider is located. The bill’s effective dates include immediate effect for most sections (for preservation of public peace, health, safety, or support of state government), section-specific dates noted above, and repeal of RCW 43.216.827 upon enactment; however, the extracted text shows stricken passages and other drafting marks, the full prior and resulting statutory structure and the detailed content of the referenced cost methodology and the effects of the repeal are not included in the provided facts.

If enacted, many families who get federal SNAP or state food assistance will automatically meet the income test for Working Connections Child Care starting November 1, 2024, so more low-income households are likely to qualify and enroll without extra income paperwork; the department cannot deny eligibility based on a child’s citizenship. Child care providers licensed or certified should see higher and more standardized subsidy payments: the state must lift base rates to the specified market percentiles on the schedule in the bill, require providers to be paid the rate for their region, and move to attendance-band daily payments (temporary for centers then a permanent rule for all licensed/certified providers), which will likely increase provider revenue and change how payments are claimed while increasing state subsidy costs. The Department of Children, Youth, and Families must write rules and use a child care cost study to set rates, and family provider representatives will bargain over implementation of increases; this creates new administrative responsibilities for DCYF and potential collective bargaining processes. Key details that affect how big the cost increases and transitions will be—such as the market rate survey and cost-methodology specifics, the practical effects of repealing the prior “prospective payments” law, and some timing and sequencing between the temporary and permanent payment rules—are not included in the extracted text and remain unclear.