This bill adds a new section to chapter 43.31 RCW to create a pilot program, subject to available appropriations, that pays incentives to licensed or certified child care providers who care for children of paid and volunteer first responders. The department must award grants to local jurisdictions to fund those incentive payments, prioritizing providers who offer care during nonstandard work hours, on short notice, or when a child is ill. “First responders” is defined to include firefighters, law enforcement officers, public safety telecommunicators, licensed emergency medical personnel, and certain human service professionals who respond to behavioral health crises or complex medical needs. The department must select at least four local jurisdictions with specified geographic distribution, require each selected jurisdiction to submit a plan showing an equal match of nonstate resources (which may include future revenue from RCW 82.14.345), and report to the governor and legislative committees by November 1, 2029 on recruitment, retention, and discernable job satisfaction outcomes. The bill also amends RCW 82.14.345 to allow a qualified city or county to authorize a 0.1 percent sales and use tax, following specified procedures, with the revenue to be spent on “criminal justice purposes.” The statute explicitly states that criminal justice purposes may include incentive payments to child care providers for children of first responders under the new pilot section and lists examples of allowable uses (including domestic violence services, public defender staffing, diversion and reentry programs, community placements for juvenile offenders, alternative response and mental health crisis response programs, and the recovery navigator program). A “qualified city or county” is defined by recent voter history regarding certain taxes. The bill creates documentation, verification, deficiency resolution, and enforcement procedures involving the criminal justice training commission (with consultation from the attorney general) and the state treasurer, including timing rules for deficiency notices (45 days) and a penalty mechanism that authorizes the treasurer to withhold $100,000 per month of tax distributions if deficiencies are not cured within 180 days. It sets timelines for local adoption or voter authorization of the 0.1 percent tax (legislative authorization by June 30, 2028, or voter approval at a primary or general election), requires annual local reporting of expenditures to the Association of Washington Cities or the Washington State Association of Counties, and requires those associations to compile and report expenditure information to the legislature by December 1, 2025 and annually thereafter. Several implementation details are not provided in the extracted text: the specific state department named in chapter 43.31 RCW is not identified here, the new section number is not given, appropriation amounts for the pilot are not stated, the exact geographic definitions for “north,” “south,” and each side of the Cascade mountains are not specified, the specific requirements in RCW 43.101.540 that affect eligibility are not included, the mechanics linking RCW 82.14.345 revenue to matching funds are not fully detailed, and the particular legislative committees to receive reports are not named.

If enacted, the state would stand up a pilot program (if money is appropriated) that pays local jurisdictions to give extra incentive payments to licensed child care centers and family home providers who take care of children of paid and volunteer first responders, especially for nonstandard hours, last-minute needs, and when a child is sick. That means first responders are likely to have more childcare options for difficult shifts, and participating providers could receive new revenue for offering those services; the state must pick at least four jurisdictions across specified regions and will require matching nonstate funds from those jurisdictions, with a report on recruitment, retention, and job satisfaction due November 1, 2029. Cities and counties can choose to raise a 0.1% sales tax for criminal justice purposes (which can include these childcare incentives) by June 30, 2028 or by voter approval, creating a potential local funding source but also new reporting and compliance duties. Jurisdictions must document spending annually to local municipal associations, face review by the criminal justice training commission with the attorney general consulted, and risk the state treasurer withholding $100,000 per month of the tax revenue if required deficiencies aren’t fixed within 180 days. Important details are missing from the text provided—most notably which state department runs the pilot, how much money will be appropriated, and exact rules for matching and geographic selection—so the scale and timing of these practical effects remain uncertain.