The House and Senate shift back to committee activity after an intense week of working in their full chambers to move bills over to the opposite house for consideration. This week, budget writers eagerly await the latest economic report. Meanwhile, we are already getting a good idea of how tough it will be for our program and policy priorities.

Senate Passes Legislation Curtailing Child Care Investments
The expected budget shortfall likely means postponing full implementation of the Fair Start for Kids Act as evidenced by the Senate passage of S.B. 5752 which delays Early Childhood Education Assistance Program entitlement, pushes out income eligibility expansion for Working Connections Child Care while increasing family co-payments for the program. This is expected to save $800 million over the next biennium.

Senate Republicans Endorse Community Reinvestment Funding
Senate Republicans, led by their ranking minority member on the Senate Ways and Means Committee Sen. Chris Gildon (R-Puyallup), have proposed a 2025-27 budget at about $4 billion lower than the latest Governor proposed option. One of the key differences is the GOP proposal is the treatment of employee compensation - eliminating the state employee furloughs while replacing negotiated pay raises with one-time bonuses. The proposal also freezes child care rates and eliminates the ECEAP entitlement mandate. However, the proposal includes $200 million for the Community Reinvestment Project. The House and Senate Democrats are expected to release their budget proposals next Monday.

House Version of Rent Stabilization Bill Gets Another Public Hearing
The Senate Committee on Housing will take public testimony on H.B. 1217 which would limit annual increases for most rentals to seven percent. We’ve been down this road before though. In fact, the same committee heard and approved a similar bill last month.  The House passed the bill last week after a couple dozen floor amendments were ruled out of order. House floor vote was 53 to 42.

Continued Push for Imagination Library Funding
With so many programs competing for fewer dollars, relatively new programs such as the Imagination Library of Washington could suffer from a budgeting philosophy of “last in, first out.”  For the past couple of years, the state has supported local Imagination Library programs in Washington by matching 50 percent of the monthly book and mailing expenses. Cutting state support will shift the full cost to local partners, putting many of these programs at risk of closing.