The High Cost of Red Tape: How Washington is Regulating Childcare into Extinction

Washington State is in the middle of a childcare crisis, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at the state budget. Instead of investing in the frontline providers who keep our economy moving, Governor Bob Ferguson and the legislature have chosen a different path: Redundancy.

While essential funding for the Working Connections Childcare program is being slashed to "balance the budget," the state is miraculously finding money to fund yet another work group. The new "Childcare Workforce Standards Board"

In Washington, the solution to every problem seems to be more oversight, more boards, and more red tape. We are being buried under a mountain of unfunded mandates—requirements that we are expected to fulfill with money we no longer have.

It is a slap in the face to every provider in this state. The message is clear: The state would rather pay for a committee to talk about childcare than pay for the actual care of our children.

This isn't just about business; it’s about survival.

• For Providers: Many colleagues are looking at 60% to 90% state-subsidized enrollments. Without that funding, they will close.

• For Families: Quality care is becoming a ghost. When centers close, parents can't work.

• For the State: The economy relies on us. Childcare is the work that enables all other work.

I have spent years in this advocacy fight, and this session has been the most defeating. It is agonizing to watch a "balanced" budget built on the backs of an industry that is already gasping for air. But I am not done. After a long pause to process the disrespect shown to our sector, I am raising my voice again. We don't need another work group. We don't need more million-dollar boards. We need sustainable funding, less bureaucracy, and a culture that respects caregivers.

Our children deserve stability, not more red tape. It’s time to stop funding the paperwork and start funding the people.

-Dana Chistiansen