2025 CCFA Legislative Priorities

We are looking forward to working with the Legislature to build a future where children, youth, and families have the tools and resources to thrive.

Our priorities include:

Early Learning, Childcare, and Family Support: Washington must protect affordable childcare by ensuring the Fair Start for Kids Act continues to be implemented. In addition, we must implement a true cost-of-care model for childcare workers. Assistance programs like Working Connections Child Care must be expanded so more parents can afford high-quality childcare, enabling them to stay in the workforce. At the same time, we must invest in building and improving early learning facilities to create safe, enriching spaces for children to grow. 

Basic Needs: Children and families across Washington need better access to mental health services. Protecting and strengthening behavioral health programs for youth of all ages will help address the growing youth mental health crisis. In addition, we must keep investing in programs to support homeless youth and families. Immigrant youth and families must also be safeguarded through policies that ensure they are protected and supported in our state.

Progressive Revenue: Washington State is facing a budget crisis that puts critical services our communities county on at risk. Washington must adopt equitable tax policies that ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share. More equitable revenue provides the funding necessary for critical programs like childcare amid a challenging budget forecast. 

Child Welfare: As a state, we must maintain our investments in our child welfare systems and expand resources to help youth leaving foster care transition successfully into adulthood. 

Juvenile Justice Reform: Rehabilitation programs for youth in the juvenile justice system are essential to providing second chances. Maintaining funding for these programs ensures young people have opportunities to rebuild their lives and thrive in adulthood. 

Disability Advocacy: All children and youth deserve access to the necessary resources to thrive in school and life. Removing the funding cap on special education is a critical step toward ensuring students with disabilities can succeed.

Youth Development: Continued investment in youth development programs ensures that every young person has access to opportunities to learn, explore, and thrive as they transition into adulthood.

DCYF proposed cut to ECEAP

Dear Governor Inslee:

As leaders of the Children’s Campaign Fund Network, we ask that you reject DCYF’s proposal to eliminate 1800 ECEAP slots for high-needs three- and four-year-old children. Children are the future leaders of our state, and every investment we make in early learning and child care pays the state back multiple times over in thriving, contributing children and families. The state budget should not be balanced by eliminating these needed services to children and their families.

The Children’s Campaign Fund Network builds power for children, youth, and families in Washington State by engaging in education, advocacy, and electioneering work. We are committed to doing whatever we can to support retaining and expanding access to early learning and childcare. During this campaign cycle, our candidate endorsements were weighted heavily to favor those who supported increasing affordable childcare slots in Washington. Our endorsed candidates communicated extensively to voters about childcare in their campaigns: 58 candidates listed childcare as a priority on their websites, 45 posted about childcare on social media, and 344 listed childcare in their voter’s guide statements.

Washingtonians overwhelmingly support protecting and expanding access to childcare. This year, 82.5% of our endorsed candidates won their races and will serve in the legislature next year, championing investments in childcare. In 2024, Children’s Campaign Fund Action co-led a poll to gauge the electorate’s attitudes regarding childcare. Most voters all over the state endorsed new revenue strategies to increase affordable childcare and early learning slots and salaries for child care workers. That support was even more pronounced in childcare deserts like Central Washington and the Olympic Peninsula. This widespread support for revenue was illustrated when over 64% of the Washington electorate voted against Initiative 2109. Initiative 2109 failed in large part because it would have reduced funding for childcare.

Furthermore, we must address the interconnected issues highlighted in a recent article from the Seattle Times: fixing the number of childcare slots and addressing the provider shortage must happen simultaneously. A reduction in one without strengthening the other renders the remaining funding ineffective and diminishes the state’s ability to meet the needs of children and families.

Reducing childcare is deeply unpopular and hurts children, their families, and Washington’s economy. We urge you not to include this cut in your proposed budget.

Sincerely,

Alex Galeana

Executive Director, Children’s Campaign Fund Network

Ruth Kagi

Chair, Children’s Campaign Fund Action

Janis Avery

Chair, Children’s Campaign Fund

Want to help? Send a letter to the governor:

• You can send your own email (https://governor.wa.gov/contacting-governor)

• You can send an automated message through Phone2Action

[Link courtesy of Washington State Association of Head Start]

The Results Are Clear

Voters strongly support candidates who prioritize children, youth, and families!

82.5% of the candidates we endorsed won, and 49% of endorsed candidates received more than 60% of the vote. This cycle, we spent over $100,000 supporting candidates through direct contributions and independent expenditures.

Our top priority, affordable child care, was a prominent issue in the 2024 electoral cycle. It received great media coverage, was talked about in forums across the state, and was featured in voter guide statements, platforms, social media outlets, and paid media ads. For candidates who talked about child care, it was a winning issue. Of the 39 candidates who listed child care on their voters’ guide, 29, or 74% were elected.

This election cycle, CCFA engaged in candidate education like never before. We ran a statewide poll to educate candidates about the most effective ways to talk about child care. We developed messaging toolkits, sample social media posts for candidates, and asked candidates to sign a child care pledge. Additionally, through our LEAP program, we met with new candidates running for office to educate them on the importance of early learning and share data about Washington’s child care crisis. 

OUR IMPACT: 

We interacted on the campaign trail with 109 candidates through our various programs, 78% of whom were elected. Of these 109:

• 58 candidates listed child care as a priority on their website 

• 45 posted about child care on social media

• 24 signed our child care pledge

  
  

Additionally, candidates we interacted with on the campaign trail were 7x more likely to list child care in their voters’ pamphlet statement than those we did not interact with.

While we are proud of the work we have done this cycle, we recognize there is a lot of work left to do to make children, youth, and families a priority for all lawmakers. We’re excited to continue to build political power for kids during the legislative session by holding lawmakers accountable to the promises made on the campaign trail. 

This work is only possible because of supporters like you. If you believe in sending strong champions to Olympia for children, youth, and families, please consider a contribution to the CCF PAC today!