14,000 WA families could lose child care under proposed budget, advocates say

Child care subsidies have helped Tacoma mom of four Alexis Cortes be able to stay in the workforce and attend school. Now, cuts proposed in the governor’s supplemental budget have Washington parents like Cortes worried about the future.

About 40% of the $797 million in cuts in Gov. Bob Ferguson’s proposed supplemental budget would come from reductions to Transition to Kindergarten and Working Connections Child Care, which helps low-income families cover the cost of child care, according to Start Early Washington.

Cortes, who is pregnant, said that child-care costs often rival mortgage payments. As a part-time worker and full-time student, she said achieving her dream of becoming a peer counselor at Catholic Community Services could be much more difficult under the proposed budget that was rolled out in December.

“I love working. I love being around adults. I love helping the community,” she said in a call. “And I feel like with the cuts to Working Connections, if that were to go through, I would not get that opportunity. My kids would lose out on the socialization and the education that they’re receiving.”

Ferguson’s 2025-27 supplemental budget proposal, which seeks to resolve an estimated $2.3 billion shortfall, has also received pushback from critics with concerns about possible K-12 education cuts and the fact that it would withdraw $1 billion from the state’s rainy day reserve fund.

Now the state Legislature will take Ferguson’s ideas into account before passing their own budget proposal this session, which is scheduled to close March 12.

“I’ve already talked to leadership and said: ‘Look, this is a challenging budget.’ I’m looking forward to what they’ve got,” Ferguson said during his budget rollout in December.

When it comes to support for high-quality child care, as many as 14,000 Washington families would lose access if the cuts were enacted, according to a news release from Child Care Aware of Washington. Some 31% of children in Pierce County depend on child-care subsidies, the release said.

Advocates warn that a dip in enrollment could prompt providers to close. Certain providers have already logged low enrollment because some local families don’t qualify for assistance but also can’t afford to pay privately, per the release.

Brionna Aho, communications director for the governor’s office, noted via email that Ferguson has underscored that his budget is just step one in a long process.

“The governor’s proposal includes many difficult decisions to avoid the most harmful cuts, and avoid raising sales or property taxes, which would have significant impacts on families and our economy,” Aho said. “The governor welcomes ideas for how to restore this funding.”

Bellingham provider Heidi Bugbee, who runs the nonprofit Generations Early Learning & Family Center, said that cuts to Working Connections would also hit staffing dollars. She said workers are already leaving the field because of low pay.

Bugbee said she’s increasingly heard from people making a good living who spend more on child care than they do on college tuition.

Such proposed cuts would also raise costs for parents who don’t receive subsidies, she said.

“If those dollars are being minimized, then that has to be made up by somebody,” Bugbee added.

Genevieve Stokes, director of government relations at Child Care Aware of Washington, said that an all-cuts budget would exacerbate the state’s child-care crisis. If the Working Connections reductions were to stick, then families would be put in an “untenable position,” she said.

Many would have to exit the workforce, worsening the state’s revenue woes, she said: “This will have a huge ripple effect on our state’s economy.”

In 2024, Washington had the country’s fifth-highest child-care costs, McClatchy reported last year.

On top of the state’s budget issues, Washington is contending with federal changes to the social safety net, including cuts to food benefits and Medicaid. Nearly 4 in 10 of the state’s child-care providers are also reliant on at least one type of public assistance to make ends meet, according to Child Care Aware of Washington.

The Trump administration’s immigration policies have also added stress to the child-care realm, Stokes said, adding that immigrant women are the “backbone” of the industry’s workforce.

Advocates understand that lawmakers are facing a tough scenario in terms of the state’s budget, Stokes said. They ultimately want to see a push for more progressive revenue to help ensure that working parents, providers and average residents aren’t burdened with funding the system.

“We are disheartened,” she said, “but we’re not ready to give up yet.”

This story was originally published January 29, 2026 at 10:50 AM.

Simone Carter

The Olympian

Support my work with a digital subscription