Legislative Session and Government Shutdown Update

Great news! The Legislature has approved the 2017–19 operating budget and will soon transmit it to Gov. Inslee for his signature. The governor will act on the budget by midnight, which will avert a shutdown of state government operations funded by the operating budget. Please continue to check the OFM website for more information as it becomes available. Watch this space next week for details on how the budget deal will impact the programs that DEL delivers. For now – enjoy the Independence Day weekend with the peace of mind that comes from knowing that programs and services for our state’s children and families are intact.

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On Wednesday this week the state Legislature began its 3rd special session of the year. At the time of writing this, they have not yet come to an agreement on the operating budget, something they are constitutionally mandated to accomplish every two years.* This means that they have until midnight on June 30th to reach said agreement, or the State of Washington shuts down. By law, agencies cannot spend any state or federal funds without a legislatively approved spending plan. What does that mean for the Department of Early Learning, and all of the thousands of children we serve?

To start, we have not had a government shutdown in this state in history, and we don’t expect that we will have one this year. However, as an agency we are legally required to do certain activities to get prepared for the possibility. Families receiving subsidy for childcare and the providers who serve them have been sent notifications of the termination of their services. Agency employees are receiving layoff notices. Contractors are being told that the contracts they’ve prepared and signed with us for the new fiscal year won’t go into effect.

Even though we don’t believe the state will shut down, this prep work is a big challenge for the children, parents, and providers that DEL serves and partners with. We have nothing but the utmost compassion for and empathy with them about the immense stress these legally required activities have caused.

The following is an example of the services that would be effected in the event of a shutdown:

•  Licensing activities for 5,600 child care programs would cease (only emergency on-call services for DLR/CPS investigations would be running).
• Child care subsidy would be shut off for about 31,000 low-income families with about 52,500 children.
• Work done by contractors for services like Early Achievers, Home Visiting, ECEAP, and ECLIPSE (the exception is ESIT services, which has a federal mandate to be uninterrupted).
• All agency operations, including access to phones and email. There would be no DEL staff to contact during a shutdown.

Some of you may recall from the last budget agreement cycle in 2015 that the budget was enacted at the last possible moment, and then state agencies have to go about the business of reopening for business. It can be a frustrating process, but we are working hard to make sure that our clients experience the most minimal effects possible.

How do you find out if the shutdown has occurred, or if it has, when it is over? Visit the Office Financial Management’s website, www.ofm.wa.gov. They will be the clearinghouse for updates in the event of a shutdown.

To everyone that works tirelessly day after day to care for, support, and love the children of Washington, thank you for your work and patience as we plan through these scenarios. We’re hopeful that we will see a final budget soon and can move forward with the business of preparing our state’s littlest learners for the world ahead.

Ross Hunter

Director, Washington State Department of Early Learning

*Unlike Congress, which can pass continuing resolutions and partial funding bills to punt the responsibility down the line.