WA council wrestles with revenue growth assumptions; Washington state infant care now averages over $21K a year

WA council wrestles with revenue growth assumptions

The Center Square — Among ERFC’s responsibilities is to adopt forecasted revenue growth for budgetary purposes. Under Washington state law, the operating budget cannot spend more money than what is projected within the four-year timeframe, which includes supplemental operating budgets. However, that state law also allows the Legislature to use a 4.5% assumed revenue growth if ERFC’s forecast is lower. House Bill 1411, sponsored during this legislative session by ERFC members Reps. Travis Couture, R-Allyn, and Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama, sough to change that. The bill would have restricted operating budget spending only to what has been actually projected by ERFC, which the bill sponsors believed would avoid budgetary crises moving forward. However, the bill did not receive a public hearing.

Washington state infant care now averages over $21K a year

Axios – Seattle — The big picture: Washington’s child care costs are the fifth highest among U.S. states, according to data released this month by the advocacy group Child Care Aware. Only Massachusetts, California, Maryland, Hawaii and the District of Columbia had higher child care prices last year, the nonprofit said … In 2024, putting an infant in a day care center in Washington cost an average of $21,348 per year, according to Child Care Aware. That’s about $8,000 higher than annual in-state tuition and fees at the University of Washington, where costs run about $12,973 for a standard three-quarter academic year.

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