Saldaña condemns racist targeting of child care workers while releasing a countywide plan to lower costs, stabilize care, and support working families

Rainier Valley, Seattle — State Senator Rebecca Saldaña today released a bold, comprehensive child care platform designed to dramatically improve affordability for working families, expand access to care from birth through school age, and stabilize the child care workforce across King County.

The announcement comes at a moment of deep concern and anger as Somali-owned child care child care workers and the working families they serve are being unfairly doxed and harassed, following reckless and unjustified federal actions that have put child care workers, children, and communities at risk.

“We cannot talk about fixing child care without naming what’s happening right now,” said Sen. Rebecca Saldaña, a candidate for King County Council District 2. “Somali child care workers are trusted caregivers, small business owners, and community leaders. What they’re experiencing right now is racist, dangerous, and wrong. I stand with our Somali community — just as so many in the Somali community have long stood up for justice and fairness for all of us.”

Saldaña’s campaign is joining its voice with advocates across the state, including SEIU 925 and Child Care Aware of Washington, who have spoken out against the targeting of child care workers and the chilling effect these attacks are having on families’ access to care.

“At a time when child care is already unaffordable and unstable for too many families, these attacks threaten to make a broken system even worse,” Saldaña said. “Fear and scapegoating don’t solve the child care crisis. Serious leadership does.”

Saldaña’s platform treats child care as essential public infrastructure — on par with transit and public education — and lays out a county-level plan that would materially improve affordability and access for working families. The plan includes lowering costs by expanding subsidies and improving reimbursement rates, investing in child care facilities and publicly owned spaces, cutting red tape so child care workers can open and expand more easily, supporting small child care businesses, and ensuring families can rely on care from infancy through school age — including before- and after-school and summer programs that align with real work schedules.

“Right now, child care costs as much as rent for many families,” Saldaña said. “This plan is about changing that reality — so parents can work, kids can thrive, and child care workers can stay open.”

Child care workers say that kind of leadership matters.

“Rebecca Saldaña is a gem from our community! She remembers where she came from and makes sure the constituents in her District are heard, seen and taken care of. Saldana is a truth teller and exactly what we need at a time when other representatives are too busy representing big business, to actually represent you. From her grassroots work with Puget Sound Sage, to her outstanding record in the State Senate, she has pushed through real change for families. Saldaña is the proven leader that King County needs to end the child care crisis!” - Kim Early, Early Learning Mentor and Educator

“Rebecca understands the value of inclusivity and respect for the child care workforce. She understands the challenges that are involved in keeping a child care center operable. She also appreciates, values, and recognizes the tremendous sacrifices the people in the field of education encounter. When she stands up, shows up for us, and advocates for the child care industry, she is showing she cares about all of us in our community.” - Sheila L*, Child Care Worker

“Rebecca has always understood that child care workers are essential–not just to families, but to our entire community. She’s fought for fair pay, stronger protections, and real respect for the work we do. Because of leaders like Rebecca, child care workers can keep showing up for kids and families.” -Miriam Zemiewski-Angelova, parent of 2 children, and child care co-founder of Native Family Learning Lodge

Saldaña brings decades of experience to the issue. Before serving in the State Senate, she helped lead community-driven work at Puget Sound Sage that laid the foundation for Best Starts for Kids, now one of the most significant investments in children and families in King County history. In Olympia, she helped shape and pass Paid Family & Medical Leave, championed Fair Starts for Kids, expanded protections for child care and domestic workers, and secured progressive revenue so the wealthiest contribute to early learning and essential services.

A central focus of the platform is protecting and stabilizing community-based child care workers, particularly immigrant- and refugee-run programs that are critical to child care access across District 2 and King County.

“Attacks on Somali-owned child care centers are not just attacks on child care workers — they’re attacks on working families and children,” Saldaña said. “On the County Council, I will work with child care workers, labor partners, and community leaders to make sure these centers have the protections, stability, and support they need to stay open and keep kids safe.”

Childcare-related absenteeism and turnover already cost Washington employers billions each year, while families lose income and opportunity when care falls through. Saldaña says this moment demands more than incremental fixes.

“Best Starts for Kids was once considered too ambitious,” she said. “Today, it’s changing lives across King County. This child care platform is the next chapter of that same leadership — focused on affordability, stability, and dignity for families and child care workers alike.”

The full child care platform will be available at www.rebeccaforkingcounty.com.

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* Name has been changed due to the rise in death threats to our essential child care workers.