WATCH: WA Democrats criticize reporter probes into potential daycare fraud

By Carleen Johnson
The Center Square

Washington state Democratic leaders responded fiercely to the notion of journalists looking into possible fraud regarding Washington state daycares that receive taxpayer funds.

The issue has gained traction nationwide in the aftermath of a viral video posted last month, which spurred an avalanche of news coverage of possible child care fraud in Minnesota.

“For people to go out and knock on the door of childcare centers and demand to see kids… I was just having to calm down Rep. Stonier about what would have happened if somebody did that with regard to her children,” Speaker Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, said Tuesday at a media availability event.

“It just seems like it’s scraping the bottom of the barrel to just raise random allegations of fraud,” the speaker said. “Now, we want to hear about real allegations with some substance behind them, but this is creating a huge lack of safety in our state … individuals going out and just attacking or engaging with somebody in a highly inappropriate way.”

Stonier chimed in as well.

“And if you were knocking on that door and I found out about it, I would lose my mind,” the Vancouver Democrat said in response to a question from The Center Square.

Majority House Leader Joe Fitzgibbon, D-West Seattle, noted the Department of Children, Youth & Families keeps close tabs on daycare providers.

“The Department of Children, Youth & Families audits all of them every year,” he said, suggesting that The Center Square should not report the addresses of any daycares with suspected fraud to DCYF.

“They haven’t found the instances of the kind of fraud that has been alleged,” Fitzgibbon added.

Jinkins had more to say about reporters knocking on daycare doors as part of their investigations.

“What my point is, is you may have the right to do that, but it’s not right,” she said.

The Center Square publisher Chris Krug weighed in on the issue.

“When Washington state officials try to block our investigation into daycare fraud or any potential misuse of taxpayer funding of government, they’re attacking the First Amendment,” he said. “We found zero evidence the state was investigating this fraud themselves. That’s exactly why The Center Square exists – to do the accountability reporting that government doesn’t want done or is unwilling to do on its own. We’re not backing down to complaints about what journalists should be doing. Our team of 40-plus journalists will continue exposing waste, fraud, and abuse of tax dollars across the country, regardless of government pushback. Taxpayers deserve the truth about where their money goes. That’s our mission, and we’ll fulfill it.”

Republican leaders commented on the DCYF controversy during their same-day media availability event.

“I think DCYF has a whole host of problems that need to be addressed, and that’s frankly probably a bigger conversation than just the fraud,” Rep. Chris Corry, R-Yakima, said. “It would be a rush to come out and say there’s been no evidence of fraud. We should go in and look at it and do an objective third-party audit and figure out what’s wrong and if there are places of waste, fraud, and abuse, let’s fix it.”

Rep. Drew Stokesbary, R-Auburn, is the ranking minority leader in the House. He referenced comments made by Jinkins last Friday during a pre-session media conference.

“She made some comment that it was offensive to the honest child care providers to suggest that fraud might exist, which was a very surprising reaction,” Stokesbary said. “I’m an attorney, and we have a pretty robust set of ethics rules, and if an attorney is found to have violated that, they are punished by other attorneys. People don’t want their professional colleagues to be doing bad things because it gives their entire profession a bad name.”

In the meantime, there are competing bills concerning the DCYF Oversight Board. The board independently monitors DCYF to ensure it meets legislative goals, particularly in the areas of early learning, child welfare and juvenile justice. The board also reviews contracts and provides advice to the governor and Legislature on ways for DCYF to improve outcomes.

Board Co-Chair Sen. Claire Wilson, D-Federal Way, is sponsoring Senate Bill 5942, which would rename the DCYF Oversight Board as the DCYF Accountability Board. It would also remove the board’s authority to oversee DCYF’s performance and policies and prevent the board from requesting outside investigations.

The bill had an initial public hearing on Wednesday before the Senate Human Services Committee.

The name change idea apparently originated from an Oct. 29, 2025, DCYF Oversight Board meeting, where member Dr. Marian Harris made the proposal.

“I would like to see a name change for this board. The name ‘oversight’ is personally and professionally offensive to me. And I know if I’m feeling that way, families of color are also feeling it,” said Harris, who is Black.

“For me, it’s an interesting conversation,” Wilson said. “I think there is a way to think about the words that we use and the impact it has on people.”

In a Tuesday interview, Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley, a member of the board, told The Center Square the idea that the word “oversight” is racist or offensive seems like a stretch.

“Oversight triggered her and brought her back to overseer and slave days. You were never a slave. That’s a stretch, you’ve got to be joking with me,” he said. “And the whole conversation immediately shifted to start coming up with names, and everybody starts popping up these names, and I’m going, yeah … this is a social club.”

Christian told The Center Square that during his one year on the board, its work has not centered on what it is tasked with in statute.

“The oversight board was formed to review contracts, but we’ve never done it that I can tell. That’s not what it’s about. It’s about regurgitating the information DCYF puts out,” he said. “We don’t give them any suggestions about how to make DCYF better. And now they’re literally going to change the statute so we don’t even have to do any contracts, or any review … so there’s nothing left for this board to do but be a social club once a month.”

In response, Christian has introduced Senate Bill 6020 to rename the DCYF Oversight Board to the “DCYF Social Club.” The proposed change is presented with satirical intent to highlight the board’s lack of effectiveness and priorities.

The Center Square has learned that another DCYF bill will not receive a hearing. Senate Bill 5926, sponsored by Sen. Lisa Wellman, D–Mercer, would exempt state-subsidized daycare providers from certain public records requirements, limiting the public’s ability to obtain information about daycare facilities and their owners.

Wellman’s legislative aide emailed The Center Square to say the bill will not come up for a public hearing this session as lawmakers have other pressing priorities.