Radio Report: Rep. Penner secures anti-fraud reforms in child care subsidy bill

February 23, 2026

House Republicans have added tough new anti-fraud protections to a child care bill after auditors questioned hundreds of millions of dollars in spending. John Sattgast reports from Olympia.

SATTGAST: House Republicans say a child care reform bill now includes strong new safeguards to prevent fraud in Washington’s subsidy program.

Representative Joshua Penner, a Republican from Orting, says the State Auditor’s Office raised serious concerns about missing documentation and questionable payments.

PENNER: “The state auditor’s office has a very damning finding of a massive amount of payments that can’t be accounted for.”

SATTGAST: Penner and Republican Representative Travis Couture worked amendments into House Bill 2253 to create what he calls a financial backstop.

PENNER: “The very first thing is that if fraud is discovered, it’s a permanent dismissal of license.”

SATTGAST: The bill also requires electronic attendance verification for children receiving subsidies and mandates investigations when facilities exceed licensed capacity.

PENNER: “They can’t even point to attendance logs because they don’t exist. This requires those attendance logs to exist.”

SATTGAST: The bill has passed the House and now under Senate consideration.

John Sattgast, the state Capitol.