Poverty reduction task force

AN ACT Relating to the legislative-executive poverty reduction 1
task force; amending RCW 74.08A.500, 74.08A.505, and 74.08A.510; and 2
creating a new section. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. (1) The legislature finds that economic 5
stability is foundational to the health and well-being of 6
Washingtonians and recognizes the 10-year plan to dismantle poverty 7
as the guiding state strategic plan to measurably reduce poverty and 8
increase well-being in our state. As poverty reduction can only be 9
achieved through coordinated action and systemic change, the 10
legislature finds that an intentional alignment of efforts across 11
state agencies, stakeholders, community members, and the legislature 12
is needed to fully realize that outcome.13
(2) In order to ensure the alignment described in subsection (1) 14
of this section, the legislature finds it necessary to update the 15
name, duties, membership, and structure of the legislative-executive 16
WorkFirst poverty reduction oversight task force in order to align 17
with the Washington economic justice alliance and ensure continued 18
momentum in the work to dismantle poverty and injustice in Washington 19
state. 20
S-4139.1
SENATE BILL 6255
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2026 Regular Session
By Senators Lovelett, Dhingra, Hasegawa, Nobles, Saldaña, and Valdez
Read first time 01/21/26. Referred to Committee on Human Services.
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Sec. 2. RCW 74.08A.500 and 2018 c 126 s 2 are each amended to 1
read as follows: 2
The definitions in this section apply throughout chapter 126, 3
Laws of 2018 unless the context clearly requires otherwise.4
(1) "Advisory ((committee)) council" means the 5
((intergenerational poverty advisory committee)) economic justice and 6
well-being advisory council. 7
(2) "Cycle of poverty" or "poverty cycle" means the set of 8
factors or events by which the long-term poverty of a person is 9
likely to continue and be experienced by each child of the person 10
when the child becomes an adult unless there is outside intervention.11
(3) "Department" means the department of social and health 12
services. 13
(4) "Intergenerational poverty" means poverty in which two or 14
more successive generations of a family continue in the cycle of 15
poverty and governmental dependence, and is not situational poverty.16
(5) (("Partner agency" means an executive branch agency 17
represented by a voting or nonvoting member of the task force.18
(6))) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of social 19
and health services. 20
(((7))) (6) "Task force" means the legislative-executive 21
((WorkFirst poverty reduction oversight )) economic justice and well-22
being task force. 23
Sec. 3. RCW 74.08A.505 and 2022 c 176 s 1 are each amended to 24
read as follows: 25
(1)(a) ((A)) The legislative-executive ((WorkFirst poverty 26
reduction oversight )) economic justice and well-being task force is 27
established, ((with voting members )) as provided in this 28
((subsection)) section. Task force membership shall include diverse, 29
statewide representation and its membership shall reflect regional, 30
racial, and cultural diversity to adequately represent the needs of 31
all individuals, children, and families in the state.32
(i) The president of the senate shall appoint two voting members 33
from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate.34
(ii) The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint 35
two voting members from each of the two largest caucuses of the house 36
of representatives. 37
(iii) The governor shall appoint ((eight)) 11 voting members 38
representing the following agencies: The department ((of social and 39
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health services )); the department of children, youth, and families; 1
the department of commerce; the employment security department; the 2
office of the superintendent of public instruction; the department of 3
health; the department of corrections; the department of revenue; the 4
health care authority; the workforce training and education 5
coordinating board; and the state board for community and technical 6
colleges. 7
(b) The task force shall choose its cochairs from among its 8
voting members , one from among the legislative members and one from 9
among the executive branch members to serve two-year terms . ((The 10
secretary of the department of social and health services shall 11
convene the initial meeting of the task force.))12
(2) The governor shall appoint ((eight nonvoting )) additional 13
voting members to the task force representing the:14
(a) State commission on African American affairs;15
(b) State commission on Hispanic affairs; 16
(c) State commission on Asian Pacific American affairs;17
(d) ((Governor's office of Indian affairs )) Cochairs of the 18
advisory council; 19
(e) Women's commission; and20
(f) LGBTQ commission((;21
(g) Office of equity; and22
(h) Office of financial management)). 23
(3) ((The cochairs of the intergenerational poverty advisory 24
committee created in RCW 74.08A.510 shall serve as nonvoting members 25
of the task force )) The governor's offices of equity, Indian affairs, 26
and financial management shall participate in the task force as 27
nonvoting members. 28
(4) The task force shall: 29
(a) Oversee the ((partner agencies' operation )) budget and 30
performance of the WorkFirst program and temporary assistance for 31
needy families program to ensure that the programs are achieving 32
desired outcomes for ((their)) clients; 33
(b) Determine, in partnership with the advisory council, 34
evidence-based outcome measures for the ((WorkFirst program)) 10-year 35
plan to dismantle poverty , including measures related to equitably 36
serving the needs of historically underrepresented populations, such 37
as English language learners, immigrants, refugees, and other diverse 38
communities; 39
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(c) Develop accountability measures for ((WorkFirst recipients 1
and)) the state agencies responsible for their progress toward 2
((self-sufficiency)) implementation of the 10-year plan to dismantle 3
poverty and the reduction of poverty; 4
(d) Collaborate with the advisory ((committee)) council created 5
in RCW 74.08A.510 to ((develop and )) monitor the strategies ((to 6
prevent and address adverse childhood experiences and reduce 7
intergenerational)) and recommendations outlined in the 10-year plan 8
to dismantle poverty; 9
(e) Seek input on best practices for poverty reduction from lived 10
experts, service providers, community-based organizations, 11
legislators, state agencies, stakeholders, the business community, 12
and subject matter experts to encourage the development of cross-13
sector and innovative approaches to poverty reduction;14
(f) Collaborate with ((partner)) relevant state agencies and the 15
advisory ((committee)) council to analyze available data and 16
information regarding ((intergenerational)) poverty in the state, 17
with a primary focus on the strategies and recommendations of the 10-18
year plan to dismantle poverty and using data and information 19
((regarding children who are at risk of continuing the cycle of 20
poverty and welfare dependency unless outside intervention occurs )) 21
disaggregated to meaningfully understand the impact on diverse 22
populations; and 23
(g) ((Recommend)) Develop and recommend priorities and policy 24
actions to the governor and the legislature to effectively reduce 25
((intergenerational)) poverty and promote and encourage self-26
sufficiency. 27
(5)(((a))) The task force shall ((direct the department of social 28
and health services to develop a five-year plan to reduce 29
intergenerational poverty and promote self-sufficiency, subject to 30
oversight and approval by the task force. Upon approval by the task 31
force, the department must submit the plan to the governor and the 32
appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2019.33
(b) The task force shall review the five-year plan by December 1, 34
2024, and shall direct the department to update the plan as 35
determined necessary by the task force )) collaborate with and seek 36
advice from the Washington economic justice alliance in supporting 37
the 10-year plan to dismantle poverty. 38
(6) The ((partner)) relevant state agencies must provide the task 39
force with regular reports on: 40
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(a) The ((partner agencies' )) progress of those state agencies 1
toward meeting the outcome and performance measures established under 2
this section; 3
(b) ((Caseload trends and program expenditures, and the impact of 4
those trends and expenditures on client services, including services 5
to historically underrepresented populations )) In partnership with 6
the office of financial management and the Washington economic 7
justice alliance, the impact of biennial and supplemental budgets on 8
low-income and vulnerable populations; and 9
(c) ((The characteristics of families who have been unsuccessful 10
on the temporary assistance for needy families program and have lost 11
their benefits either through sanction or the sixty-month time 12
limit)) Implementation activities related to the 10-year plan to 13
dismantle poverty, including the status of recommendations and 14
priorities adopted by the task force. 15
(7) By December 1, 2026, state agency representatives on the task 16
force, the Washington economic justice alliance, and the advisory 17
council shall provide a report to the task force and the governor 18
regarding their review and update of the 10-year plan to dismantle 19
poverty.20
(8) Staff support for the task force, including administration of 21
task force meetings, must be provided by the ((state agency members 22
of the task force )) department. Additional staff support for 23
legislative members of the task force must be provided by senate 24
committee services and the house of representatives office of program 25
research. 26
(((8))) (9) During their tenure, the state agency members of the 27
task force shall respond in a timely manner to data requests from the 28
cochairs. 29
(((9))) (10) Legislative members of the task force are reimbursed 30
for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative 31
members are not entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses if they 32
are elected officials or participating on behalf of an employer, 33
governmental entity, or other organization. Any reimbursement for 34
other nonlegislative members is subject to chapter 43.03 RCW.35
Sec. 4. RCW 74.08A.510 and 2022 c 176 s 2 are each amended to 36
read as follows: 37
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(1) To assist the task force established in RCW 74.08A.505, there 1
is created the ((intergenerational poverty advisory committee )) 2
economic justice and well-being advisory council. 3
(2) The advisory ((committee)) council must include diverse, 4
statewide representation from public, nonprofit, and for-profit 5
entities. The ((committee)) advisory council membership must reflect 6
regional, racial, and cultural diversity to adequately represent the 7
needs of all individuals, children, and families in the state.8
(3) Members of the advisory ((committee)) council are appointed 9
by the secretary, with the approval of the task force.10
(4) The ((advisory committee must)) secretary may appoint members 11
to the advisory council as the secretary deems appropriate, but the 12
advisory council must at least include representatives from:13
(a) Advocacy groups that focus on ((childhood)) poverty issues;14
(b) Advocacy groups that focus on education and early childhood 15
education issues; 16
(c) Academic experts in ((childhood)) poverty, education, or 17
early childhood education issues; 18
(d) ((Faith-based organizations)) Organizations, including faith-19
based organizations, that address ((childhood)) poverty, education, 20
or early childhood education issues; 21
(e) Tribal governments; 22
(f) Families and individuals impacted by poverty;23
(g) Local government representatives that address childhood 24
poverty or education issues; 25
(h) The business community; 26
(i) A group representing accredited financial counselors;27
(j) ((A subject matter expert in infant mental health;28
(k) The department of children, youth, and families; and29
(l) The department )) Entities representing the workforce system; 30
and31
(k) Entities representing postsecondary education systems.32
(5) Each member of the advisory ((committee)) council is 33
appointed for a four-year term unless a member is appointed to 34
complete an unexpired term. The secretary may adjust the length of 35
term at the time of appointment or reappointment so that 36
approximately one-half of the advisory ((committee)) council is 37
appointed every two years. 38
(6) The secretary may remove an advisory ((committee)) council 39
member: 40
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(a) If the member is unable or unwilling to carry out the 1
member's assigned responsibilities; or 2
(b) For good cause. 3
(7) If a vacancy occurs in the advisory ((committee)) council 4
membership for any reason, a replacement may be appointed for the 5
unexpired term. 6
(8) The advisory ((committee)) council shall choose cochairs from 7
among its membership. ((The secretary shall convene the initial 8
meeting of the advisory committee.))9
(9) A majority of the advisory ((committee)) council constitutes 10
a quorum of the advisory ((committee)) council at any meeting and the 11
action of the majority of members present is the action of the 12
advisory ((committee)) council. 13
(10) The advisory ((committee)) council shall:14
(a) Meet at least quarterly at the request of the task force 15
cochairs or the cochairs of the advisory ((committee)) council;16
(b) Make recommendations to the task force on how the task force 17
and the state can effectively ((address the needs of children 18
affected by intergenerational poverty and )) achieve the purposes and 19
duties of the task force ((as described in RCW 74.08A.505));20
(c) Ensure that the advisory ((committee's)) council's 21
recommendations to the task force are supported by verifiable data; 22
((and))23
(d) Gather input from diverse communities about the impact of 24
((intergenerational)) poverty on outcomes such as education, health 25
care, employment, involvement in the child welfare system, and other 26
related areas; and27
(e) Monitor the strategies and recommendations outlined in the 28
10-year plan to dismantle poverty and recommend to the task force 29
priorities and policy options that the task force should consider 30
proposing to the governor and the legislature to effectively reduce 31
poverty and promote and encourage self-sufficiency.32
(11) The department shall provide staff support to the advisory 33
((committee)) advisory council and shall endeavor to accommodate the 34
participation needs of its members. Accommodations may include 35
considering the location and time of ((committee)) advisory council 36
meetings, making options available for remote participation by 37
members, and convening meetings of the ((committee)) advisory council 38
in locations with proximity to available child care whenever 39
feasible. 40
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(12) Members of the advisory ((committee)) council may receive 1
reimbursement for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 2
and 43.03.060. 3
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