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Anchorage health officials plan municipal child-care code rewrite to align with state rules, use ACE fund
Summary
Municipal health officials told the Public Safety Committee they will pursue ordinance changes in late 2025 to align Anchorage child-care licensing code with the State of Alaska, aiming to reduce regulatory barriers and use the voter-approved ACE (Anchorage Childcare and Early Education) fund to expand access.
Kimberly Rash, of the Municipality of Anchorage health department, told the Assembly Public Safety Committee on Feb. 5 that the department will pursue an overhaul of the municipal child-care licensing code to align it with state regulations and remove barriers to licensure.
The effort is intended to produce an ordinance for the Assembly by third or fourth quarter 2025, Rash said. She said the Municipal program currently operates under delegated authority from the State of Alaska Division of Public Assistance Child Care Program Office (citing the municipal reference in the transcript as “section 47.32 0.03 b”), and that the municipality adopted many state licensing statutes and regulations by AO 2016-82 in August 2016.
Rash told committee members the department began stakeholder outreach in mid-2024, surveying child-care administrators about municipal Chapter 16.55 and identifying potential conflicts with state rules. She listed regulatory barriers that stakeholders reported: scheduling and inspection requirements, age-group ratios, startup fees and licensing timing, credentialing requirements, application delays, limited exemptions and the municipality’s rule that new licenses may be issued only on the first day of the month.
Rash and members discussed the Anchorage Childcare and Early Education (ACE) fund, created by Proposition 14 in April 2023, which dedicates municipal marijuana tax revenue to early childhood services. Rash said ACE funds started accruing in January 2024 and were estimated at about $5,000,000 annually to begin distribution in 2025; the health department has ACE funds under its control and has issued several RFPs for pilot programs and data collection. Assembly member Anna Brawley and others urged the department to break the ordinance work into smaller pieces so the Assembly can consider incremental changes rather than one omnibus amendment.
Rash described the proposed approach: work with state partners to adopt as much of the state code as possible while preserving local authority (for example, the local appeals process), provide monthly updates to the Assembly committee and coordinate with the ACE implementation team on funding and program design. She said the department’s timeline anticipates bringing substantial recommendations by August 2025, though some items may be presented in smaller chunks earlier.
Committee members suggested prioritizing measures that expand capacity for existing providers, encouraging in-home providers, streamlining startup steps (for example, addressing lease-versus-license timing), and considering temporary streamlined pathways for proven operators seeking to expand. Rash agreed to increase engagement with the ACE board and to use RFP-funded pilot programs and data collection to inform code changes.
The committee did not take any formal vote on the code changes during the Feb. 5 meeting; Rash said further monthly updates would be provided as the health department develops specific ordinance language.
