A bill that would provide a funding mechanism for Washington’s paid family leave statute was heard, but didn’t get a vote at the House Appropriations committee hearing Thursday.
“As most of you are probably aware, there was a framework for family leave insurance enacted in 2007,” said Joan Elgee, counselor to the Labor and Workforce Standards committee at the Friday hearing. “That has not been implemented, and under a 2013 amendment, the starting date for benefits is when there’s an implementation date and funding appropriated.”
Elgee explained the law’s framework, as it exists, compared to the proposed bill. The law specifies that employees must have worked 680 hours the past year to be eligible, and that the benefit would be a flat rate of $250 per week for up to five weeks for someone on leave for the birth or adoption of a child.
“Instead of a flat amount, (the proposed bill allocates) a percentage of an employee’s wages depending on the individual’s wage as compared to the state average weekly wage,” Elgee said at the hearing. “So, individuals with lower wages would receive a higher percentage of their wages.”
Under the proposed bill, employees would only need to accrue 340 work hours to be eligible, but a payout to employee would have a cap of $1000 per week, she said.
Testimony
Supporters of the bill testified that funding paid family leave would benefit community health, but moreover that it would keep vulnerable people above water amid an emergency.
“Among the lowest paid workers, disproportionately women of all races and men of color, a staggering 97 percent lack paid family leave,” said Liz Mills, advocacy and policy director for YWCA of Seattle/King/Snohomish, at the hearing. “A major illness or a baby can drive a family into poverty.”
Among other concerns, opponents of the bill said employers are already struggling to adjust to a higher minimum wage and paid sick leave.
Carolyn Logue, representing the Washington Retail Association, said she hope a future solution would focus on employees paying into paid family leave.
“If we want to look at this statewide, we need to look at this in terms of how do we help our employees fund a program that they can utilize when they need this,” she said at the hearing. “Because these are things that are their personal situations that are driving the need for the leave not something related to the employment.”
Joanna Grist, lobbying for AARP Washington, said that due to an increasing need in older generations, finding a solution was important.
“Thousands of Washingtonians are caring for an older parent or loved one, helping them to live independently at home where they want to be,” she said at the hearing. She added that more than 800,000 family members act as caregivers to help their loved ones live at home.
The cutoff deadline is fast approaching: this Friday.
Erin Fenner: erin@washingtonstatewire.com, @erinfenner
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