(The Center Square) – The Washington State Employment Security Department and Gov. Jay Inslee’s office hosted an event at the University of Washington-Tacoma to celebrate five years of the state Paid Family and Medical Leave program.
ESD Commissioner Cami Feek told attendees that in its first five years, PFML has officially received 1 million applications and has helped 512,000 Washingtonians with $5 billion in benefits paid out.
“If you look at all the Washingtonians who’ve been approved for paid leave, it would fill up the Seahawks stadium more than 14 times,” Feek explained.
She highlighted the novelty of the program.
“We were the first in the nation to have progressive wage replacement,” Feek said. That means lower-income workers get more of their benefits replaced.”
Despite what Feek called “the incredible success of the program,” she said there is more work to do.
“We want to make sure that everyone who can takes advantage of Paid Family and Medical Leave,” she said.
As previously reported by The Center Square, the program’s apparent popularity may be outpacing its finances.
“You can see that a deficit can now happen earlier, as soon as October 2024,” Alison Eldridge, ESD leave and care assistant director, said in describing the program’s declining fund balance during a Senate Labor & Commerce Committee work session in May. “And it may be more severe than was previously projected.”
In that same work session, Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, suggested that the payroll tax rate that employees and employers pay into the program may need to go higher to keep it out of the red.
The current tax rate is 0.74% of each employee’s gross wages, with the rate split between employers paying about 28% of the tax and employees covering the rest. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees are only required to collect and remit the employee’s portion, though they can choose to pay some of it if they wish.
Inslee said the program’s success is something he’s extremely proud of.
“This program is the one that has made the most difference in people’s lives in my 12 years as governor,” he said. “I kind of tear up a little bit.”
Kisha-Marie Schnereger with the nonprofit MomsRising shared her experience using PFML.
Schnereger told the audience that after having her first child, she was forced to return to work after only three and a half weeks.
When her daughter was born a few years later, paid leave was an option and she was able to take more time with her children.
“This program has made a world of difference for my family,” Schnereger said.
PFML predates the WA Cares mandatory long-term care insurance program and its payroll tax of 58 cents on every $100 of earnings.
If voters pass Initiative 2124 this November, WA Cares will become optional.
