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January 29, 2009 in City
Fee on workers may pay for leave
2-cents-an-hour deduction would subsidize stipends
OLYMPIA – In 2007, jubilant Democratic lawmakers approved $250-a-week stipends to workers who take unpaid time off to bond with a new baby.
Two years later, without paying anyone a dime, paid family medical leave has stalled. Gov. Chris Gregoire halted computer work on it to save money. And no one agrees how to pay for the estimated $40 million annual payout.
But they may be getting closer. Lawmakers in the House and Senate are now calling for a 2-cents-an-hour fee on all workers, with the money used to pay the stipend.
And the benefit wouldn’t just apply to parents. Anyone with a sick family member could use it.
For a full-time worker, the fee works out to about $40 a year.
“If you’re going to ask everyone to pay, then everyone has to benefit,” said state Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, who introduced one of the bills Wednesday. “It’s just fairness.”
Critics say it’s a terrible time to take more money out of workers’ paychecks. But Keiser and other proponents argue that never has such a safety net for families been more needed.
“People are afraid of losing their jobs,” she said.
“When you have a newborn with a heart condition or a spouse with cancer, you’re going to have a terrible dilemma.”
The stipend, she said, would help people pay some of the bills while caring for their family.
The maximum benefit would be $1,250.
“This will answer fears and help family security,” she said.
The House version, from Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, would require voters to approve the 2-cents-an-hour charge at a statewide election in November.
The Senate version wouldn’t include a vote.
The battle this year is likely to come in the House, which balked at early proposals to charge workers the hourly fee. And Gregoire has in the past suggested that the matter go to a public vote.
Because the money is considered a fee, not a tax, Keiser says she doesn’t think a statewide vote is mandatory.
Besides, she said, it would be costly, require a campaign and create delays.
But if it goes on the ballot, she said, she’s confident it would pass.
“I’m not afraid of a public vote,” she said.
To pay for the roughly $12 million start-up costs, she said, the state could borrow from its pension funds. But lawmakers are hoping for a grant from the Obama administration, which has voiced support for such state programs.
Republican lawmakers have criticized the program as unnecessary, saying that some employers continue paying workers while they take family medical leave.
At least two bills have been introduced to do away with part or all of the program.
“We think that it would be irresponsible to do anything other than repeal this program,” said Kris Tefft, general counsel for the Association of Washington Business.
“I don’t know that a new tax, no matter how modest it’s argued to be, is in the public interest right now.”
Although the payments would initially come from workers, Tefft predicts that collective bargaining will quickly shift those costs onto employers in many cases.
If the proposal is approved this session, Keiser said, she hopes payments can begin within 18 months.
Richard Roesler can be reached at (360) 664-2598 or by e-mail at richr@spokesman.com.
WSU police investigate third suspicious fire 
eoionline on January 29 at 9:36 a.m.
The proposed family and medical leave insurance would cover:
- leave for a worker’s own illness;
- leave to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent; and
- leave to care for a newborn or newly-adopted child.
More information at http://www.familyleave.org.
cryssT on January 29 at 10:46 a.m.
FMLA - Family Medical Leave Act allows you up to six weeks off with/without pay for family medical problems. It is ridiculous to expect the state/taxpayers to pay for someone taking unpaid time off for any reason. It’s a nice thought but an impractical/expensive plan.
eoionline on January 29 at 2:19 p.m.
No one should have to choose between caring for their family in a crisis and losing their job/income.
At two cents per hour, family and medical leave insurance works out to about 80 cents per week for a full-time worker. For that, people get a little bit of a cushion for those times when the unexpected crisis occurs, like…
…an aging parent falls and needs to go to the hospital
…a spouse or partner needs to be taken in to chemotherapy appointments once per week
…a child gets a rotovirus and needs care for a few days
These things can happen to anyone. Family and medical leave insurance will just make it easier for people to balance their commitments to work and family.