With no money source in sight, WA family leave launch uncertain

When Washington state created a program giving parents five weeks paid time off to be with a new child, it was lauded as being ahead of the curve.

But the question of how to pay for the program is still unanswered, raising doubts about whether benefits of as much as $250 a week will start in October 2009, as the law requires.

"It's going to be problematic," said House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler, D-Hoquiam. "I think there is still some difference of opinion of how it ought to be paid for."

More than $6 million was set aside in the most recent budget in startup costs for the Employment Security Department to run the program, but Gov. Chris Gregoire is adamantly opposed to using money from the state's general fund to pay out benefits.

"They are back to the drawing board," Gregoire said.

The issue is clouded by Gregoire's call for a statewide vote on any new tax, and last year's initiative broadening a two-third vote requirement in the Legislature or a vote of the people for any tax increase.

A tax would likely go to voters in November 2009, too late for the October 2009 start of the program. And the Employment Security Department has said it would need as much to two years to build a system to collect the taxes.

But supporters said they'll make sure benefits go out on time.

"I don't see delaying the benefit past '09," said Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, and sponsor of the measure that passed last year. "We'll just have to figure our way through."

Opponents argue the whole idea was poorly executed from the beginning.

"You don't make empty promises to citizens and create a new program in statute without knowing the most basic components _ how much it's going to cost, who's going to pay for it," said Sen. Janea Holmquist, R-Moses Lake.

Employment Security spokesman Joel Sacks said that the agency has already started working on creating the basic program from scratch: creating application forms, a computer system to process claims, and hiring staff.

Marilyn Watkins, policy director for the Seattle-based Economic Opportunity Institute, a labor-backed think tank, said lawmakers could temporarily use existing taxes to cover benefits until they can get a tax collection program up and running.

"We may have a two-stage solution," said Watkins, a member of the task force that that was created to decide which agency should run the program, how to minimize costs, and how to pay for it. It failed to answer that last and most expensive question.

"We were all frustrated about that," said Rick Bender, president of the Washington State Labor Council, which was among the groups pushing for the paid family leave program. "We thought for sure they could come up with some kind of plan."

If a tax goes to voters, Bender also wants a vote on expanding the program to cover workers who need to take time off to care for a sick relative or deal with their own health problem.

"The only way the public will support it, according to our polling, is if it is a broad-based program," Bender said.

The Senate last year passed an expanded measure including caring for a sick loved one, only to see it scaled back in the House. The Senate version would have imposed a 2-cent-an-hour tax on employees' pay, and also would have allowed the weekly payment of $250 to rise yearly with inflation.

Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, said that she thinks a ballot measure is likely, and that realistically, benefits may be delayed.

"This is forward-thinking social policy where Washington state is on the cutting edge," Brown said. "It may take us a long time to get there, but I don't doubt that we will."

Meanwhile, other states are moving forward with similar programs. New Jersey is set to pass a measure requiring all businesses to offer six weeks of paid leave to care for a new child or sick family member. Workers who take leave would get two-thirds of their salary, up to $524 per week, starting in mid-2009.

The benefit would cost employees an estimated $33 per year, automatically deducted from paychecks.

Under federal law, paid leave is not required, but businesses with 50 or more employees must give workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid medical leave per year for themselves or to take care of an ailing relative.

Under the Washington law, workers have to work 680 hours for their company to qualify for leave. To be automatically reinstated after the leave, they must have worked for a full year and at least 1,250 hours. Employees with 25 or fewer employees are exempt.

California is currently the only state with paid family leave, but its law is much more expansive, with workers also allowed to take leave for their own health conditions and to care for ailing relatives. The program pays 55 percent of a worker's pay for six weeks, up to $882 a week.

Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, D-Seattle, co-sponsor of the measure and co-chairwoman of the task force, said lawmakers are looking at a number of ways to pay for the program, but wasn't ready to disclose what they were yet.

"We all know what the timeline is and we are going to be working hard to make sure that we meet that timeline," she said. "This is a judicious route we are taking."

___

On the Net:

Legislature: http://www.leg.wa.gov