Washington’s paid family leave program running short on cash

The Associated Press ^ | January 26, 2022 | By RACHEL LA CORTE

[Oldeconomybuyer]

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington state’s paid family leave program could hit a deficit as early as March and there are concerns about long-term solvency following a significant increase in demand for the benefit that launched in 2020.

Under the law, eligible workers receive 12 weeks paid time off for the birth or adoption of a child or for a serious medical condition of the worker or the worker’s family member, or 16 weeks for a combination of both. An additional two weeks may be used if there is a serious health condition with a pregnancy.

Weekly benefits are calculated based on a percentage of the employee’s wages and the state’s weekly average wage — which is now $1,475 — though the weekly amount paid out is capped at $1,327.

The program saw benefit delays when it first went live in January 2020, right before the pandemic hit. In the first six weeks, more than triple the amount of people expected applied for the program, and the demand has continued to be high.

“Because of the popularity of the program and the amount of benefits paid we’ve seen the fund balance continue to go down,” Carole Holland, the chief financial office for the agency. “And so it does seem that it’s likely that we will have a cash deficit situation in March or April of 2022.”

[DAC21]

“By the way where is Pete, nothing out of him him quite awhile”

He was just in LA a couple weeks ago taking a victory lap in regards to the container ship back log. The butt buddy wasn’t figuring media would report that the back log was worst than ever with ships now being parked off in Mexican waters just south of San Diego