Paid Family Leave Program Suspended

During the gubernatorial debate last night, Governor Gregoire mentioned that she would be suspending the paid family leave insurance program as a way to help save the state some money since it is now facing a $3.2 billion budget deficit.

The family leave plan would have paid up to $250 per week for five weeks to qualified workers in the event of the birth of a child or adoption of a newborn. WPC's concerns for this type of government-mandated program are numerous. There were also technical questions about such a program that were raised by other groups studying the issue.

The bottom line is that a state-run family leave insurance program would be an unnecessary burden to the small businesses that deal with these types of situations with their employees on a case-by-case basis.

The supplemental budget passed by the 2008 Legislature only approved $6.2 million to go towards set-up costs, so shutting down this program is a drop in the bucket towards the projected $3.2 billion deficit. However, the Governor's suspension will have longer-reaching benefits as it is one less thing the small business community has to worry about for the time being.

UPDATE: I just talked to the Governor's office and she has asked the Employment Security Department to suspend the program for the time being due to two primary reasons. 1) the contract freeze put into place by the Governor prevents necessary personnel from being hired to complete the set-up process and, 2) the legislature is considering further changes to benefit eligibility and other technicalities.

So, as of now, or until legislators make up their minds during the 2009 Session, the paid family leave program is on hold and I am assuming that means the legislated October 1, 2009 deadline will have to be reevaluated.

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