HB 1959 failed to move out of the House Appropriations Committee ahead of the February 5 fiscal committee cutoff. Absent extraordinary action, it is now dead for the remainder of session. The bill never got a hearing in the Appropriations Committee and was never scheduled for a vote. AWC had concerns about the bill because of the cost impacts it would have on nearly 150 small cities.

PFML premiums bill amended and moved out of committee

January 26, 2024

HB 1959 was amended and voted out of the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on January 26. The amendment reorganizes part of the PFML statute by moving the statutory requirement to calculate employer size out of the section that governs payment of premiums and into the section regarding eligibility for the voluntary employer premium assistance grant program. It’s unclear how this will impact ESD’s use of employer size for enforcing other parts of the PFML statute that apply to all employers regardless of participation in the voluntary grant program, such as employment protections. The amendments also move the effective date of the bill to January 1, 2025.

The bill now moves to the House Appropriations Committee.

Small cities subject to PFML employer premiums under new bill

January 12, 2024

A bill that would apply the employer portion of Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) premiums to small employers is scheduled for a hearing this week.

HB 1959, sponsored by Rep. Amy Walen (D–Kirkland), removes the exemption from employer-paid PFML premiums that applies to small employers with fewer than 50 employees. The bill also applies employer premium assistance program eligibility to all employers with fewer than 150 employees. The changes would take effect July 1, 2025.

Under the current PFML statute, all employees pay the employee portion of the PFML premiums as a payroll tax. Employers with fewer than 50 employees do not have to pay the employer portion of the premium, nor are they subject to the PFML statute’s job protection requirements. The current version of HB 1959 does not apply the job protection requirements to small employers, only the employer portion of the PFML premiums.

AWC has concerns about the impact of this change on cities with less than 50 employees. A round 150 cities could be impacted.

The employer portion of the premium goes towards the part of the fund designated to pay medical leave benefits, while employees’ premiums go towards both the medical leave and family leave buckets. In 2024, the total premium is 0.74% of the employee’s gross wages. Of that, employers pay 28.57% of the total premium and employees pick up the remaining 71.43%. Both the premium and the employer/employee split are adjusted each year.

Dates to remember

HB 1959 is scheduled for public hearing in the House Labor & Workplace Standards on Wednesday, January 17 at 8 am.