Washington Business Fall 2017 | Legislative Review & Vote Record | Page 17

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Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Kent, ranking minority member of the
Commerce, Labor and Sports Committee.
adoption of a child, recovery or treatment for a serious
medical condition or care for a family member.
Employees will receive 90 percent of half the state’s
Average Weekly Wage, and 50 percent of earnings above
that, up to a maximum of $1,000 per week, adjusted
annually for inflation.
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees are
not required to participate or pay into the plan, but their
employees pay into the program and are covered. Employers
of any size with an equal or better paid leave benefit can
apply for a waiver.
All employees are eligible to receive the benefit after
working 820 hours. The program provides a uniform
stat ewide system benefit that follows employees when they
change jobs or move locations.
Employers and employees will begin paying into the
program Jan. 1, 2019 and the paid family and medical leave
benefit will be available to employees beginning in 2020.
The state Employment Security Department will oversee
the program.
Finally, the new law is uniform statewide, ending the
confusion created when leave laws vary from city to city.
bipartisan legislation supports employers,
employees
At a time when many believe politics wins over policy, the
paid family and medical leave law was a good example that
divergent political views don’t mean common ground is
unattainable.
“Not only did we have representatives for employers of
all sizes participating in negotiations, but we had labor,
Republicans, Democrats and every other place on the political
spectrum,” Battles said. “When you’re dealing with a policy
that affects people’s lives, everyone needs to come to the
table, share their views and be willing to find compromise.”
Sen. Joe Fain, R-Auburn, majority floor leader and vice chair of the Early
Learning and K-12 Education Committee.
“It’s historic because this achievement marks an
amazing collaboration of work over the last several
years of both Republicans and Democrats, and
business, and labor, and family leave advocates.”
— Gov. Jay Inslee
In the waning hours of the fiscal year cutoff, the paid family
leave law passed with overwhelming bipartisan support in both
chambers and was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee on July 5, who noted
the ideologically diverse coalition that brought it to his desk.
“It’s historic because this achievement marks an amazing
collaboration of work over the last several years of both
Republicans and Democrats, and business, and labor, and family
leave advocates,” Inslee said.
local chambers of commerce lend support
Working alongside AWB was its network of chambers of
commerce known as the “Grassroots Alliance,” many of which
supported the legislation, not only as a way to head off the
patchwork of local paid leave laws making it hard for their
business members to operate, but to ensure a uniform policy
that protected employees across the state and employers of
all sizes.
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