Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
Eastern Adams County's Only Independent Voice Since 1887
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Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is considering a change to the state’s recently adopted premium change transparency rule. A press release from the Office of the Insurance Commissioner says, “The change would be specific to Phase 2 of the rule — the automatic inclusion of reasons for premium increases in policy renewals — and would move the timing of that action from June 2027 to June 2029.” Goodish? The rule applies to auto and home insurance policies. (Insurers...
We already know workers with middle and upper incomes most often benefit from the state's paid family and medical leave fund. It's also true that many beneficiaries are repeat users, and that those benefiting more than once have higher wages than one-time users. I asked the Employment Security Department how many people have filed more than one claim for taxpayer-paid time off, work given the pattern I know with child-rearing - kid one and kid two usually come within a few...
All the increased costs Washingtonians experienced during the past year were accompanied by a $1.3-billion hit on workers’ paychecks. The widespread pay decrease in Washington state was compliments of a new payroll tax that began in 2023 to fund a program called WA Cares. In a recent meeting, the Employment Security Department told the Long-Term Security and Supports Trust Commission not to get used to higher-than-expected income, in case wage and employment information c...
Do you have expired COVID-19 tests in your cupboards? Go look. If you ordered “free” tests from the government, know that many of the boxes likely say they’ve expired. People paying attention to expiration dates have been lining landfills with the taxpayer-provided tools (or using tests that have expired). I fear this is going to be happening for a lot longer. That’s because the Biden Administration recently announced that each U.S. household will be able to, once again,...
At their Aug. 15 meeting, members of Washington state's ongoing Universal Health Care Commission talked about recommending further expansion of, and money for, a Medicaid-like program for low-income adults who are undocumented immigrants. The program, called Apple Health Expansion, is shouldered by Washington state taxpayers alone, unlike Medicaid. Medicaid is funded by a federal-state partnership and is not available to people who entered the U.S. unauthorized or who were law...
The number of people tapping the taxpayer-provided Paid Family and Medical Leave fund is increasing every year. The paid-leave program was launched in 2020. It imposes a tax on employers and workers, whether or not the workers ever use the program. The money is used to allow some workers taxpayer-paid time off if they have a serious health condition, need to care for people or want to bond with a new child on taxpayers’ dimes. If you build it they will come. And they did. T...
Workers can join labor unions. And unions can charge them dues. Some workers are even required to pay a union in order to hold certain jobs. Union membership is a good option for many workers whose ideals line up with a union that represents their interests. There is strength in numbers. However, membership is a bad deal for workers represented by a union with which they disagree about political donations, workplace details or treatment of a worker’s employer. Thanks to the U...
Would passage of Initiative 2124 kill the WA Cares long-term program? Probably. It's super likely that if the state's new, mandatory long-term-care program was made optional for Washington state workers many would flee, leaving it unable to pay its way in its current form. No argument there. Still, that is what was emphasized when the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee discussed WA Cares in a Tuesday work session. Is the program solvent? And would it be if it becomes...