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Senate committee hears bill to shift paid-leave premiums to actuarial rate setting

Washington State Senate Labor & Commerce Committee · January 16, 2026
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The Senate Labor & Commerce Committee heard testimony on Senate Substitute Bill 5292, which would require the Employment Security Department to set paid family and medical leave rates using a forward-looking actuarial method and increase target reserves; public testimony was mixed on affordability and solvency.

The Senate Labor & Commerce Committee on Wednesday heard Senate Substitute Bill 5292, a proposal to change how Washington sets premium rates for the state's paid family and medical leave (PFML) program.

Committee staff and the Employment Security Department described the bill as implementing a JLARC recommendation to move from a statutory formula to an actuarial, forward-looking rate. Susan Jones, committee staff, said the proposed substitute eliminates the statutory three-step formula and directs ESD to set the premium based on its annual actuarial report; beginning in 2030 the report must provide for a rate that achieves a four-month…

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