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Washington celebrates fifth anniversary of paid leave as ESD marks 1,000,000 milestone
Summary
At a fifth-anniversary event at UW Tacoma, the Employment Security Department and Gov. Jay Inslee celebrated Washington's Paid Family and Medical Leave program, unveiled a 1,000,000-participant milestone and highlighted the program's role supporting families, employers and frontline staff. Speakers included Commissioner Cammy Feek, Sen. Karen Keiser, beneficiaries and ESD staff.
Tacoma, Wash. — State officials, beneficiaries and program staff gathered at UW Tacoma on Saturday to mark the fifth anniversary of Washington's Paid Family and Medical Leave program and to spotlight what the Employment Security Department described as a major participation milestone.
Employment Security Department Communications Director Chris Verint opened the event and introduced Commissioner Cammy Feek, who announced the program had reached a one-million milestone: "We hit 1000000," Feek said during the celebration, describing the figure as a milestone in program participation. Verint also told the audience the department has "issued over $5,000,000,000 in benefits," though the beneficiary count given in the remarks was garbled in the recording and not clearly stated.
"I'm hereby awarding them the gold medal," Gov. Jay Inslee said in a ceremonial comment praising the program's impacts, calling Washington's system an early model that other states have followed. Inslee credited legislators, ESD staff and advocates for creating a program he said benefits families and businesses statewide.
Sen. Karen Keiser, an original legislative sponsor, recounted decades of advocacy and cross-party negotiation that led to enactment. Keiser said the program's design includes progressive wage replacement, noting negotiators secured provisions to replace up to "90% of the wage for low income workers" to make the benefit accessible to lower-income earners.
Beneficiaries and frontline staff described the program's effects in personal terms. Keisha Marie Schnarriger, introduced as a member of MomsRising from Orting, recounted using extended leave following a C-section and said the program "made a world of difference" for her family's finances, recovery and bonding time. Linda Hammond, a benefits specialist who has worked with the program since March 2020, described the customer-care role in guiding applicants through the process and said the program provides job protection and "up to 12 weeks of paid leave." Hammond also shared that she personally used paid leave to care for her mother on hospice.
Maggie Humphreys, representing the Paid Family and Medical Leave Advisory Group, and other advisory members who helped implement the program were recognized for their oversight role during startup and rulemaking.
Event organizers framed the gathering as both a celebration and a reminder that outreach remains important: speakers urged continued efforts to ensure all eligible Washingtonians know about and can access the benefit.
The event concluded with remarks from Commissioner Feek and a group photo with Gov. Inslee. No new legislation or regulatory changes were announced at the celebration.
