Three months after an AWB-led coalition made the request, Democratic leaders in the state Senate sent a letter to Gov. Jay Inslee last week, asking him to put a one-year delay on implementation of the tax for a new state-run long-term care insurance program. On Thursday, Inslee said he is looking at ways to pause the tax.

Inslee said he doesn’t have authority to take unilateral action, but he’s looking at how to pause collection of the tax to give legislators time to address issues that have been raised about the program.

In September AWB led an effort to bring together a diverse collation of labor unions, businesses, employer advocates and local governments – more than 200 signatories – to send Inslee a letter asking him to pause the program. AWB opposed changes made to the bill earlier this year, and asked for the pause so problems with those changes could be addressed.

As of Dec. 2, more than 430,000 workers in Washington had applied for an exemption – well above the 300,000 expected in the fiscal note for the bill. The program had only been fully funded through 2075 even at the original level of opt-outs; the higher rate of exemptions will further impact solvency, the Washington Research Council reports.

Contact Government Affairs Director Amy Anderson to learn more and get involved.