BILL REQ. #:  Z-0233.1 

Read first time 01/13/11.   Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce & Consumer Protection.

     AN ACT Relating to delaying the implementation of the family leave insurance program; amending RCW 49.86.030, 49.86.190, 49.86.210, and 49.86.150; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 49.86.030 and 2009 c 544 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     ((Beginning October 1, 2012)) Subject to RCW 49.86.150, family leave insurance benefits are payable to an individual during a period in which the individual is unable to perform his or her regular or customary work because he or she is on family leave if the individual:
     (1) Files a claim for benefits in each week in which the individual is on family leave, and as required by rules adopted by the director;
     (2) Has been employed for at least six hundred eighty hours ((in employment)) during the individual's qualifying year;
     (3) Establishes an application year. An application year may not be established if the qualifying year includes hours worked before establishment of a previous application year;
     (4) Consents to the disclosure of information or records deemed private and confidential under chapter 50.13 RCW. Initial disclosure of this information and these records by the employment security department to the department is solely for purposes related to the administration of this chapter. Further disclosure of this information or these records is subject to RCW 49.86.020(3);
     (5) Discloses whether or not he or she owes child support obligations as defined in RCW 50.40.050; and
     (6) Documents that he or she has provided the employer from whom family leave is to be taken with written notice of the individual's intention to take family leave in the same manner as an employee is required to provide notice in RCW 49.78.250.

Sec. 2   RCW 49.86.190 and 2007 c 357 s 22 are each amended to read as follows:
     If necessary to ensure that money is available in the family leave insurance account for the initial administration of the family leave insurance program, the director of labor and industries may, from time to time before July 1, ((2009)) 2014, lend funds from the supplemental pension fund to the family leave insurance account. These loaned funds may be expended solely for the initial administration of the program under this chapter. The director of labor and industries shall repay the supplemental pension fund, plus its proportionate share of earnings from investment of moneys in the supplemental pension fund during the loan period, from the family leave insurance account within two years of the date of the loan. This section expires October 1, ((2011)) 2016.

Sec. 3   RCW 49.86.210 and 2009 c 544 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     Beginning September 1, ((2013)) 2014, the department shall report to the legislature by September 1st of each year on projected and actual program participation, premium rates, fund balances, and outreach efforts.

Sec. 4   RCW 49.86.150 and 2007 c 357 s 17 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Family leave insurance benefits are payable under this chapter only to the extent that the director of the office of financial management determines that moneys are deposited and available in the family leave insurance account for the purpose of benefit payments, and only to the extent provided in RCW 49.86.050 and 49.86.060. Neither the state nor the department is liable for any amount in excess of these limits.
     (2) This chapter does not create a continuing entitlement or contractual right. The legislature reserves the right to amend or repeal all or part of this chapter at any time, and a benefit or other right granted under this chapter exists subject to the legislature's power to amend or repeal this chapter. There is no vested private right of any kind against such amendment or repeal.