The Let’s Go Washington citizen action group submitted 424,890 signatures on Thursday, allowing Washington residents to decide whether or not they want to opt out of the state-operated Washington Cares Fund assessment, also known as the Long-term Care Tax (LTC).
Brian Heywood passionately declared during a press conference held in front of the Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday that the notion that Initiative 2124 takes away long-term care health is a blatant lie. He firmly emphasized that the initiative simply offers people a choice, debunking the false narrative surrounding it.
In 2019, an Advisory Vote revealed that approximately 63% of Washington voters were in favor of repealing the long-term care payroll tax.
Washington lawmakers implemented a groundbreaking long-term care payroll tax, making them the first in the country to do so. This tax specifically targets individuals who do not have private long-term care insurance. It is important to note that the tax has a lifetime disbursement cap of $35,500, which is adjusted for inflation. The tax aims to cover a wide range of eligible long-term care expenses, such as nursing care, home modifications to accommodate wheelchair ramps, home-delivered meals, and even reimbursement to family caregivers.
Governor Jay Inslee signed the LTC payroll tax deduction into law in 2019, with the original start date set for January 1, 2022. However, due to public outcry, the Washington State Legislature decided to delay its implementation by 18 months. As a result, the new start date for the deduction is July 1, 2023. To be exempt from this tax, individuals had until December 31, 2022, to apply for an exemption. Those who qualify will start receiving benefits in 2026.
Funded by a 0.58 percent payroll tax on all employee wages, the program ensures that there is no cap on wages. This means that all forms of compensation, including stock-based compensation, bonuses, paid time off, and severance pay, are subject to the long-term care payroll tax. Based on 2021 salary data from the Office of Financial Management, the average annual contribution per worker amounts to $471.22.
The fiscal report linked to HB 1087, the bill that introduced the LTC payroll tax, sponsored by House Speaker Laurie Jinkins, reveals that the Washington Cares Fund is projected to generate a minimum of $500 million by the close of 2023 and an additional $1.07 billion by the end of 2024. The following is the protected revenue schedule that will be deposited into the long-term services and support trust account:
Critics of Long-Term Care (LTC) argue that the funding falls short for Washington’s aging population. According to AARP, the average annual cost of in-home care is $42,000 per person, while a private nursing home can cost up to $144,000. Another concern is the lack of portability in the benefits. This means that individuals who contribute to the program but later move out of state will not be able to access their LTC benefits unless they contribute for another ten years without interruption. Additionally, it’s important to note that the WA Cares Fund only covers the taxpayer and does not extend to their spouse or dependents.
Percussion Strategic has released a statement opposing Let’s Go Washington’s effort, in which a mega-millionaire’s self-funded campaign filed an initiative to the Legislature (I-2124) that would effectively repeal WA Cares. WA Cares is a long-term care benefit that supports over 3 million working Washingtonians and has garnered widespread support from health and services organizations such as AARP Washington, MS Society, Lupus Foundation, Alzheimer’s Association, Washington Health Care Association, and other members of the We Care For WA Cares coalition.
Several organizations are currently being represented by Percussion Strategic in their opposition to this and other initiatives of Let’s Go Washington.
Jessica Gomez, campaign manager of We Care For WA Cares, expressed concern about the potential repeal of the WA Cares Fund. She highlighted the impact it would have on millions of working Washingtonians who rely on the fund to cover their care expenses in the event of injury, illness, or old age. Gomez emphasized that if the initiative to repeal WA Cares is successful, workers would be faced with the difficult choice of depleting their savings to qualify for Medicaid or relying on expensive long-term care insurance, which is often only accessible to the wealthy.
California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota are likely to join Washington state as potential pioneers in implementing a long-term care tax.
Let’s Go Washington, led by the new political powerbroker Brian Heywood, has submitted over 434,112 signatures for I-2113, which aims to restore authority to police officers to reasonably pursue suspicious individuals who have violated the law. For Initiative 2081, the Secretary of State’s Office received 454,372 signatures. If enacted into law, this initiative will establish Washington state’s first Parental Bill of Rights. Prior to this, I-2117 was submitted with 469,011 signatures to repeal provisions of the Washington Climate Commitment Act, also known as Cap-and-Invest, which was passed by the legislature in 2021.
Last week, the citizen action group successfully gathered 446,372 signatures for Initiative 2111, which aims to eliminate the State Income Tax. Additionally, they collected an impressive 433,553 signatures for I-2109, a movement working towards the repeal of the Capital Gains Tax.
After successfully verifying 2,662,310 signatures for the six initiatives, the Secretary of State’s Office will certify the initiatives for the Legislature in its 2024 session. The Legislature will then have the option to take one of the following actions:
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- Adopt the initiative as proposed resulting in it becoming law without a vote of the people;
- Reject or refuse to act on the proposed initiative resulting in it being placed on the November 5, 2023, General Election ballot; or
- Propose a different measure dealing with the same subject where both measures will be placed on the November 5, 2023, General Election ballot.
According to the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC), Let’s Go Washington has spent a total of $6.933 million on their expenses, with an average cost of $2.61 per signature submitted. The majority of these expenses, approximately $5 million, can be directly attributed to signature gathering and printing. Let’s Go Washington PAC has received significant support from Heywood, who has personally loaned the organization $4.15 million and contributed an additional $1.7 million in both cash and in-kind contributions.
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