We hit the ground running this legislative session. The House has already passed a number of bills, and legislation is moving quickly through committees. This may be what we call a short session, which lasts just 60 days, but we have a lot of work to do!
Last week, I voted to pass needed reforms to the WA Cares Fund, the state’s long-term care benefit for seniors and people with disabilities. HB 1732 will extend the implementation period, meaning workers won’t pay the premium until the Legislature finishes their work to improve the benefit. And HB 1733 allows voluntary exemption for certain individuals, including military spouses, disabled veterans, non-immigrant visa workers and border state workers who live outside Washington state and wouldn’t qualify for WA Cares benefits.
These two bills are necessary reforms to make sure the program is accessible, robust and available when you need it. Most families don’t plan for long-term care or have any sort of insurance to protect them. That leads to them spending down savings to qualify for state Medicaid funding for long-term care or asking family members to care for them. Sometimes families end up selling everything they own, including their homes, to be able to qualify.
In fact, the likelihood that at least one spouse will be denied long-term care coverage ranges from 35% between the ages of 40 and 49 to 78.5% for couples over 75. These reforms mean no premiums for workers for 18 months and vital exemptions.
Survey: Your opinion on interesting bills
There are a variety of issues that come up every session. Visit this link to share your thoughts about some bills that may stir up strong opinions. I appreciate hearing from you!
Thank you to everyone who took the time to fill out my last survey on what issues the Legislature should prioritize. You can visit this link to see the results.
Supporting families, small businesses and our economy
I’m proud to report that my colleagues Reps. Dave Paul and Alicia Rule introduced a bill to give small businesses and our economy a boost. HB 2018 would exempt some purchases from sales taxes for three days in September, including clothing, school supplies, computers, health care equipment and energy efficient appliances. You can read more here.
But that’s not all! Here’s some other tax related bills up for consideration:
–SB 5873: Provide payroll tax relief for workers and businesses. Last year, the Legislature helped with more than $2 billion in unemployment tax relief for businesses affected by the pandemic through SB 5061 and SB 5478.
–HB 1888: Updates the Working Families Tax Credit to ensure the rebate adjusts based on qualifying income changes
–HB 1643: Exempts from the real estate excise tax the sale or transfer of property for rental housing for low-income individuals
–HB 1789: Provides a property tax exemption for adult family homes owned by a nonprofit that serve people with intellectual or developmental disabilities
–HB 1988: Provides tax deferrals for clean technology manufacturing, clean alternative fuels production and renewable energy storage projects
Tell us how to change Washington state’s tax code
For the last few years, the Tax Structure Work Group has aimed to identify options to make our state tax code more fair, adequate, stable and transparent for individuals and businesses. After conducting extensive analyses of our current tax structure and modeling many possible scenarios for updating the code, they want to hear your thoughts. To provide your feedback on ides for changing Washington state’s taxes, take this survey by Jan. 31.
Before I sign off, I want to make sure to let you know that the state Department of Health launched a website where Washington state residents can order free at-home COVID-19 tests. Each household can order up to five tests. While supply is limited, it will be restocked.
Thanks for reading! And thank you everyone who joined our mini virtual town hall this weekend. Rep. David Hackney and I had great discussions with constituents on a wide range of issues, and we’re looking forward to the next town hall in February. Stay tuned for more!
As always, please don’t hesitate to send me an email or give me a call at 253-214-3275.
Sincerely,
Steve Bergquist