OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Six years ago, Washington state lawmakers approved a program giving parents five weeks paid time off to be with a new child. But the question of how to pay for the program was never answered, and now some lawmakers are looking to remove it from the books completely. Republican State Representative Cary Condotta says the state needs to focus on what it can pay for. But Sen. Karen Keiser, a Democrat from Kent who sponsored the initial bill, has introduced her own bill to expand the underlying measure. On Friday's Legislative Hotline on KPQ Condotta says Keiser's proposal is politically motivated.
The paid family leave law passed in 2007 and was supposed to start paying benefits of up to $250 a week starting in October 2009. But it's already been delayed twice. Keiser's new bill adds caring for a family member or a worker's own disability and would pay 2/3 of a worker's pay a week, up to $1,000 a week.
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