The Washington State Senate on Wednesday afternoon passed a bill to delay payroll tax collections for the WA Cares mandatory long-term care program funded by an added 0.58% payroll tax on workers.
House Bill 1732 – which pushes out collection of the tax until July 1, 2023 – was passed by a 46-3 vote in the Senate after having come over from the House, which passed the bill last week.
The legislation is the result of several problems related to the long-term care tax, including a lawsuit by Washington workers who live out of state and have no plans to retire in Washington, what critics called a narrow one-time opt-out, and a website that was supposed to facilitate opt-outs crashing from overuse.
Collection of the long-term care tax was originally set to begin in January, but last month Gov. Jay Inslee announced a delay in collections after lawmakers urged a pause to deal with the many logistical and legal challenges related to collecting the tax.
Inslee ended up generating further confusion by subsequently releasing a statement saying he does not have the authority to pause the tax and that employers are still legally obligated to pay the full amount owed to the state.
The bill, fast tracked by the Democratic majority in both chambers, is expected to go to Inslee for his signature into law by the end of the week.
