Another important editorial page has weighed in on the advisability of using the state's general fund to pay for our state's new paid family leave entitlement mandate. That was the apparent recommendation at the last meeting of the joint legislative task force set up to figure out funding and administration of the program in advance of the 2008 session.
According to the News Tribune's Sunday editorial:
Using existing tax revenue is a bad idea for several reasons, primarily because the state cannot afford it. The state surplus — which dipped below $1.4 billion earlier this month because of a slowing housing market — has enough claims on its shrinking riches. And it won’t last forever.
Task force members suggest the Legislature look for another funding source after the family-leave program’s first four years. But chances are that once the program is in the general fund, that’s where it would stay, even after the surplus is long gone.
Over the long run, making family leave a general-fund entitlement would open the door to the costly expansion of benefits. It is far easier for legislators to slip extra money to programs buried in the $30 billion general-fund budget than it would be to raise a tax on workers’ paychecks.
Of course, you could look at the general fund as a persistent two-year sunset on the program. Every two years, proponents have to come back to the budget writers and justify its existence and continued operation. On that view, the general fund would make it harder to expand the program, especially in lean years. But what's more likely, and more risky, is that once the general fund surplus dries up, the tax burden will be shifted -- perhaps -- untenably, uncompetitively -- to the employer community.
The News Tribune sees political risk as well, criticizing the don't-bother-me-with-the-details spirit in which the bill was originally passed:
Lawmakers may have backed themselves into a corner. Word is that Gov. Chris Gregoire is cool to the idea of paying family-leave benefits with general-fund dollars. If she proves an obstacle, the Legislature could be faced with either raising taxes in an election year or reneging on its promise of paid family leave.
Such is the danger when legislators skip past the details on their way to a political score.
On a lighter note, last Friday's Dilbert strip captured one of the key business concerns with paid family leave quite perfectly.
