Washington Family and Medical Leave Program: Expand it or repeal it?

OLYMPIA – There’s a move in Olympia to end the state’s Family and Medical Leave Insurance program before it even gets going. It was created in 2007, but got no start-up funding in the recession and now, a group of legislators wants to strike it altogether. It’s a type of insurance that allows new parents or people with family emergencies to take a few weeks off work with partial pay of up to $250 a week.

Marilyn Watkins, policy director for the Economic Opportunity Institute, says it offers a little bit of financial security to families facing challenges.

“It’s just a modest social insurance p...