Workers' pay to fund care program

There was some good news recently coming out of a meeting concerning a 2019 law creating a state-run, long-term-care program to be funded through workers’ paychecks starting in January.

In case you’re not in the loop, a payroll tax of 58 cents per $100, with no income cap, begins Jan. 1 to fund the Washington Cares Fund.

Statutory employees earning $50,000 a year will pay $290 annually, those who make $100,000 will contribute $580 each year, and so on. Some workers who pay in for a set number of years will one day be eligible for a lifetime long-term-care benefit of $36,500, should they need l...