The paid family and medical leave program has been in deficit several times since Spring 2022. (Our report about the program’s problems is here.) The monthly ending balance of the family and medical leave insurance (FMLI) account has been negative six times, including this April (see the chart below). At the April meeting of the PFML advisory committee, the Employment Security Department (ESD) said that the account would be in deficit at the end of the 2021–23 biennium (despite the increase in the premium rate from 0.6% to 0.8% for 2023).

But, as I’ve noted, this year the Legislature appropriated $200 million from the general fund–state to the FMLI account to seed a reserve for the program. At yesterday’s PFML advisory committee meeting, ESD said that the funds were deposited in the FMLI account on June 15. With those funds, ESD is no longer projecting deficits, and there is a “lower risk of short-term deficit in future cycles.”

Additionally, for the January–May period, ESD reports that benefits paid in 2023 were 25% higher than in 2022. Premiums collected in the January–May period in 2023 were 67% higher than in 2022.