According to the Employment Security Department, the paid family and medical leave (PFML) premium rate may rise to 0.91% next year. (This is not yet final because the rate is based on the account balance on Sept. 30. The final rate will be announced in October.)

The PFML actuary, in a PFML advisory committee meeting yesterday, presented projected premium rates through CY 2028. The 2025 projection is 0.91%, which is slightly lower than projected last Fall. However, the new projections for 2026 and 2027 are much higher than projected last year. Indeed, the projection for 2027 is 1.2%, which is the statutory maximum premium rate.

Meanwhile, the PFML account is currently projected to be in deficit most of the time from March 2025 through the end of FY 2026. Beginning in early FY 2027, the program is not projected to experience deficits. (The chart below is from the PFML advisory committee presentation.)

Under current projections, the account is expected to finish FY 2025 (and the 2023–25 biennium) with a negative $5 million balance. However, with higher rates going forward, the account is projected to end FY 2028 with $637 million.

Beginning in 2022, the PFML account went into deficit several times. In response, the Legislature changed the rate structure last year to incorporate a three-month reserve for the program. The Legislature also appropriated $200 million from the general fund–state (GFS) to the PFML account to ensure it was not in deficit at the end of the 2021–23 biennium and to seed a reserve for the program.

Based on the current projections, it looks like the new structure will help—after FY 2026—to keep the account in balance. In the meantime, it’s possible the Legislature will be asked to provide more GFS support next year. Agencies may request permission from the Office of Financial Management to run temporary cash deficits, but any such authorization expires at the end of a biennium (RCW 43.88.260).