The state Supreme Court last week handed the Washington Legislature a surprise bill that could cost well into the nine figures, ruling that adult family home workers are entitled to actually make the minimum wage, even if they are live-in workers who get room and board.
If you find it surprising that they weren’t subject to the minimum wage — we were too. But take a spin through the exemptions to the wage law and you can see a bunch of pork belly giveaways to The Man. Minor league baseball and hockey players, newspaper carriers, able-bodied seamen, and — our favorite — elected officials.
The Supremes, with an 8-1 ruling, entitled six live-in employees of an adult family company called AssureCare to the minimum wage, not a flat rate plus room and board (one of the plaintiffs described her sleeping quarters as a reclining chair in the living room). The ruling only applies to those six, but is directly applicable to all similarly situated folks, which industry insiders guess is about 75 percent of the roughly 18,000-person adult family home workforce. That maths out to about 13,500 workers across the 5,500 licensed homes. The question of retroactive pay gets kicked back to the trial court in King County. If it is retroactive, the bill could get far higher.
Here’s why you should care this: The state has increasingly relied on adult family homes for care of its elderly and disabled who rely on Medicaid because they’re cheaper than the other options. Medicaid pays for about 16,500 people in adult family homes statewide, so the Supremes’ ruling quickly becomes a state budget problem. The ruling got just one write-up in the press, but deserves more attention as Gov. Bob Ferguson’s green eyeshades are already warning of cuts in next year’s budget.
It’s tough to figure out just how big of a problem it’ll be. Coincidentally, the same day the ruling landed, the state was negotiating with the adult family home industry for new Medicaid rates. The industry had proposed rates that would effectively get rid of the in-home workers’ pay structure and stabilize high rates of turnover. The overall cost was $903M for the next biennium. It’s unclear how much of that would be tied to fully eliminating the live-in model to care for Medicaid residents, but with some 13,500 live-in workers currently, the bill could be into the hundreds of millions.
The state has whistled past the fiscal graveyard of this arrangement and other shortcuts to fully funding Medicaid rates for long-term care, even as caseloads are rising with an aging population. In fact, a group of assisted living providers is suing over a $45M cut to their Medicaid rates in the 2027 supplemental budget. The adult family home industry warned in court filings that eliminating the live-in worker minimum wage exemption could result in “perhaps bringing them to financial ruin as they learn they are responsible for paying years of back pay simply because they relied on it.”
One other note: The court continues its run of rulings taking aim at laws it sees as racist — in this case, the historically Black and female demographics of in-home workers being exempt from the minimum wage. It also found the workers’ jobs were inherently dangerous, which was a key reason the Supremes in 2020 similarly tossed out a minimum wage exemption for dairy workers. Justice Charles Johnson, in a lonely dissent, said there was scant evidence to support that danger, and argued more evidence was needed for such a sweeping decision.
The court’s decision to make the ruling retroactive could massively expand its fiscal impact, reminiscent of the budget bomb handed across Flag Circle regarding public defense caseloads.
Governor Ferguson’s cash for college pitch
Gov. Bob Ferguson doesn’t want would-be college students to sleep on the free money they have waiting for them.
Standing alongside young learners, their teachers, and business leaders at Highline College on Monday, Ferguson pitched a new mandate for prospective higher learners to cash in on the above. Said mandate would require graduating high school seniors to turn in their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (better known as FAFSA) before receiving a diploma, which could make those kids eligible for BILLIONS in state and federal grants. They could also fill out Washington’s own state financial aid application.
Students who aren’t in the mood for campus life could simply sign an opt-out form and move on with graduation. No one would have to seek aid, but everyone would have to give the FAFSA a thumbs up or down.
It’s a cheap proposal aimed at solving an expensive problem. Last year alone, Washington students walked away from more than $80 million in federal financial aid because they never filled out the paperwork.
Washington likes to market itself as a national leader in affordable higher education. The Washington College Grant is among the country’s most generous financial aid programs, covering full tuition and fees at public universities for many lower-income families while helping thousands more pay for community college, apprenticeships, and career training. But there’s a catch. Students have to apply.
Our fair state consistently ranks near the bottom nationally in FAFSA completion. Ferguson launched his “Washington Completes FAFSA” campaign last fall, and the effort has nudged the state from 47th to 40th in national rankings. Around 4,700 additional seniors completed either the FAFSA or the Washington Application for Student Financial Aid this year, bringing the state’s completion rate to roughly 51 percent.
Progress, certainly. Victory? Hardly.
Ferguson argues the numbers show voluntary outreach can only carry Washington so far. Three of the nation’s top five FAFSA-performing states – Tennessee, Illinois, and Texas – require students to complete the form before graduating. Even in Washington, the districts that have adopted similar policies are posting completion rates that leave the statewide average in the dust. Federal Way reports 67 percent. College Place near Walla Walla sits at 74 percent. North Beach in Grays Harbor County reaches 68 percent.
The proposal also attempts to sidestep one of the biggest political objections. Families wary of sharing financial information with Uncle Sam could instead complete the WASFA, Washington’s state-only financial aid application, which Ferguson assured Washingtonians isn’t shared with federal agencies (*cough* ICE).
In this economy, Ferguson’s proposal might be one the Legislature – and students – won’t refuse.
— Tim Gruver
A version of this story first appeared on the Washington Observer website.
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