Open Letter to Gov. Ferguson: Help Washingtonians Meet New Work Requirements and Keep Their Benefits
Governor Ferguson recently signed an executive order responding to H.R. 1, the federal law that adds new work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP. WWA Executive Director John Traugott sent the Governor an open letter, signed by workforce leaders across the state, urging more action to prepare.
Starting January 1, about 200,000 Washingtonians will need to meet new Medicaid work requirements, on top of roughly 106,000 who already face work requirements for SNAP (food assistance). Many will need job training or employment programs to keep their benefits, and those programs are already stretched thin.
We’re asking the state to release $5.5 million in unspent federal job-training funds now, through Washington’s local workforce boards. Invested through Economic Security for All (EcSA), we estimate these funds could help more than 1,100 additional families, generate more than $11 million in new wages, save the state more than $7.2 million in benefit costs, and bring in more than $850,000 in sales tax revenue.
The letter also asks the state to protect EcSA from further cuts and invest in expanding it. Washington’s local workforce boards are ready to help. What’s needed now is the funding to meet the demand.
A note on the numbers: When this letter was sent, the Health Care Authority’s initial estimate was that more than 600,000 Washingtonians would be affected by the new Medicaid requirements. HCA has since refined that estimate to about 200,000. Either way, that is far more people than our workforce system currently has the capacity to serve.
