Gov. Jay Inslee today updated Proclamation 20-49, which generally prohibits garnishment for consumer debt in certain circumstances, by replacing the specific reference to CARES Act stimulus payments with ‘federal stimulus payments’.
This is a technical update and will protect the new federal stimulus funding payments in the same manner that CARES Act stimulus payments were protected. No other changes were made. This proclamation expires Jan. 19, as previously approved by the Legislature.
Read the full proclamation here.
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Additionally, Senate Republicans failed to extend two proclamations in a Jan. 4 letter. The expiration of these two proclamations will adversely affect Washington individuals and businesses.
Proclamation 20-58 waives/suspends the legal requirement that employers pay shared work benefits, thereby allowing federal stimulus funding to be used to pay for the employer portion of shared work benefits. Without this waiver, businesses are missing out on roughly $10 million per month in federal aid (based on participation thus far). Instead, federal dollars the state receives for this purpose now go into our state trust fund, as we are unable to pass the benefit onto employers at a time they need it most.
Proclamation 20-63 directs DSHS to expand the Family Emergency Assistance Program to assist individuals and families without children (as opposed to focusing only on those who have children). At the time that Senate Republicans refused to extend this proclamation, DSHS was still receiving hundreds of applications every day from both individuals and families in every county in our state. Now, DSHS is limited to helping only those families with children.