Washington Initiative 2124 (I-2124) is one of a series of initiatives that will appear on the ballot in November of 2024. I-2124 would eliminate long term care coverage for working Washingtonians by slashing funding for the WA Cares Fund. This would mean millions would go without home care, family caregiving, home modifications, and so much more.
How should I vote on Initiative I-2124?
You should vote “no.”
All Washingtonians should be able to get the care they need, but I-2124 is designed to force the WA Cares Fund to fail. By making it optional to pay into the program, it ensures that the fund will not have enough money to operate and it will collapse. Washingtonians will once again only have the option of buying long-term care through expensive private insurers, which typically only the wealthiest can afford.
What would happen if Initiative I-2124 passes?
Eliminating funding for WA Cares means that millions of people would not be able to access the long term care benefits they require. I-2124 would take away benefits from working people who have earned them by paying into the system.
As we age, 70% of us will wind up needing long-term care — getting help with meals, chores, and daily tasks are all things that help us live in our homes for longer. If this initiative passes, working Washingtonians will no longer have access to an affordable plan guaranteed to provide them with money to pay for home care and other long-term care needs.
Who is behind this initiative?
One MAGA multi-millionaire named Brian Heywood has personally spent more than $6 million bankrolling all of these initiatives in a cynical effort to buy him and his ultra-rich friends multiple tax cuts. He wants to roll back the ways our elected leaders have made life better in Washington in recent years with no care about the damage to our communities he leaves in his wake.
Each of these initiatives is sponsored in the Legislature by one of the most powerful MAGA-Republicans in Olympia. Now the Chair of Washington’s far right Republican Party, Rep. Jim Walsh is once again looking to impose his dangerous and unpopular agenda on all the people of Washington.
