Should WA Cares funds be invested in the stock market? Ferguson says yes

Washington’s Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson and Senate Republican Leader John Braun have teamed up to persuade voters to let the state make stock market investments with tax dollars collected for its new long-term care program.

Ferguson endorses a measure on the Nov. 4 ballot to amend the state constitution to allow assets of the program, known as WA Cares Fund, to be handled similarly to pension and retirement accounts. Any earnings would be plowed back into the program.

The governor joined five others, including Braun, of Centralia, to sign the voters’ pamphlet statement urging approval of Senate Joint Resolution 8201.

It is a “common sense measure that ensures tax dollars go further,” they wrote. It will “increase funding without impacting taxpayers” and “guarantee” benefits are there when individuals need them, it reads.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/07/10/should-wa-cares-funds-be-invested-in-the-stock-market-ferguson-says-yes/