STATE GOVERNMENT
Status report on some labor bills as Tuesday cutoff looms
Frontline healthcare workers’ rest break bill advances, ready for floor vote
OLYMPIA (April 8, 2019) — Tomorrow — Tuesday, April 9 — is the cutoff deadline for policy bills to emerge from fiscal committees in the opposite house. Then they have until Wednesday, April 17 to pass the opposite house.
But quite a few other important labor bills still need to advance from fiscal committees by Tuesday. Here is a status report on some of the bills that we’ve been following in the WSLC Legislative Update newsletter and at The Stand.
NEED FISCAL COMMITTEE ACTION
ALLOWING AAGs TO JOIN TOGETHER — SSB 5297, sponsored by Sen. Sam Hunt (D-Olympia), would extend collective bargaining rights to assistant attorneys general. Read more about it. — Passed Senate, 27-18. Passed House Labor & Workforce Standards; scheduled for executive session today in Appropriations.
HEALTH CARE: PATHWAY TO UNIVERSAL COVERAGE — 2SSB 5822, sponsored by Sen. Emily Randall (D-Bremerton), would set up a work group to make recommendations for publicly funded, privately delivered health care for all Washington state residents. The group will have representatives from various stakeholders in the state’s healthcare system, including from labor with knowledge of Taft-Hartley trusts, and would report its finding and make recommendations to legislators by Nov. 15, 2020. — Passed Senate, 28-21. Passed House Health Care & Wellness Committee, scheduled for executive session today in Appropriations.
HEALTH CARE: STANDARDIZED INSURANCE PLANS — ESSB 5526 and E2SHB 1523, sponsored by Sen. David Frockt (D-Seattle) and Rep. Eileen Cody (D-Seattle), aim to increase the availability of quality, affordable private health coverage in the individual market. They would require the state to create a standardized insurance plans and contract with health insurance carriers to offer those plans. — ESSB 5526 passed Senate, 36-13, passed Health Care & Wellness Committee, scheduled for executive session today in Appropriations. E2SHB 1523 passed House, 57-41, passed Senate Health & Long Term Care, scheduled for executive session in Ways & Means today.
HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT FOR ALL (HEAL) ACT — 2SSB 5489, sponsored by Sen. Rebecca Saldaña (D-Seattle), creating a definition of environmental justice, directing agencies to address environmental health disparities, and creating a task force to recommend strategies for state agencies to incorporate environmental justice principles into their responsibilities. — Passed Senate, 27-21. Passed House State Government & Tribal Relations; scheduled for executive session today in Appropriations.
H-2A OVERSIGHT — E2SSB 5438, sponsored by Sen. John McCoy (D), will create some state oversight of the H-2A program, the federal program allows the agricultural industry to bring foreign “guest” farmworkers into the country on temporary work visas. Read more about it. — Passed Senate, 26-21, passed House Labor & Workplace Standards; scheduled for executive session today in Appropriations.
KEEP WASHINGTON WORKING ACT — E2SSB 5497, sponsored by Sen. Lisa Wellman (D-Mercer Island). establishes a statewide policy supporting Washington state’s economy and immigrants’ role in the workplace, and ensures their access to state services. It develops strategies to protect our immigrant workforce, and secure their rights as workers and members of our communities. Read more about it. — Passed Senate, 30-16. Passed House Civil Rights & Judiciary; scheduled for executive session in Appropriations.
LONG-TERM CARE TRUST ACT — 2SHB 1087, sponsored by Rep. Laurie Jinkins (D-Tacoma), would establish a Long-Term Care Trust to reduce the biggest uninsured risk Washingtonians now face. It will help protect future taxpayers from the cost of long-term care, both to their families and to the state budget. Most of all, it would give families the security of knowing they will get the care they need when they need it most without the added stress of how to pay for it. Read more about it. — Passed House, 63-33. Passed Senate Health & Long-Term Care; now in Ways & Means.
STATUS REPORT ON THE REST
COLLEGE COUNSELOR STAFFING STANDARDS — ESHB 1355, sponsored by Rep. Lillian Ortiz-Self (D-Mukilteo), would create a joint legislative task force to examine issues related to minimum standards and staffing ratios of counselors in the community and technical college system. — Passed House, 72-24. Passed Senate Higher Education & Workforce Development; now in Rules.
HEALTH CARE: MEAL & REST BREAKS — SHB 1155, sponsored by Rep. Marcus Riccelli (D-Spokane), is patient safety legislation that would ensure frontline healthcare workers receive uninterrupted meal and rest breaks and close a dangerous loophole in the mandatory overtime law. Read more about it. — Passed House, 63-34. In Senate Committee on Labor & Commerce and Ways & Means; now in Rules.
INTEREST ARBITRATION FOR CAMPUS POLICE — SB 5022, sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent), would provide interest arbitration for police officers at four-year colleges and universities. Read more about it. — Passed Senate, 45-2. Passed House Labor & Workplace Standards; passed Appropriations.
INTEREST ARBITRATION FOR CORRECTIONS OFFICERS — 2SSB 5021, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Van De Wege (D-Sequim), would provide interest arbitration for employees at the Department of Corrections. Read more about it. — Passed Senate, 47-0. Passed House Labor & Workplace Standards; passed Appropriations.
PLAN 2 DEFAULT — SB 5360 / ESHB 1308, sponsored by Sen. Steve Conway (D-Tacoma) and Rep. Derek Stanford (D-Bothell), would change the default retirement plan for public workers from Plan 3 to Plan 2, if they fail to choose a plan within 90 days, to ensure more retirees are protected by defined-benefit pensions. — SB 5360 passed Senate, 39-9. Passed House Appropriations; now in Rules. ESHB 1308 passed House, 74-22. Passed Senate Ways & Means; now in Rules.
REGULATE NON-COMPETITION CONTRACTS — ESSB 5478 and ESHB 1450, sponsored by Sen. Marko Liias (D-Lynnwood) and Rep. Derek Stanford (D-Bothell), would regulate non-competition agreements in Washington state to ensure they aren’t being used to exploit workers and deny them the opportunities to find better jobs. Read more about it. — Both bills were amended. ESSB 5478 passed Senate, 30-18; passed House Labor & Workplace Standards; was pulled from Rules, and is on 2nd reading (available for a floor vote). ESHB 1450 passed House, 55-41; passed Senate Labor & Commerce; now in Rules.
WORK VIOLENCE / SEXUAL HARASSMENT — ESSB 5258, sponsored by Sen. Karen Keiser (D-Kent), requires companies that employ custodians, security guards, hotel or motel housekeepers, or others who spend a majority of their working hours alone to adopt a sexual harassment policy, provide sexual harassment training, provide a list of resources to employees, and provide panic buttons to isolated workers. — Passed Senate, 47-0; passed House Labor & Workforce Standards; now in Rules.