Published by JD Rossetti in The Rebel on March 24, 2017

The Washington State Legislature has reached the halfway point of the 2017 legislative session. The House of Origin cutoff deadline was Wednesday, March 8, at 5 p.m. The Legislature will now be turning its attention to the budget and bills passed by the opposite chamber. House committees will be reviewing bills passed by the Senate. The Senate will be doing the same, holding hearings on bills that passed the House.

In the first half of the legislative session the Washington Area Council of the AWPPW drafted and introduced two legislative proposals. Although these bills did not make it through committee before the policy cutoff, we have gained tremendous insight and are optimistic about making further progress.

The first legislative proposal introduced is House Bill 1941/ Senate Bill 5774 prime sponsored by Rep. Ryu (D) 32nd District and Senator Chase (D) 32nd District. The legislation would disqualify an employer from tax credits and tax incentives when there have been certain violations of labor relations. The bill would hold accountable an employer who illegally locks out or fires employees. If the NLRB rules that the employer illegally locked out or illegally fired employees, the employer would not be eligible to receive state tax credits or state tax incentives for five years.

The second legislative proposal introduced is House Bill 1942/ Senate Bill 5773 prime sponsored by Rep. Fey (D) 27th District and Senator Chase (D) 32nd District. The legislation concerns the overpayment of benefits paid to an individual unemployed due to a lockout. The bill would require that an employer who loses an employment dispute (i.e. illegally fires an employee(s)) and is required to rehire the employee(s). The employer must pay back the unemployment compensation, as well as, the back pay to the employee(s).

Working families made significant gains in labor policy in the first half of the session including the advancement of the Equal Pay Opportunity Act (HB 1506), Apprenticeship Utilization (HB1849), Outsourcing Accountability (SHB 1851), and Washington’s Voting Rights Act (HB 1800). The Senate’s Right-to-Work proposal (SB 5692) failed to pass out of the Senate Labor committee after a public hearing of more than 1,000 people signing in opposed to the bill.

In other news, the Senate passed the House proposal to delay the “levy cliff.” This is great news for our students, teachers, and school districts for funding for next year, but the Legislature still must prepare and adopt a budget to include full funding for schools.

Remember, you can keep up with what is happening at http:// leg.wa.gov. You can also look up specific legislation to see the latest status at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo.

Make your voice heard! Call your state legislators at 1-800- 562-6000 and leave a message for them to vote “yes” on the bills that discourage discriminatory pay and provide protections for working families.

I truly appreciate the opportunity to provide legislative sup- port and updates as I continue to monitor the progression of the second half of the legislative session.

Sincerely,
— J.D. Rossetti
Washington Legislative Director Washington Area Council, AWPPW