See the entire 2009
WSLC Legislative Report
Big
unemployment insurance
tax breaks for business
For benefits, a temporary boost only
Businesses in Washington state were granted hundreds of millions of dollars in unemployment insurance tax cuts in 2009. But labor’s efforts to combine the tax cuts with permanent benefit improvements were rejected by legislators.
Early in the session, the legislature overwhelmingly passed HB 1906, a tweaked version of Gov. Chris Gregoire’s economic-stimulus package proposal to temporarily boost unemployment benefits by $45 a week from May 2008 to Jan. 1, 2009. Weekly benefits for workers at the lowest level were increased from $129 to $200 during that benefit period.
But later, when House Democrats sought to add some permanent benefit improvements to SB 5963 -- the bill granting permanent UI tax cuts to businesses -- legislators who opposed those improvements claimed a "deal" had been reached that HB 1906 would be all that workers get. Who made such a deal is not clear. It wasn’t organized labor.
To meet federal requirements, the state needed to change its UI tax system. SB 5963 accomplished that, and then some.
The 2010-2015
tax rates were lowered about $377 million, and assuming the economy
recovers, SB 5963 will save businesses some $1.6 billion every five years
after that. But it also cut benefits by taking away the Employment
Security commissioners’ discretion to award benefits in unique
circumstances of good-cause quits, a change sought by business
interests.
After the Senate approved SB 5963, a courageous and principled coalition of 53 State Representatives defied the wishes of Democratic leaders by approving an amendment to retain discretion for good-cause quits. Their amendment also restored the benefit multiplier to 4.0 -- where it was from 1970-2005 -- permanently increasing benefits $8 to $19 a week after next year’s expiration of the temporary boost. (In our Voting Record on Page 5 we count two House roll-calls on a Republican amendment to remove these labor-supported changes.)
But the Senate refused to concur with those changes. And thanks to some manufactured confusing and chicanery during floor action in the session’s final hours, Senate Democratic leaders deliberately avoided a roll-call vote on the amendments.
The Washington State Labor Council very much appreciates the courage it took for 53 State Representatives to stand up to opposition from Boeing, other corporate interests and their own Democratic leadership to pass the labor-backed amendments.
But in the end, what prevailed was a "deal" apparently agreed to by Democratic legislative leaders -- and without labor’s knowledge -- to do nothing for unemployed workers in 2009 except pass the temporary economic-stimulus benefit increase that expires Dec. 31. In exchange, not only did business get hundreds of millions of dollars in permanent tax cuts, they also took away commissioner discretion on good-cause quits.
Nice deal... for business.
There are many, many more stories included in the print version of the WSLC's 2009 Legislative Report. See the Table of Contents. Also, members of WSLC-affiliated unions can request a free copy of the printed version of the report.
2009 Senate Voting Record -- 2009 House Voting Record
Copyright © 2009 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO