The Washington State
Labor Council's
pretty-much-weekly report from Olympia
Previous editions of this year's Legislative Updates
MONDAY, MARCH 10 (PDF version)
Working Families Gain Ground
Concurrence is still needed to bring bills over the finish line
Success and disappointment roll in like waves on a beach during any legislative session. One bill after another, supporters and detractors wait to see how the tide will turn and just how big a splash each piece of legislation will make. This year, as the short session winds down, working families are finding a somewhat favorable tide, but still, the shifting sands of the money pile over the next few days will determine if we are hanging on to beach front or facing erosion.
Working Families Tax Credit
Despite determination to keep the budget reigns tight, legislators realized that passage of the Working Families Tax Credit was a way to benefit those who need it most in these uncertain economic times. According to the Spokane Spokesman Review, Representative Tami Green called the plan "the biggest improvement on the state's tax system since Washington long ago eliminated the sales tax on food."
It’s not over until the Senate approves the amended bill, the final budget includes the start-up funding and then the Governor has to sign the bill into law (all of which we expect will happen) … but if all goes as planned, we will have taken an important step toward making our state’s unbalanced tax system more fair in a tangible and popular way.
HVAC-R as Good as it Gets
Sometimes, though you work as hard as you can, you just can't reach 100% agreement on a bill. The HVAC-R bill (ESSB 5831) is just such an example. This legislation has been in the works for four years and is supported by the majority of the HVAC-R industry and both business and labor which represents some 1,500 employers and 95,000 workers.
The bill is a single, statewide, uniform standard of certification in the name of both worker safety and consumer protection. The bill sets the general parameters for the industry and the industry board, empowered by the legislation, will have the ability to fine tune the legislation.
We now need the Senate to move the legislation forward and approve the changes implemented by the House. Originally, the bill came out of the Senate as a study bill; but the House fixed that flaw and now the Senate will vote on the House changes. It is time to vote forward the best efforts of those who willingly worked so hard to bring this bill to the floor. We want to applaud everyone's efforts to compromise on this legislation, including the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Commerce and Labor Committee who have done extraordinary work, and we urge legislators to cast a positive vote.
The Decision Should Benefit the Worker
It is time to stop the practice of allowing self-insured employers to starve injured workers into submission when their claims are appealed to the Board of Industrial Insurance Appeals by their employer. It never has made any sense to penalize workers after the department of L&I made the decision that a worker's claim should be paid. Allowing benefits to stop just because an employer appeals the decision, takes into account only the employer appeals rights; not the rights of the worker. In nearly 80% of these appeals workers end up settling with the employer for far fewer benefits than they would have otherwise been entitled to.
With great reluctance we have asked all of our friends in the Senate to support the Ed Murray/Boeing amendment which requires workers to pay for the entire cost of a repayment fund to cover employers when they fail to recoup potential overpayments resulting from these appeals. The ability of these workers to survive pending the appeal of their claim far outweighs anything else, we are asking legislators to vote for this amendment.
It is imperative to close the current injustice in the system by providing the benefits to which hundreds of injured workers a year are entitled. We are asking both the House and the Senate to vote yes for the bill as it comes out of the Conference Committee.
Health Care Wins and Losses
The Healthy WA Coalition had some very important successes and one big disappointment so far in the session.
The most important bill for the future of health care reform in WA is SB 6333, the actuarial study/working group bill. This bill passed from the House in the last half hour before the 5 p.m. cut off by a vote of 63-31. The bill, which was amended in the House, went on to the Senate for concurrence and now can go to the Governor's desk for her signature.
The disappointment is that the Working Group will not be appointed for quite a while and will not begin a public process until after the actuarial study is completed. That being said, the Coalition can live with the bill and will be working to get the Senate to concur quickly. Both Senator Karen Keiser, Representative Eileen Cody and other Representatives and their staffs are to be thanked for their hard work on this legislation.
The other piece of legislation that passed was SB 5261, restoring authority to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner to regulate insurance in the individual market. This bill has received concurrence by the Senate and is headed to the Governor's desk.
Besides concurrences, the next few days will be filled with negotiations over the budget. HB 2537, the Health Insurance Partnership bill, passed the Senate by a vote of 27-22 after a very tough debate. Opponents were representing the interests of the Insurance Industry and Association Plans who are fearful that the Partnership will compete for their market. They made efforts at several amendments which would have destroyed the Partnership and some votes were very close.
The passage of this bill makes one of the Healthy WA Coalition's legislative agenda items possible: the subsidies for low wage employees of small employers. We hope these subsidies remain in the final budget.
Other important budget items include trying to get $3 million for the Scholarship and Loan program to help deal with the shortage of primary care providers. The Healthy WA Coalition will work with the Primary Care Coalition to achieve this goal. In addition, they will support the efforts of the Coalition working on children's health care needs to get $2 million in the budget for the mental health needs of non-Medicaid children.
The biggest disappointment for the Healthy WA Coalition is the failure to pass the Prescription Privacy bill. The Senate passed the bill but the House failed to vote on the issue. It was a tough vote for the Senate and the majority who voted for the bill (26-22) deserve our congratulations. Senators Lisa Brown, Karen Keiser and Darlene Fairley did a great job leading a majority of their members to vote for the bill. Thanks go out to the Senate Democrats who voted for this bill and were willing to take on the pharmaceutical giants and their big bucks. This was a tough vote taken by the Senate even when the House was not willing to take the issue on.
It is astonishing that the House, with 63 Democrats, could not muster a majority to pass the legislation. Rep Jamie Pedersen, who did a magnificent job of trying to shepherd the bill through the House, was quoted as saying: "This is, in my view, a symbol of a much larger issue. Because we are not going to get to universal health coverage in any form until we take on the drug companies." The Democrats didn't understand this and instead they were influenced by the large number of pharmaceutical lobbyists and the influential democratic lobbyists who represented the La Reata mining company, IMS. Please communicate with the Senators who voted for this bill and let them know we appreciated their vote.
Some other bills that passed this week
SB 6809 -- Labor Member on the Forest Practice Board
After 34 years Labor will finally have representation on the Labor on the Forest Practice Board. This was a hard fought battle by the AWPPW and the Woodworkers/IAM that finally paid off.
HB 2699 -- Service Charge DisclosureThis was a technical fix to ensure enforcement of 2007 legislation that requires employers who provide food, beverage, entertainment or porterage to disclose the percentage of automatic service charges paid to employees.
B 2963 -- Collective Bargaining for WSU Academic
Student Employees
This bill does just as it says bringing WSU students the same rights won by University of Washington student employees last session.
Bills Needing Concurrence This Week
5831 HVAC -- requiring certification for mechanics performing heating, air conditioning, refrigeration and gas piping work.
6751 Unemployment Insurance for Apprentices -- unemployment benefits for workers who have left a job to enter an apprenticeship program.
6776 Whistle-blower Protection -- protection for government employees when they expose corruption or illegal behavior in the workplace.
6809 Working Families Credit -- tax credit for low-wage working families.
6333 Establishing a citizens' work group on health care -- to study specific health care plans and discuss with the public how to create quality, affordable health care for all Washingtonians.
SB 5261 Insurance Rate Accountability -- restoring authority to regulate insurance in the individual market.
Budget Items to Watch
$500,000.00 for the conversion from part time to full time faculty for community and technical colleges.
$2 Million for apprenticeships for Building and Construction Trades
$1 Million for the New Americans Initiative
$3 Million for Scholarships and Loans for Primary Care Providers
$2 Million for mental health needs of non-Medicade children
Call the Legislative Hotline and leave messages
for your legislators on these bills! 1-800-562-6000
January 21, 2008 (PDF Version)
January 24, 2008 (PDF Version)
February 5, 2008 (PDF Version)
February 12, 2008 (PDF Version)
February 15, 2008 (PDF Version)
February 25, 2008 (PDF Version)
Copyright © 2007 Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO