NFIB's Small Business Bill of Rights filed in the House
State Director Patrick Connor reports from Olympia on the legislative week ending February 15.
On Monday, #Snowmageddon2019 forced the first weather-related shutdown of the Washington State Legislature in recent memory. Committees scrambled to add replacement hearings later in the week to minimize the impact to Week 5’s hearings schedule.
The week’s highlight was the filing of House Bill 2093, the House version of NFIB’s Small Business Bill of Rights. Reps. Andrew Barkis and Mike Chapman were joined by roughly two dozen other state representatives who signed on as co-sponsors of the measure. House members will be able to add their names to the bill electronically on Monday. The Senate companion bill is expected to be filed Monday, February 18.
NFIB extends a special thank you to several House committee chairmen and chairwomen who joined as co-sponsors, including Reps. Brian Blake, Eileen Cody, Laurie Jinkins, Steve Kirby, and Gael Tarleton. Chairman Kirby and ranking member Brandon Vick also deserve praise for requesting Majority Leader Pat Sullivan refer the bill to their Consumer Protection & Business Committee for hearing next week.
In other news, NFIB went on record this week regarding the following bills:
Labor
- Supporting HB 1757, reaffirming that franchisors are not the employers of franchisees or the workers franchisees employ,
- Requesting amendments to HB 1909 (and SB 5844) to eliminate a proposal that nearly 280,000 small employers be required to create a privacy policy for handling workers’ compensation claims related to mental health issues, since so few might ever find themselves needing such a policy.
- Requesting amendments to HB 1930, which would clarify structural changes or improvements would not be required to create private breastfeeding areas in workspaces too small for, or not already having, separate offices or rooms that could be designated for that purpose.
- Asking for an amendment to SB 5090 to make its penalty process consistent with the Equal Pay Opportunities Act and Wage Payment Act, to avoid exposing small employers to “double jeopardy” through administrative complaints and lawsuits, filed concurrently or consecutively, by the same worker(s) alleging the same violation.
- Opposing SB 5473, extending unemployment benefits to workers quitting a job due to child- or elder-care availability issues.
- Opposing SB 5565, making general contractors responsible for a subcontractor’s unpaid wages or benefits.
- Opposing SB 5717, restrictive scheduling.
Environment
- Opposing SB 5116, a bill to eliminate coal-by-wire as an electricity source and requiring all electricity generation to be greenhouse gas neutral by 2030.
- Opposing SB 5323, banning plastic bags statewide. This bill splits the business community with grocers supporting the bill to prevent more cities from enacting local bag-ban bills, while small business, retailers, paper bag manufacturers, and others question the need or benefit of the proposed mandate.
Health Care
- Supporting HB 1776 to shift oversight of the state’s All-Payer Claims Database from the Office of Financial Management to the Health Care Authority, which should have had responsibility for the program to begin with.
- Opposing SB 5840, establishing a state individual mandate to purchase health insurance.
Previous Reports From the State Capitol
February 8—NFIB Digs in for Fight Against Harmful Labor Bills
February 1—Barbers Cosmetologists Mobilize Against Bill-Win
January 25—Latest Bill Draft Still a Tangled Mess for Hairstylists
