The Legislature returned to committee hearings this week with House committees hearing bills passed by the Senate, and vice versa.

Public hearings will continue next week, with more executive sessions scheduled to amend or approve bills in advance of the Wednesday, April 2, policy committee cut-off.

Week in Review

NFIB testified in opposition to House Bill 1788, a workers’ compensation benefit increase, arguing that the bill fails to address the underlying problem with the complicated and cumbersome wage-replacement calculations currently in statute. We, and other business associations, suggested the Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) be directed to convene stakeholders during the interim (between sessions) to delve more deeply into that issue. Throwing more money at a broken system won’t fix the problem. The bill was approved by the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee Friday, March 21. It was sent to the Senate Ways & Means Committee for further consideration given its $36 million estimated cost over five years (which we think is unreasonably low).

We also testified opposed to Senate Bill 5041, providing unemployment benefits to striking workers, before the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee. NFIB again pointed out that small employers, far removed from and uninvolved in the strike, could end up paying for these benefits if the employer being struck closes his doors, relocates out-of-state, or is at or reaches Rate Class 40 due to the strike. In those instances, the cost of benefits paid to striking workers would be socialized to all employers in the system. The House Labor Committee approved the bill Friday, March 21.

Rounding out this week’s testimony was a lengthy hearing on HB 1382, modernizing the All-Payer Claims Database. The bill would update state law to comply with federal rules initiated by the first Trump Administration and finalized under the Biden Administration. The bill is controversial because the politically powerful health insurance carriers don’t want to expose what they pay to various medical providers. They argue that if a hospital or doctor discovers a competitor is receiving higher payments for similar services, the lower-paid provider will insist on also receiving a higher rate. Some legislators have been swayed by this absurd argument despite years of evidence to the contrary, such as growing consolidation among medical providers who have been unable to negotiate fair rates with insurers, as well as numerous bills mandating health insurers increase payments to certain provider types to keep those practitioners in business. NFIB has long supported the APCD and improved cost transparency to eventually allow employers and consumers access to meaningful cost information to make better informed health insurance and medical treatment decisions. The bill has not yet been scheduled for executive session.

Week Ahead

NFIB needs members to show support for our position on a few priority bills scheduled for hearing next week.

Monday, March 24, 10:30 a.m.
Senate Labor & Commerce Committee

— HB 1308, personnel records. NFIB continues to request the private right of action penalty, which only allows workers to sue their employer for failure to provide the records by a deadline set in law, be replaced with an administrative remedy as the first means of recourse. Several labor laws in our state already use this process. Under those laws, an aggrieved worker files a complaint with L&I — at no cost. L&I investigates and makes a determination about whether a citation and penalty should be issued. If the worker is unsatisfied with the progress or likely outcome of the investigation, they can terminate the process and sue instead. Sign-in CON here.

— HB 1213, Paid Family & Medical Leave. The bill would require all employers, regardless of size, to provide job protection and maintain health insurance benefits for the duration of the leave for any employee who has been on-the-job for six months. The bill would also allow workers to take leave in four-hour increments. So, it would be permissible for a new hire to take four hours leave on 120 of the 130 workdays left in their first year of service. The bill is estimated to cost an average of roughly $175 million annually for the first five years. Sign-in CON here. Testifying would be even better.

Tuesday, March 25, 10:30 a.m.
House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee

— SB 5408, allowing corrections to wage and salary disclosures. Hundreds of greenmail lawsuits have been filed against Washington employers over errors in wage and benefit descriptions in job postings. Many (most?) are the result of third-party online job recruitment services scooping the information from employer websites and failing to provide the full information. This bill would give employers 14 days to correct job listings once a complaint is received. Labor Committee chair (and former trial lawyer association executive director) Rep. Liz Berry has granted a hearing but is said to be very reluctant to allow a committee vote on the bill. We need a very strong showing of support to help dislodge it. Sign-in PRO or sign-up to testify here.

— SB 5225, layoff notifications. This bill nearly escaped our attention. Prior iterations basically added minor enhancements to existing requirements under the federal WARN Act. Instead, this bill would require employers with as few as 50 employees to provide 60 days’ notice to employees prior to a business closing or mass layoff. There are some rather complicated exceptions. The bill also contains severe per day penalties if a business is unable to comply. Sign-in CON here.

Wednesday, March 26, 8 a.m.
Senate Energy, Environment & Technology Committee

— HB 1483, Right to Repair digital electronic devices. NFIB continues to support the bill despite Apple’s successful inclusion of an amendment creating a significant loophole for their devices. Sign-in PRO here.

Friday, March 28, 8 a.m.
Senate Labor & Commerce Committee

— HB 1533, specialty electricians. This bill would allow apprentice and trainee electricians to perform some supervised residential work while training for their journeyman commercial electrician license examination. It’s a common-sense modification to provide some flexibility to workers and electrical contractors servicing all types of customers without disrupting the training and certification process. Sign-in PRO here.

Past Weekly Reports

— March 15: How of Origin Deadline Passes, Sending Many Bills to an Early Grave

— March 8: Bill Giving Striking Workers UI Benefits Passes Senate

— February 28: Lawmakers Trying to Skirt Federal Law on Unemployment Benefits

— February 21: Minimum Wage Bills Dead For Now

— February 15: NFIB Members Turn Out in Force to Oppose Minimum Wage Bill

— February 8: Minimum Wage Bills Coming Up for First Hearings 

— January 31: Entrepreneurs called on to testify on upcoming legislation by signing-in

— January 25: NFIB Testifies Against Giving Striking Workers Unemployment Benefits

— January 18: Washington State Legislature Begins 2025 Session