Six-Year Collective Bargaining Agreements (SB 5251)

The Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee will hold a hearing on SB 5251 on Thursday, January 25, at 3:30 pm.

This bill amends the local government collective bargaining statute to allow local governments and their unions to agree to contract terms of up to six years. Currently, contracts are limited to three years.

Military Leaves for Public Employees (HB 1127)

Under current law, public employers are required to provide fifteen days of paid military leave per year to employees who are members of the National Guard or the Reserves who are called to active duty or are required to take part in active training duty.

This bill would increase the amount of paid leave that public employees can use for this purpose to thirty days. The State Government & Tribal Affairs Committee has scheduled a hearing on HB 1127 for Wednesday, January 24, at 1:30 pm.

Changing the Definition of Disability (HB 1322, SB 5340)

In last week’s Bulletin, we reported on a draft bill that would make sweeping changes to the definition of disability in the Washington Law Against Discrimination. This week the actual bills were introduced in both the House and the Senate, and the definition of disability is identical to the draft version.

HB 1322 and SB 5340 expand the definition of disability to encompass any impairment, temporary or permanent, that is medically cognizable or diagnosable, regardless of whether the impairment has any impact on the individual’s work or life.

The employer community shared significant concerns about the legislation at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 12. The House bill has not yet been scheduled for a hearing.

Pension Issues

Most of the pension bills heard to date were introduced at the request of the Select Committee on Pension Policy and do not have significant fiscal impacts.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee held hearings on five of the bills on Thursday, January 18, and the House Appropriations Committee will hear pension bills on Monday, January 22, and Tuesday, January 23. Both hearings begin at 3:30 pm.

We have still not yet seen the bill that would implement the Governor’s gain-sharing proposal, nor has a fiscal note been prepared that would provide information on the fiscal impact. See the January 5 issue of the Legislative Bulletin for more information on her gain-sharing proposal.

Public Works Excluded from Prevailing Wages (HB 1370)

This bill simply clarifies that prevailing wages do not apply to public employees. That was the understanding until the challenge of a recent court case. A public hearing is scheduled on January 26 at 1:30 pm in the House Commerce & Labor Committee.

[ previous article ] [ return to top ] [ next article ]