“I would never finish a painting if I didn’t have a deadline.” Peter Doig
“The thing that would most improve my life is 27 hours in a day. I could meet all my deadlines.” Yoko Ono
The first cut-off of the Session has come and gone. Policy bills not out of committees are ‘dead’, unless revived at legislative whim. Meanwhile, the action now moves to floor debate on bills. The fiscal committees still meet in order to move fiscal bills. Their deadline is February 5th, the next cut-off. A caveat: Any bill that has dollars connected to it, can be deemed ‘necessary to implement the budget’ and be acted upon at any time regardless of timelines.
Note that a number of bills have an “S” before them. That is because as the process of legislating and hearings occur, changes are often made in the original bill marking the new bill as a substitute. i.e., SHB 1985 is Substitute House Bill 1985.
A brief summary of selected bills:
Retirement Related Proposals
SHB 1985: Providing a benefit increase to certain retirees of the public employees’ retirement system plan 1 and the teachers’ retirement system plan 1.
Comment: This bill would provide an ad-hoc 3% increase in 2024 not to exceed $110/month for TRS1/PERS1 Plan retirees.
The House Committee on Appropriations lowered the original increase to the first $44,000 of one’s pension. That figure represents a senior’s income would qualify him/her for a property tax exemption.
This is currently in House Rules waiting to move to the floor for action.
HB 2013: Paying state retirement benefits until the end of the month in which the retiree or beneficiary dies.
Comment: This bill allows the survivor to keep the entire month’s amount regardless of when the person died.
The House Committee on Appropriations did not advance the bill. It is likely ‘dead.’
HB 2481: Waiving health benefit premiums in the public employees’ benefits board.
Comment: This is a late entry into Introductions. It is intended to replace HB 2013 mentioned above. It would waive, as the title suggests, the health benefit premium of the deceased during the month of one’s death. The survivors, if covered by insurance, would still pay the balance of the premium.
It is scheduled for executive session in House Appropriations Feb.2.
Other Areas of Potential Fiscal Impact (and often unfunded) to Districts
Below are selected titles and brief summaries of proposed bills that may have potential impact to the business operations of districts. The TWIO has a more extensive list and explanation.
SHB 1905 – Including protected classes in the Washington equal pay and opportunities act.
Comment: This bill amends the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act to prohibit an employer from discriminating in compensation and career advancement opportunities against similarly employed employees based on the employee’s age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, honorably discharged veteran or military status, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability.
This bill has been referred to Appropriations and is scheduled for executive session Feb. 3rd. Its companion, SSB 5894, is in Rules awaiting movement to the floor for action.
Comment: The Senate bill extends the prohibitions on discrimination in wages and career advancement opportunities and the remedies to a person’s membership in a protected class. • Provides that protected class means a person’s age, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, race, creed, color, national origin, citizenship or immigration status, honorably discharged veteran or military status, or the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability or the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability.
HB 1927: Reducing the number of days that a worker’s temporary total disability must continue to receive industrial insurance compensation for the day of an injury and the three-day period following the injury.
Comment: It reduces the number of days – from 14 to 7 – that a temporary total disability must continue to receive workers’ compensation time loss benefits for the first three days following the injury.
It is currently in House Rules and awaits movement to the floor calendar. Its companion, (SB5932) has not had any movement and is likely ‘dead’.
SHB 1959: Extending parts of the paid family and medical leave program to employers with fewer than 50 employees.
Comment: This bill removes the exemption allowing employers with fewer than 50 employees to not pay any portion of the premium for the Paid Family and Medical Leave Program, thereby requiring those employers to pay at least 55 percent of the medical leave share of the premium.
It has been referred to Appropriations who has yet to schedule it for a public hearing.
HB 2044: An act relating to standardizing limitations on voter-approved property tax levies.
Comment: This bill removes the restriction on levy lid lift funds supplanting existing funds.
This bill is in House Rules awaiting further movement.
HB 2058: Increasing student access to free meals served at public schools.
Comment: TWIO has covered this previously. There is no fiscal note to date, although press reports that the state’s cost will be in excess of $80 million dollars. It is indeterminate what other local school district unfunded costs will be.
This bill was moved to Appropriations and is awaiting scheduling. The companion bill, (SB 5964) has had no movement since the public hearing in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education on 1/29.
SHB 2127 – 2023-24: Concerning workers’ compensation incentives to return to work.
Comment: This bill modifies certain return to work policies and reimbursement amounts under the workers’ compensation program. • Increases the maximum amounts of reimbursements paid to employers participating in the Stay at Work Program and Preferred Worker Program by the Department of Labor and Industries (L&I). • Increases the maximum amount paid to qualifying employers for job modification costs by L&I. • Allows L&I to authorize payments for basic skills development for qualifying injured workers.
This bill is before House Rules awaiting movement to the floor calendar.
SB 5059 – Concerning pre-judgment interest.
Comment: Dan Steele has already addressed this bill and its potential for adversely affecting school district finances.
There has been no movement since the public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways & Means on Jan. 15th. See E2SHB 1618 below.
