“A committee is a cu-de-sac down in which ideas are lured and then quietly strangled.” Barnett Cocks
Key deadlines have passed, and all action now moves to committee hearings as opposite house bills are discussed and acted upon. Overlaying all of these will be the upcoming proposed budgets whose hearings are scheduled for the upcoming week.
The status of bills continues to change constantly as committees often re-work bills. The summaries below are just as they were when this report was written.
Some bills have shown no movement since the last report, but they are related to the budget. Often called ‘trailer bills’ because the budget pulls them toward passage. In addition, bills can be ruled as ‘necessary to implement the budget’. They can then be revived under that justification which can be arbitrary at times.
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 passed House 97/0 and is awaiting scheduling before the Senate Ways and Means. This bill would provide an ad-hoc 3% increase in 2024 not to exceed $110/month for TRS1/PERS1 Plan retirees.
It has been scheduled for a public hearing Feb. 20th before WM.
HB 2481: Waiving health benefit premiums in the public employees’ benefits board.
Comment: This bill 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 passed House 97/0 and is scheduled for a public hearing Feb. 20th before WM.
SB 6315: Concerning benefits available to retirees of the state’s retirement systems.
Comment: This bill provides a one-time, 3 percent increase to the retirement benefits of retirees in the Public Employees’ Retirement System and the Teachers’ Retirement System Plan 1, up to $125 per month. • Directs the Public Employees’ Benefits Board to eliminate savings banks and to use any savings in UMP-Classic Medicare. • Modifies uses of the retiree drug subsidy available to certain retired public employees to include both medical and prescription drug premiums.
Chair Robinson proposed this bill that addresses a number of retirement and health cost issues. It had a public hearing on Feb. 3rd before the Senate WM and is awaiting scheduling for executive session.
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 1105: Requiring public agencies to provide notice for public comment that includes the last date by which such public comment must be submitted.
Comment: This bill requires public agency notices for public comment to include the last date by which public comment must be submitted. • • Establishes penalties for agencies failing to provide the notice.
It passed the House 98/0 and had a public hearing Jan 30th before Senate Government and Elections. No further action.
ESHB 1248: Concerning pupil transportation.
Comment: This bill provides that school districts may only enter into, renew, or extend pupil transportation services contracts with private nongovernmental entities that provide employee health and retirement benefits comparable to those received by school employees. • Directs the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to reimburse school districts for increased costs due to providing these benefits and provides a formula for calculating the reimbursement.
It has passed the House 57/37/2 and is scheduled Feb. 15th for a public hearing before Senate Education. WASA has signed “Con” on the bill and submitted written comments.
E2SHB 1618: Concerning the statute of limitations for childhood sexual abuse.
Comment: It eliminates the statute of limitations for recovery of damages as a result of childhood sexual abuse for all intentional actions occurring after June 6, 2024.
The bill as amended passed the House 93/0/5. It had a public hearing before the Senate Committee on Law and Justice Jan. 30th and is scheduled for executive session on Feb. 15th.
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 passed the House 63/34/1 and is scheduled for executive session Feb. 15th before Senate Labor and Commerce. Its companion, SSB 5894, remained in Senate Rules and did not advance. It is likely ‘dead’.
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 passed the House 60/37/1 and executive session is scheduled Feb. 15th before Senate Labor and Commerce Committee.
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 passed the House 56/41/1 and is before Senate WM awaiting scheduling.
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. This is an example of a bill that may be ‘necessary to implement the budget’ so may still be alive. Its purpose has support among members.
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 developm
