South Kitsap Chamber of Commerce Legislative Update Email February 21, 2023

First Deadline has passed

The first deadline for bills reaching to the floor has passed, but many bills remain alive, because the have "financial implications" and are undergoing additional committee work.

Here is a current list of some of the bills being watched that have made it out of committee and are either on the floor or have already passed the first house.

You can find more information on each bill by clicking on the bill number.

You should contact your legislators if you have any questions or concerns about any of these bills.

NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT

Bill #	Abbrev. Title	Short Description	Status
HB 1106	Unemployment/voluntary	Concerning qualifications for unemployment insurance when an individual voluntarily leaves work.	Floor Calendar
HB 1136	Employee expenditures	Requiring employers to reimburse employees for necessary expenditures and losses.	Floor Calendar
HB 1155 (SB 5351)	Consumer health data	Addressing the collection, sharing, and selling of consumer health data.	Floor Calendar
SB 5002	Blood Alcohol	Concerning alcohol concentration.	On Senate Floor Calendar
SB 5088 (HB 1309)	Contractor registration	Adding references to contractor registration and licensing laws in workers' compensation, public works, and prevailing wage statutes.	On Senate Floor Calendar
SB 5123	Cannabis/employment	Concerning the employment of individuals who lawfully consume cannabis.	On Senate Floor Calendar
SB 5217	Musculoskeletal injuries/L&I	Concerning the state's ability to regulate certain industries and risk classes to prevent musculoskeletal injuries and disorders.	On Senate Floor Calendar
SB 5240	Unemployment ins. appeals	Concerning unemployment insurance benefits appeal procedures.	On Senate Floor Calendar
SB 5417	Employer political speech	Protecting the rights of workers to refrain from attending meetings or listening to their employer's speech on political or religious matters.	On Senate Floor Calendar
HB 1068 (SB 5212)	Injured worker medical exams	Concerning injured workers' rights during compelled medical examinations.	Passed the Senate- onto the House
SB 5089	Factory assembled structures	Making changes to factory assembled structures, manufactured or mobile homes, commercial coaches, conversion vending units, medical units, recreational vehicles, and park trailers requirements, including adding board members to the factory assembled structures advisory committee.	Passed the Senate- onto the House
SHB 1056	Postretirement employment	Repealing some postretirement employment restrictions.	Passed the House onto Senate
SHB 1009	Military spouse employment	Concerning military spouse employment.	Passed the House onto Senate
SB 5110	Labor practices/penalties	Adding penalties for certain prohibited practices in chapter 49.44 RCW.	Passed the Senate- onto the House
SB 5176	Employee-owned coop UI	Concerning unemployment insurance benefits for officers of employee-owned cooperatives.	Passed the Senate- onto the House
SB 5284	Campaign finance disclosure	Concerning campaign finance disclosure.	Passed the Senate- onto the House
SB 5286	Paid leave premiums	Modifying the premium provisions of the paid family and medical leave program.	Passed the Senate- onto the House
SB 5331	Job search requirements/UI	Concerning job search requirements for unemployment insurance benefits.	Passed the Senate- onto the House

It is estimated that there will be over 2000 bills introduced in this legislative session. We are currrently tracking 78 bills on our governmental affairs webpage.

WA CARES (Wa Long-term Care Act)-

CALL To Action

Business, and labor call on Legislature to fix or pause the troubled WA Cares long-term care program

Long-term problem: In July, the state will again begin collecting payroll taxes for the WA Cares long-term care insurance program. AWB and other employer advocates are joining with organized labor and local governments to call on the governor and legislative leaders to fix the many problems with the program before the tax resumes.

AWB is drafting a letter to Gov. Inslee on behalf of the coalition, laying out 10 major fixes needed for problems such as:

No portability of benefits
Lack of a wage cap when determining premium payments
Lack of a rolling opt-in and opt-out process

Pause or fix: As it stands now, the program is “unclear, insolvent, and does not address the actual long term care needs of all Washington state residents… the current status of the WA Cares Fund, does not give options but instead creates obstacles,” according to the letter.

Sign the letter: Click here to add your business’s name to the letter.

Your advocates: Contact AWB’s Amy Anderson or Bob Battles to learn more.

Be sure to check out other bills currently on our Bill Watch List.

Contact your Legislators

Current Bill Watch List

2022 Legislative Review/Voting Record

Find more information on Bills