“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.
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. It had a public hearing before the Senate Committee on Law and Justice Jan. 30th
SB 5344: Establishing a public-school revolving fund.
Comment: This bill establishes the Public-School Revolving Fund in the State Treasury for the purpose of issuing low-interest or interest-free loans to qualifying school districts for capital projects. • Establishes the Public-School Revolving Fund Board to administer loans from the fund.
The bill is on the second reading in the House.
SB 5777 - Concerning unemployment insurance benefits for striking or lockout workers.
Comment: Deletes a provision that disqualifies employees in a multi-employer bargaining unit from unemployment insurance benefits when the employees have been locked out following a strike against the employers in the bargaining unit.
This bill has been passed to Rules awaiting movement to the Senate calendar. Its companion (HB 1893) is before House Appropriations awaiting action.
ESB 5790: An act relating to bleeding control equipment in schools.
Comment: This bill requires each school district to maintain and make available certain bleeding control equipment on each school campus for use in the event of a traumatic injury beginning in the 2024-25 school year. • Directs each school to have a certain number of employees trained to use the equipment.
This bill passed the Senate 47/0.
SSB 5793 - Concerning paid sick leave.
Comment: Allows an employee or transportation network company driver to use paid sick leave when their child's school or place of care is closed due to a public emergency. • Modifies the definition of family member for the purpose of using paid sick leave to include any individual who regularly resides in the employee's home or where the relationship creates an expectation the employee care for the person, and that individual depends on the employee for care, except it does not include an individual who simply resides in the same home with no expectation the employee care for the individual. • • Provides that a child also includes a child's spouse. Requires the Department of Labor and Industries to develop materials and conduct outreach to inform individuals and businesses about the new provisions of the act.
It is currently in Senate Rules awaiting movement to the floor calendar. Its companion, (SHB 1991) is in House Rules awaiting movement to the floor calendar. The substitute expands the definition of "family member" in Washington's Paid Sick Leave Law, allowing employees to use paid sick leave to care for additional specified persons experiencing a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition, or needing medical diagnosis, treatment, or preventative care. • Allows an employee to use paid sick leave when the employee's child's school or place of care has been closed due to a public emergency.
SB 5824: Concerning the dissolution of libraries and library districts.
Comment: This bill Increases the signature threshold for filing petitions to dissolve libraries from 100 taxpayers to 25 percent of eligible voters in the district. • Increases the signature threshold for filing petitions to dissolve library districts from 10 percent of voters residing outside of incorporated cities or towns to 25 percent of eligible voters in the district. • Expands voter eligibility to allow all qualified electors of a library district to participate in a vote on propositions for library district dissolution.
The bill passed the House 49/0 and has been sent to the House.
SB 5873 - 2023-24: Providing adequate and predictable student transportation.
Comment: This bill, subject to budget appropriations, increases funding for student transportation. Of added import is that it provides that pupil transportation services contracts entered into, renewed, or extended after September 1, 2024, must require the contractor to provide employee health and retirement benefits comparable to those received by school employees. It also states: “Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this purpose, OSPI must provide a one-time supplemental transportation allocation to school districts that experience an increase in costs to pupil transportation services contracts due to the new benefit requirements. To be eligible for the supplemental allocations, a school district must report to OSPI regarding the number of contracted employees that worked at least 630 hours performing contract services in the school year prior to entering a contract with the new benefits. Supplemental allocations may only be used as payments under pupil transportation services contracts for employee compensation and may not exceed $200 per contracted employee per month.”
There has been no further action since the public hearing in the Senate Committee on Ways and Means on Jan 23rd.
SB 5883: Concerning the burden of proof for special education due process hearings.
Comment. This bill provides that a school district has the burden of proof when it is a party to a special education due process hearing. • Creates an exception to this burden of proof requirement in circumstances when a parent seeks reimbursement for a unilateral parental placement.
It is on second reading awaiting action on the floor.
SSB 5924 - 2023-24 Concerning access to personnel records.
Comment: This bill requires an employer to furnish an employee, former employee, or their designee with a copy of the employee's personnel file at no cost within 21 calendar days of a request. • Mandates an employer to furnish a former employee with a signed written statement with the effective date of discharge, whether the employer had a reason for the discharge and, if so, the reasons, within 21 calendar days of the written request. • Allows an employee or former employee to bring a private action, after five days’ notice, for violations of certain rights regarding personnel files, and discharge information, for equitable relief, graduated statutory damages up to $1,000, and reasonable attorneys' fees and costs of each violation.
This is before Senate Ways and Means awaiting scheduling.
SB 5978: Authorizing the office of the superintendent of public instruction to act as a guarantor for a county when the county provides a loan to a school district.
Comment: Scheduled for executive session by the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education on Jan. 31st.
SB 6031: Modifying the student transportation allocation to accommodate multiple vehicle types for transporting students.
Comment: This bill provides that the pupil transportation funding formula may not be construed to mandate the type of vehicle used for pupil transportation and encourages districts to use the vehicle type that the district deems to be the safest and most cost-effective. • Requires district-owned cars to be included in the overall transportation allocation rather than being subject to a private reimbursement rate and requires additional district-owned ridership data to be considered. • Requires school districts to report the number of miles driven per vehicle type when reporting transportation data to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
This bill is scheduled for a public hearing before the Senate Ways and Means on /Feb. 3rd.
SB 6045 - Concerning school district efficiencies and consolidation.
Comment: Self-explanatory. This is not the first time this idea of forcing efficiencies has been introduced.
A public hearing in the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education was on 1/25. No further action scheduled. Likely ‘dead’.
SB 6223: Updating school district director compensation.
Comment: Each member of the board of directors of a school district may receive compensation in an annual amount not to exceed the combined total of $500 per month plus 50 cents per student enrolled in the school district based on prior year actual enrollments.
A public hearing was held before the Senate Committee on Early Learning & K-12 Education on 1/29. No further action to date.
Fred Yancey
The Nexus Group LLC