WSIA

Today marks the end of the 6^th week of the 2019 legislative session, and the first major cutoff deadline for bills. Non-fiscal bills should have received a vote out of their policy committee in either the House or Senate by today in order to be considered eligible for further consideration this session (in the ordinary course of things; nothing is truly “dead” until the legislative session ends).

 Here are the primary issues still alive after today’s cutoff:

SB 5217, wage calculation model/70 percent flat rate. At the outset of this cutoff week, it appeared this bill would not move out of committee due to lack of interest on most sides of it, having been scheduled but then removed from two different committee votes -- but it emerged at an impromptu Wednesday evening Senate committee hearing and was voted out of committee to allow any further discussions to continue. Labor Committee Chair Senator Keiser stated she would not move the bill further without agreement between the parties. A lot can happen in the next few weeks before the next legislative cutoff, but as of now it would seem any agreement on the major details of the bill will remain elusive. Employer community advocates will be regrouping next week to determine next steps on the bill. 

SB 5844/HB 1909, confidentiality of mental health information in claim files. Although it is likely to be the Senate version of this bill that continues to move this session, both versions emerged from committee this week. This bill, as negotiated and amended, applies to an unauthorized disclosure of mental health condition or treatment information contained in a claim file, outside of an employer or employer’s authorized agent. It contains a complaint mechanism and possible $1,000 penalty for unauthorized disclosure. It arises from a bad-facts-make-bad-law situation where information from a State Fund firefighter’s PTSD claim got out in the station and became the subject of gossip and embarrassment for the employee.

HB 1682/SB 5474, Dolph fix. Both the House and Senate version of this bill emerged from committee by this week’s cutoff. This is the bill WSIA has requested and worked thru to allow for the verified serving of department-issued closing orders, following the Dolph decision. Although the bill has agreement from stakeholders, it is a small matter and could easily get lost in the process, or be taken as a “hostage” for leverage on some other more controversial bill. We have our work cut out for us to keep these bills moving along through the process toward passage.

HB 1913, firefighter/police firefighter occupational disease presumption. With the apparent death of the Senate version of this bill, it appears to be the House version that will continue to move this year. As negotiated between the parties, this bill expands presumptive occupational disease coverage for police officers and firefighters for a handful of conditions while creating a first-ever scientific review panel to advise on the addition of any future proposed conditions.

Not emerging at cutoff:

SB 5226, off duty conduct. We had been following, and opposing, SB 5226, a bill in the Senate Law & Justice Committee that would have made it an unlawful employment practice to take an adverse action against an employee or prospective employee on the basis of lawful off-duty conduct. While pitched as a protection of employee’s free speech and protest rights, the bill was expansive enough to include off-duty recreational (but lawful) drug use which could have interfered with employer’s legitimate safety and drug-testing prerogatives. This bill did not emerge from committee.