WONDERFUL News Updated April 21, 2023 by Sandra Distelhorst — publicpolicy@aauw-wa.org
Here is the final Legislative Update for this session! AAUW-WA Public Policy team wants to give a big shout out to our Lobbyist Nancy Sapiro for her educational and comprehensive Legislative Updates this session and to all the AAUW members who participated in Lobby Week and other advocacy actions! Nancy’s comment: “AAUW did some tremendous work this session and has a lot to feel good about!”
CLICK FOR LIVE LEGISLATIVE TRACKING 2023 –>
Below are updates and bill tracking of AAUW’s legislative priorities groups. BLUE HIGHLIGHTS POSITIVE NEWS UPDATES
- Apprenticeship /Education ========
- State-Sponsored Apprenticeship Programs HB 1013 was signed by the Governor on April 20
- Working Connection Child Care 2SHB 1525 was delivered to the Governor for signature on April 20.
- Economic Security ==========
- Unemployment insurance qualification ESHB 1106 was delivered to the Governor on April 18
- Working Families Tax Credit 2SHB 1477 was delivered to the Governor on April 18
- Healthcare and Reproductive Rights =========
- My Health My Data – ESHB 1155 – was delivered to the Governor on April 19, and we anticipate it will be signed next week, along with a suite of other reproductive health care bills.
- Sexual Assault, Gender-Related Violence, Harassment and Discrimination ========
- Preventing and Responding to Harassment – SHB 1207 – was delivered to the Governor for his signature on April 18
- Supporting Crime Victims –2SHB 1028 – was delivered to the Governor on April 19
Terminology used in legislative reports…
========WEEK 15 REPORTED 4/21/23 ========
Here is the final Legislative Update for this session! AAUW-WA Public Policy team wants to give a big shout out to our Lobbyist Nancy Sapiro for her educational and comprehensive Legislative Updates this session and to all the AAUW members who participated in Lobby Week and other advocacy actions! Nancy’s comment: “AAUW did some tremendous work this session and has a lot to feel good about!”
REPORT FROM NANCY: The final week of the 2023 legislative session has brought a flurry of negotiations between the House and Senate to complete biennial operating, capital and transportation budgets, floor action to reflect agreement on the final form of bills, and bill signings by the Governor.
A number of key pieces of legislation crossed the finish line this week in the areas of gun responsibility, reproductive health and gender affirming health care, middle housing, and vehicular pursuits.
As of this writing, the Senate and House have announced a tentative operating budget deal. The details will be released on Saturday with the intent that it will be voted upon on Sunday. Assuming lawmakers have completed their work, they will sine die on Sunday, April 23 – meaning they will formally end the work of session.
A few final words about bills, how they become law, and when they become effective. During the majority of the legislative session, the governor must sign or veto legislation within 5 days of it being transmitted to his office (excluding Sundays) or it becomes law without his signature. Bills received by the governor within the last 5 days of session, must be acted upon within 20 days of adjournment (excluding Sundays) or they become law without his signature. So, for those bills delivered in the last couple of days, he will have until May 16 to sign them. If you’d like to follow what bills are being signed and when, you can go to the Governor’s web page, found here and then scroll down and click on Bill Action Information. As far as when bills officially become law, generally the rule is 90 days after session adjourns. But, if the particular bill has an emergency clause attached to it, the bill becomes effective immediately upon signature.
Here’s where AAUW’s policy priorities stand as of the 103rd day of the 105 day legislative session.
=======Apprenticeship Bills
State-Sponsored Apprenticeship Program – 2SHB 1013 – Sponsors: Rep Maycumber and Rep Santos
HB 1013 would establish regional apprenticeship programs for Washington state students. These programs would allow students to participate in a state-run apprenticeship program in high school that would offer students experience in different fields that may not require a college education. Apprenticeship programs allow for important graduation pathways and future career opportunities to students. Furthermore, these programs benefit employers by providing them with an opportunity to train students for jobs in these industries that are beneficial and important to local communities. If passed, one of the first pilot program sites would be in a district with a high percent of small, rural school districts. This bill was introduced last session but never made it out of committee. This year, HB 1013 has more than 50 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Update: HB 1013 was signed by the Governor on April 20
Working Connection Child Care – 2SHB 1525 – Sponsor: Rep Fosse
Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) helps eligible families pay for childcare. When a family qualifies for child care subsidy benefits and chooses an eligible provider, the state pays a portion of the cost of childcare. This bill would provide qualifying applicants and consumers of state registered apprenticeship programs eligibility for the Working Connections Child Care subsidy.
Update: 2SHB 1525 was delivered to the Governor for signature on April 20.
=========Economic Security Bills
Unemployment insurance qualification – ESHB 1106 – Sponsor: Rep Fosse
HB 1106 relates to the qualifications for unemployment insurance when an individual voluntarily leaves work. Unemployment insurance benefits are a critical safety net for families in-between jobs. Despite this, Washington’s unemployment laws aren’t written to protect family caregiving. Currently, if a worker is forced to quit their job due to inability or inaccessibility to childcare, the employee is ineligible for unemployment insurance. This bill will allow for a change to the definition of a “good cause quit” to include quits as a result of inaccessibility to childcare. This allows for workers to qualify for unemployment insurance benefits while searching for new jobs.
Update: The bill was delivered to the Governor on April 18.
Working Families Tax Credit – 2SHB 1477 – Sponsor: Rep Thai
HB 1477, while more technical in nature, makes some important changes to the WFTC. The bill would allow individuals filing as “married filing separately” to qualify for the Working Families’ Tax Credit. It would also permit individuals to apply for any Working Families’ Tax Credit payments for which they were eligible but did not claim for up to three years.
Update: The bill was delivered to the Governor on April 18.
=======Healthcare/Reproductive Rights bills
My Health My Data – ESHB 1155 – Sponsor: Slatter/Dhingra, at request of Attorney General
This legislation would block websites and apps from collecting and sharing health data. This is of concern for people who use search engines or health tracking apps. It would also prohibit the sale of health data, the use of geofences (location-based software that identifies when a person is in a certain area) to send unsolicited messages to persons at health facilities and would require companies that collect personal data to create, maintain and publish a privacy policy for consumer health data.
Update: The House concurred in the strengthening amendments added by the Senate. The bill was delivered to the Governor on April 19, and we anticipate it will be signed next week, along with a suite of other reproductive health care bills.
=========Sexual Assault, Harassment and Discrimination bills
Preventing and Responding to Harassment – SHB 1207 – Sponsor: Rep Senn
Under HB 1207, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) must develop model student handbook language that includes information about policies and complaint procedures related to discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying. School districts and charter schools would also be required to designate one person in the school district as the primary contact regarding compliance with state laws prohibiting discrimination in public schools.
Update: The bill was delivered to the Governor for his signature on April 18.
Supporting Crime Victims –2SHB 1028 – Sponsor: Rep Orwall
HB 1028 has several important provisions that support crime victims by promoting a victim-centered, trauma informed response by the legal system. Some of these provisions include: requiring law enforcement agencies to investigate a reported sexual assault within 90 days, when the testing of a sexual assault kit (SAK) results in a hit in the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS); requiring law enforcement agencies and prosecuting attorneys to provide case updates to the AG’s office for any case with a SAK that generates a CODIS hit regardless of when the SAK was collected; and specifying that hospitals and emergency medical facilities located in WA cannot charge for the examination of a victim of sexual assault.
Update: The bill was delivered to the Governor on April 19.
========WEEK 14 REPORTED 4/14/23 ========
The countdown to sine die – the final day of the legislative session – continues. In these last 9 days of session, attention now turns to final budget negotiations and reconciling differences in policy bills. You may notice, if you watch TVW or are following a bill on the legislative website, that there are terms like concurrence/dispute/recede/insist being used. What do these terms mean? Our state Constitution requires that every bill pass both chambers in exactly the same form before heading to the Governor. Any bill that was amended in the opposite chamber has to go back to the first chamber for the new changes to be accepted or disputed. In the concurrence process there are three possible responses from the original chamber:
Concur: If the House, for example, agrees to changes made to a bill by the Senate, they can vote to concur on the Senate amendments. The bill will then have passed both chambers in the same form and heads to the Governor.
Do not concur and request the body to recede: By voting this way, the chamber from which the bill originated, is saying it does not agree to the changes made to the bill by the other chamber. Chamber 1 then sends the bill back with the hope that Chamber 2 will recede and accept the bill as it was originally passed. If Chamber 2 does not want to recede, they can vote to insist which then sends the bill back to the original chamber. Usually, bills in dispute like this get worked out but occasionally a bill will die as it does this back and forth dance.
Do not concur and request a conference: For more complicated and significant bills where there is likely a middle ground to be arrived at between the House and Senate versions, there can be a request for a conference committee. The conference committee then works on a compromise version of the bill which then gets sent to the two chambers for a straight up or down vote.
AAUW priority bills are faring well this session. Here is where things are at as of April 14:
=======Apprenticeship Bills
State-Sponsored Apprenticeship Program – 2SHB 1013 – Sponsors: Rep Maycumber and Rep Santos
HB 1013 would establish regional apprenticeship programs for Washington state students. These programs would allow students to participate in a state-run apprenticeship program in high school that would offer students experience in different fields that may not require a college education. Apprenticeship programs allow for important graduation pathways and future career opportunities to students. Furthermore, these programs benefit employers by providing them with an opportunity to train students for jobs in these industries that are beneficial and important to local communities. If passed, one of the first pilot program sites would be in a district with a high percent of small, rural school districts. This bill was introduced last session but never made it out of committee. This year, HB 1013 has more than 50 bipartisan co-sponsors.
Update: HB 1013 is on its way to the Governor for his signature.
Working Connection Child Care – 2SHB 1525 – Sponsor: Rep Fosse
Working Connections Child Care (WCCC) helps eligible families pay for childcare. When a family qualifies for child care subsidy benefits and chooses an eligible provider, the state pays a portion of the cost of childcare. This bill would provide qualifying applicants and consumers of state registered apprenticeship programs eligibility for the Working Connections Child Care subsidy.
Update: The bill passed the House 96-0 and the Senate 36-12. The Senate made changes to the bill, so it now heads back to the House for possible concurrence.
=========Economic Security Bills
Unemployment insurance qualification – ESHB 1106 – Sponsor: Rep Fosse
HB 1106 relates to the qualifications for unemployment insurance when an individual voluntarily leaves work. Unemployment insurance benefits are a critical safety net for families in-between jobs. Despite this, Washington’s unemployment laws aren’t written to protect family caregiving. Currently, if a worker is forced to quit their job due to inability or inaccessibility to childcare, the employee is ineligible for unemployment insurance. This bill will allow for a change to the definition of a “good cause quit” to include quits as a result of inaccessibility to childcare. This allows for workers to qualify for unemployment insurance benefits while searching for new jobs.
Update: The bill passed out of the House, 51-44 and out of the Senate, 26-20. This has been a long journey and the advocacy of AAUW helped to finally get this bill across the finish line. There was an amendment adopted on the Senate floor that made the change in voluntary quits temporary to 2029, but also required a study to capture the impact of this change. The House concurred in these changes and the bill is now on its way to the Governor.
Working Families Tax Credit – 2SHB 1477 – Sponsor: Rep Thai
HB 1477, while more technical in nature, makes some important changes to the WFTC. The bill would allow individuals filing as “married filing separately” to qualify for the Working Families’ Tax Credit. It would also permit individuals to apply for any Working Families’ Tax Credit payments for which they were eligible but did not claim for up to three years.
Update: The bill passed the House 96-1 and the Senate 46-3. It now heads to the Governor for his signature.
=======Healthcare/Reproductive Rights Bills
My Health My Data – ESHB 1155 – Sponsor: Slatter/Dhingra, at request of Attorney General
This legislation would block websites and apps from collecting and sharing health data. This is of concern for people who use search engines or health tracking apps. It would also prohibit the sale of health data, the use of geofences (location-based software that identifies when a person is in a certain area) to send unsolicited messages to persons at health facilities and would require companies that collect personal data to create, maintain and publish a privacy policy for consumer health data.
Update: After lengthy debate, the Senate passed the bill 27-21, with Senator Mullet (D-5) joining Republicans in opposition. The Senate strengthened the bill by reinstating the enforcement provisions which the House had stripped out of the bill. As a result, the bill must go back to the House for concurrence on the improvements made by the Senate.
==========Sexual Assault, Harassment and Discrimination Bills
Preventing and Responding to Harassment – SHB 1207 – Sponsor: Rep Senn
Under HB 1207, the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) must develop model student handbook language that includes information about policies and complaint procedures related to discrimination, harassment, intimidation, and bullying. School districts and charter schools would also be required to designate one person in the school district as the primary contact regarding compliance with state laws prohibiting discrimination in public schools.
Update: The bill is on its way to the Governor for his signature.
Supporting Crime Victims –2SHB 1028 – Sponsor: Rep Orwall
HB 1028 has several important provisions that support crime victims by promoting a victim-centered, trauma informed response by the legal system. Some of these provisions include: requiring law enforcement agencies to investigate a reported sexual assault within 90 days, when the testing of a sexual assault kit (SAK) results in a hit in the Combined DNA Indexing System (CODIS); requiring law enforcement agencies and prosecuting attorneys to provide case updates to the AG’s office for any case with a SAK that generates a CODIS hit regardless of when the SAK was collected; and specifying that hospitals and emergency medical facilities located in WA cannot charge for the examination of a victim of sexual assault.
Update: The bill is now on its way to the Governor.
CLICK FOR ARCHIVE OF PREVIOUS WEEKS’ 2023 REPORTS
=========
Questions? publicpolicy@aauw-wa.org