The following is an update on some of the significant bills AGC has been working on this legislative session:
ESSB 5041, Unemployment Insurance for striking workers: Significantly different versions of this bill have passed the House and the Senate. The focus of the Legislature is reconciling the differences and coming up with a final version. AGC has opposed the measure throughout the process, although now the effort is to retain the House-passed version, which limits the number of weeks a striking worker could receive Unemployment Insurance to four, as opposed to 12 weeks in the Senate-passed bill. At press time, the House-passed version awaits action on the Senate floor.
E2SSB 5016, Prevailing wage escalator: This AGC-opposed bill would bar the freezing of prevailing wages during the life of a project. The bill appears to be dead for the year as it failed to move out of a key committee before a legislative deadline.
E2SHB 1213, Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) expansion. This AGC-opposed bill has passed the Legislature, but not before some changes were made. The bill would have originally required employers with under 50 employees to hold the job open for an employee out on PFML (such small employers are currently exempt from those rules). The latest version says employers are required to provide employment protection to eligible employees while on PFML leave if the employee works for an employer with: 25 or more employees from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2026; 15 or more employees from January 1, 2027, to December 31, 2027; and 8 or more employees on or after January 1, 2028. Also, employers must maintain an employee’s health care coverage during any period of leave in PFML in which the employee is also entitled to employment protection.
SSB 5292, PFML rate increase. This AGC-opposed bill would raise the cap on PFML premiums, shared by employers and workers, to 2% of taxable wages. It did not make it out of a key committee by a legislative deadline.
Some caveats about “dead” bills. Theoretically the Legislature could take extraordinary steps to revive such bills, but there is very little expectation of that happening. Also, if the Legislature goes into a special session – which may be necessary to finalize a state budget – dead bills become “alive” again and could move. Again, unlikely but theoretically possible.
For more information, contact AGC Chief Lobbyist Jerry VanderWood.