Report #4 4/8/1999
In what is probably the only collective bargaining bill alive in the legislature, SB 5152 was voted out of the House Commerce and Labor Committee by a vote of 6 to 2 on April 2. It is now in the House Rules Committee, the step prior to floor action. Moving out of committee was quite a trip! Here is the story. After the partisan battle in the Senate our bill to restore collective bargaining rights for deputy prosecutors came to the house severely wounded. With the House of Representatives evenly divided (47 Republicans and 47 Democrats) any controversy will kill any bill. Your lobbyist had several conversations with the opponents seeking solutions to their concerns. After some soul searching, W.A.P.A. (the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys) decided to offer an amendment, which clarified their position on at-will employment. Basically, the amendment says a prosecutor can alter at-will employment but not beyond his or her term of office. We agreed to this language in exchange for W.A.P.A.’s support of the bill.
Now we have a bill that the employee group and the employer group agree to. Smooth sailing right? Wrong! The judges (both Superior and District Courts) came out and opposed our bill only hours before the public hearing. Although we disagree with the good judges, we committed to the committee co-chairs to meet with everyone with an interest in the bill (by now this group is getting pretty large). Since the bill had to be voted out of committee by April 2, time was running out. None-the-less, we stuck with it and alleviated the judges’ concerns with a simple clarification of the current exemptions.
Please call the following Rules Committee members (1-800-562-6000) and tell them to support SB 5152. Please remind them that the bill is supported by both the Prosecutors and the Deputy Prosecutors.
Time is short – all bills must be out of the House by 5:00 P.M., Friday, April 16.
In most years, the House and the Senate would propose their own budget and settle the differences in a conference committee. However, this year the House is tied so each party proposes their own budget.
The House republican budget that was released abandoned the historical link between teachers and classified employees by proposing that in addition to a 2% C.O.L.A., the teachers would receive a $2,000 per year increase. The House democrats meanwhile proposed a 3% increase for everyone and maintained a $391.91 per month medical benefit next year and $428.69 per month in the 2000 – 2001 school year.
The House democratic proposal is better for our members and probably sets the high water mark in terms of C.O.L.A., linkage and benefits.
Members are encouraged to call their legislators at 1-800-562-6000 and urge them to support the House Democrats budget.
Our ongoing battle to raise the bid limits for cities was not won this year. Although its chances in the House were bleak, we were disappointed that the Senate failed to send SB 5469 over or even bring it to a floor vote. It is anybody’s guess, but our belief is that our bill was caught up amongst several controversial bills that the Senate did not want to make enemies over when the House made it clear that only agreed to bills were going to be passed into law.
Our strategy is to work on this issue during the interim through a sub-committee of legislators working on public works funding. We have already contacted the legislators on the committee and they have indicated their support.
Under heavy pressure, the J.C.P.P. scheduled a meeting for April 6 at 6:30 P.M. The Governance Bill ESHB 1771 and several P.E.R.S. enhancement bills were on the agenda. Our goal was to gain the committee’s support for giving us a seat and a vote at the table where pension policy is made and to use the rate reductions to improve the plans i.e. lower the retirement age.
However, it became clear that the committee was not going to support anything and the hearing was just a ruse. That started a major fight amongst some legislators so at 4:00 P.M. the meeting was cancelled. Much more on this issue later.
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