THE FIRST cutoff date for non-fiscal bills was Friday, February 6. All bills not relating to the budget had to have been out of their committees or they were dead for the session. The bills that impact the budget have Tuesday, February 10 as their deadline. The next deadline will be February 17 as all bills must be out of their “House of Origin” to remain alive.

The following is a list of bills our Union has been following.

SHB 2532/SB 6583 – Modifying Commercial Driver’s License Provisions

Background: The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Improvement Act of 1999 (MCSIA) made several modifications to federal CDL regulations. States are required to come into substantial compliance with these regulations before September 2005. In addition, new federal rules have been added regarding security threat assessments of individuals applying for a Hazardous Materials endorsement for a CDL. States were required to come into compliance with these new regulations prior to September of 2003, but an extension has been granted. Failure to comply with these new regulations would subject Washington to potential decertification. If this occurs, Washington may lose federal highway funding and commercial drivers operating under a Washington CDL would not be allowed to operate commercial motor vehicles in other states.

Brief summary of substitute bill: In order to comply with new federal regulations, this bill amends the Uniform Commercial Driver’s License Act to:

Prohibit “masking” of traffic violations from the driving records of a CDL holder.

Add additional traffic violations and offenses that would disqualify a person from driving a commercial motor vehicle.

Require the Department of Licensing to obtain a new CDL applicant’s driving record from every state in which they have been licensed in the last 10 years.

Provide for the disqualification of a CDL where the holder has caused a fatality through the negligent operation of a commercial motor vehicle.

Permit the immediate disqualification of a CDL where the holder has been determined to constitute an imminent hazard by the federal DOT.

Require instruction permit holders to be at least 18 years of age, to have passed a general knowledge examination, and paid the appropriate application and exam fees.

Prohibit CDL instruction permit holders from operating a commercial motor vehicle transporting hazardous materials.

Create a new endorsement category for school bus operation.

Update definitions of “hazardous materials,” “school bus,” and “serious traffic violations.”

Substitute bill compared with original bill: If a CDL holder receives a violation for not having a CDL in his or her possession at the time of the stop, it will not be considered a “serious traffic offense” if the driver can prove that he or she held a valid CDL on the date the citation was issued.

It is not a disqualifying offense if a CDL holder is found to have a blood alcohol level of .04 percent while driving a private vehicle.

The Department of Licensing and the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction are required to provide an expanded P1 or P2 skill examination that also tests for the “S” endorsement (school bus drivers) and requires that the modified examination not be an additional cost beyond what a school bus driver currently pays to obtain a CDL.

ESB 3007 – Home and Community Care

This bill would allow DSHS the ability to contract out the services that our members perform for the Area Agencies on Aging. This bill is part and parcel to the Washington Medicaid Integration Partnership program that is aimed directly at Snohomish County.

Members are encouraged to contact the legislators and tell them to vote no on ESB 3007. Please include the following points:

SHB 2985 – Provided access to health care coverage for local government retirees and the disabled.

HB 2327 (now dead in this session) was designed to repeal the requirement passed last session that all local governments had to provide access for health coverage to retirees and the disabled. As a result of the legislation several local governments attempted to gain coverage but were unable to as a result of a lack of available providers. This left them in violation of the law, in some cases due to no fault of their own.

Rather than repeal the law, we successfully lobbied to keep the requirement but included language that in the event that an employer sought group coverage but was unable to find it they could satisfy their obligation by assisting retirees in obtaining individual coverage until such time that group coverage is available. The new bill (SHB 2985) represents our efforts to keep the pressure on local governments to assist retirees.

HB 3046 – An act relating to the release of personal information.

Sponsors: Representative Carrell, Armstrong, Haigh, Miloscia, Nixon, Kirby and Bush.

This bill is designed to put a stop to those who wish to harass and intimidate public employees by requesting that their personal information be released to the public. Some warped individuals have even created websites dedicated solely to publishing names, social security numbers, home addresses and salaries of public employees. To date, the courts have ruled against our request to keep this information private. This bill would make it clear that this information is not to be made public.

Summary of substitute bill: The current exemption that exempts the residential addresses and phone numbers of public employees and volunteers is expanded to include:

The social security numbers, personal wireless telephone numbers, personal email addresses, and emergency contact information of employees and volunteers; and

The names, dates of birth, residential addresses, residential telephone numbers, personal wireless telephone numbers, personal email addresses, social security numbers, and emergency contact information of dependents of employees and volunteers.

HB 2559/SB 6258 – An act relating to the certification of corrections officers.

Brief summary of substitute bill: This bill is similar to the one that passed for police officers a few years back. Currently there is no mechanism to repeal a correctional officers certification even if they have been terminated for committing a felony. We hope to amend the bill to ensure that frontline employees have a voice and vote on the newly created board so that the bill remains true to its original purpose of weeding out the bad actors.

Requires all corrections officers, as a condition of continuing employment, timely to obtain and retain certification as corrections officers.

Establishes a five-member hearings panel to hear cases and make final administrative decisions regarding a corrections officer’s decertification.

Requires that all contents of personnel action reports, files, and other information obtained by the commission, relating to a correction officer’s certification or decertification, remain confidential and exempt from public disclosure.

Exempts corrections officers that are employed by the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration from the certification requirements.

SB 6150 – An act relating to collective bargaining agreements.

Background: Collective bargaining agreements entered into between a county, municipal corporation or political subdivision of the state and an exclusive bargaining representative cannot extend for more than three years.

Summary of Bill: The length of collective bargaining agreements between local government and an exclusive bargaining representative is changed from three years to six years.

HB 2921 – An act relating to avoiding fragmentation in bargaining units for classified school employees.

Brief Summary of Bill:

Prohibits dividing an existing appropriate bargaining unit of classified school employees unless the parties agree.

Requires the Public Employment Relations Commission to avoid excessive fragmentation in determining classified school employee bargaining units.