Cutoff Leaves a Lot of Bills Dead

The opposite chamber cutoff is upon us, leaving many bills stranded. In the area of risk management, SB 5059, which would apply prejudgment interest to tort cases, is dead. Also dead is HB 1445, a bill that could put counties at risk of further litigation by authorizing the Attorney General to investigate and sue local agencies over alleged law enforcement legal violations. WSAC opposed these bills because of their impact on our risk pools and because we would rather work on remedial, not adversarial solutions.

In the area of elections, SB 6156 and HB 2250 are companion bills that would have implemented a system for ranked-choice voting. Whatever their merits, both bills are dead, as is HB 1932, which would allow jurisdictions to move elections to even-numbered years.

Two bills that are alive but of concern to us relate to labor relations. SB 5793 would expand the availability and use of sick leave. WSAC has supported the policy goals of the bill but has concerns about some of the definitions, which are operationally unclear. Another bill that is of concern is HB 1983, which would allow striking workers to receive unemployment benefits under certain circumstances. WSAC is concerned with language that would seem to authorize strikes even for classes of essential employees who cannot strike because of the critical nature of their work. As of this writing, it appears that the sick leave expansion will become law, but it is unclear whether the bill on unemployment benefits for striking workers will pass out of the Senate before today’s deadline.