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Session Cutoff Report March 16, 2009 |
The end of last week marked a major cutoff for this year's legislative session. Bills are now switching to the opposite house and will be placed in committees to start the process anew.
 IMMEDIATE ACTION - HEARING TOMMORROW!
The House Committee on Ecology and Parks will hear public testimony and take a vote on the bill at 10 AM tomorrow. Coalition legislators on the committee are Maralyn Chase, Deb Eddy and Zach Hudgins. Contact them TODAY and tell them to vote NO.
Although the bill has been altered from its original form, Cap and Trade still sends the wrong message to businesses holding many family wage jobs.
Cap and Trade establishes limits on the amount of greenhouse gasses that are emitted by large companies in the state. This creates an environment in the state where local companies will operate at a competitive disadvantage.
Many legislators in support of the bill claim this is a message to the federal government, but we caution them to not risk our economy to impress the federal government.
Status: Opposed
Support Unemployment Insurance Conformity (SB 5963)
Hearing March 18th,
House Committee on Commerce and Labor, 1:30pm
We are lobbying in support of SB 5963 - Which returns the state's unemployment insurance system back in conformity with federal regulations. 98% of businesses will either pay the same unemployment rate that they are currently at, or will receive a tax break. Not to mention that the state will avoid penalties from federal regulators.
Status: Support
Tax Raises On the Horizon?
Legislators are preparing for the worst on Thursday when the newest revenue forecast is expected to be the top story. Those agencies subjected to necessary cuts are not prepared to go down without a fight. Talk around Olympia is that there will be a revenue alternative, i.e. a tax raise option on the ballot come November.
We will keep you up to date as this situation materializes.
Status: Monitoring
DEAD BILLS
Employer Gag Rule
A bit of controversy surrounded these bills and leadership in the legislature eventually agreed to shelve them for the year. Identical versions in the house and senate would have placed severe restriction on employer communications with employees, effectively silencing any employer about matters related to union organization.
When members of the legislature received an email from Union leadership suggesting that they would not donate another cent to political action committees until the Governor signed the bill, they passed the issue off to local authorities for investigation.
This is a developing story, stay tuned for more information.
Status: DEAD
Washington State Financial Services (SB 5791)
The creation of a state run retirement account system would have placed the state of Washington in direct competition with private businesses containing over 20,000 jobs.
The pre-existing alternatives and the complexity of establishing public retirement accounts are what probably lead to the death of this bill.
Status: DEAD
For more information or to learn how to get involved, email Tim Hunt or call him at (425) 213-1208.
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