End of Session Update

After a breakneck 60-day legislative session, the legislature has adjourned sine die – finishing on time, without a special session, for the first time in four years. Here are just some of the bills the legislature passed this year that will benefit public employees and working people across the state.
 

• A bill ensuring that new public employees have a chance to meet with union stewards to learn about their contract and their rights.
• The Washington Voting Rights Act
• The Equal Pay Opportunity Act
• Same day voter registration
• A bill granting state employees access to shared leave for pregnancy disability or bonding with a newborn or newly adopted or fostered child.
• A bill establishing PTSD as an occupational disease.
• A bill expanding access to pension credits for public employee veterans.
• A bill granting collective bargaining rights for state employees who work fewer than 350 hours per year.
• A capital budget that saves state employee jobs and invests in forest health and new schools.
• A budget that invests in K-12 education, including pay raises for teachers at the Washington State School for the Blind and the Center for Childhood Deafness and Hearing Loss.
• A 1.5% COLA for PERS 1 retirees.

 
Unfortunately, some of the bills we worked for this year did not pass successfully. Here are some of the bills we’ll keep working on next year:

• A bill protecting the birthdates of state employees from public disclosure.
• A bill protecting the identities of state employees who file sexual harassment complaints.
• A bill increasing accountability and transparency if the state contracts out public services.