EHB 2805 (PASSED)  Represents the culmination of several years of negotiations between stakeholders and legislators to reach agreement to temporarily require and allow access to out of state documentation for off-site prefabricated items provided for the construction of Washington public works projects. EHB 2805 requires all public works contracts estimated to cost over $1 million must contain a provision requiring contractors and subcontractors to submit information regarding any off-site, prefabricated, nonstandard, project specific items produced under each contract produced outside Washington.  Information that must be provided includes:  the estimated cost of the public works project;  the name of the awarding agency and the title of the public works project; the contract value of the off-site, prefabricated, nonstandard, project specific items produced outside Washington; and the name, address, and federal employer identification number of the contractor that produced the items. The information will be submitted by the contractor or subcontractor who directed for the items. Failure to submit the information does not constitute a violation of Washington prevailing wage requirements. "Off-site, prefabricated, nonstandard, project-specific items" means products or items that are: made primarily of architectural or structural precast concrete, fabricated steel, pipe and pipe systems, or sheet metal and sheet metal duct work; produced specifically for the public work and not considered to be regularly available shelf items; produced or manufactured by labor expended to assemble or modify standard items; and produced at an off-site location. The Department of General Administration (GA) must develop standard contract language regarding these requirements and post the language on the agency's website. GA must transmit information collected and submit it on an annual basis for annual review to the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board. In order to meet the responsible bidder criteria and qualify to be awarded a public works project, a bidder on a public works subject must not have violated these requirements more than once as determined by the Department of Labor and Industries.  The provisions apply to contracts entered into on or after September 1, 2010, and the law expires December 31, 2013. The Department of Transportation and local transportation public works are exempt from this law.

            HB 1992 (NOT PASSED) Would require the payment of prevailing wages when the equivalent of public dollars were used in "public/private partnership" construction projects. The equivalent of public dollars includes:  tax incentives, loans provided by a public entity, or public land or property that is sold or leased at below market value. HB 1992 was introduced in the 2009 legislative session, received a public hearing in the House Commerce and Labor Committee, but moved no further that year. This year the bill repeated from the beginning with a public hearing before the House Commerce and Labor Committee where concerns were vetted from representatives of port districts. The bill passed out of Commerce and Labor and advanced to the House Ways & Means [fiscal] Committee for further public hearing from a fiscal perspective. Labor met with the port representatives who agreed that they could support the bill as long as communications and negotiations continued toward mutually agreeable language before the House Floor vote. However, HB 1992 proceeded no further than the House Ways & Means Committee where the bill was “put down” and passage was not considered by the committee. The issue of public/private partnerships will remain a legislative priority for the Building Trades.

 

SHB 2789 (PASSED) Allows the Departments of Labor and Industries, the Employment Security, and Revenue to apply for and obtain a superior court order authorizing a subpoena in advance of its issuance.  The power to issue subpoenas grants these departments increased power to pursue unscrupulous contractors that cheat their workers and the state by avoiding workers compensation and unemployment insurance taxes. The application must: state that an order is sought pursuant to the authority granted; specify the records, documents, or testimony; and declare under oath that an investigation is being conducted for a lawfully authorized purpose and that the documents or testimony are reasonably related to an investigation within the L&I, the ESD, or the DOR's authority, as appropriate.  Where the application is made to the satisfaction of the court, the court must issue an order approving the subpoena. No prior notice to any person is required.

2SSB 6575 (VETOED) Would have established a dedicated account to enforce penalties for unregistered contractors. Affiliates joined the lobby team and UECTF members to amend the bill to include worker misclassification language that has been a registered priority goal of labor reps over the four years of the task force. Yet, after final negotiations with hold out stakeholders (AGC) that extended through interim work and ran into session, an agreement was reached and reflected in the public testimony on SSB 6575. Our communication with Legislators to this fact and tabulated vote count indicated sufficient support for final passage without amendments of the misclassification section; the stakeholder’s organization sabotaged the message of their agreement during final floor action on two amendments that removed both the section on worker misclassification section and the class C felony penalty. Information has been retained on the “vote counts” of Legislators who claimed their understanding and support to both vote to retain the misclassification section and passage of the bill, and those Democratic Legislators who worked to defeat this section - given their opportunity to speak up during the years of work of the task force and during our many meetings with them individually to advance solutions. This background now counts heavily in the overall 2010 labor grade of individual Legislators for Affiliate review come election season. Governor Gregoire’s veto of the diluted bill is relevant in this budget cycle, and her message “Narrowing the underground economy is a laudable goal, and one that should be pursued with stronger legislation,” indicates her disappointment in the version the Legislature passed to her desk. As we move forward in 2010 and 2011, eliminating Washington's underground economy is a high priority issue for the WSBCTC and Affiliates.

 

2SHB 2551 (PASSED) Creates the Washington Vaccine Association (WVA) a nonprofit corporation to facilitate universal purchase of vaccines for children and assess health carriers and third-party administrators for the cost of vaccines for certain children under the age of 19. Members of the WVA Board of Directors are provided immunity from liability for lawful actions taken in the performance of their duties. The Board includes five representatives from the licensed health carriers with the most covered lives in Washington; four third-party administrators, two representing the Taft-Hartley health benefit plan with the most covered lives in Washington, and two representing private self-funded health care purchasers; two health care providers, including one board certified pediatrician; and the Secretary of the Department of Health as an ex officio member. Beginning November 1, 2010 and annually thereafter the WVA Board must establish the amount of the assessment and the assessment payment plan. Payments are deposited in the Universal Vaccine Purchase Account established in the State Treasury. The assessment amount is determined by multiplying the ratio of the number of covered children (non-VFC children under 19 years old) to the total number of Washington residents under 19 years old and by the total non-federal program costs for the vaccines.  Each participant must be assessed in proportion to their number of covered children. The initial assessment is calculated to reflect the anticipated total non-federal program cost for the upcoming calendar year, as well as the anticipated non-federal program cost for May through December 2010. Participants may deposit voluntary assessments into the Account prior to December 31, 2010 that will be credited to the total assessment due. Advance notice of the assessment due must be provided by November 15 of each year, and initial payment must be deposited within 90 days.

HB 3086 (NOT PASSED) Would have provided that the state and federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction over an action:  brought against a surety to recover for costs of labor, materials, or improvements, including an action involving a claim for delinquent contributions to a benefit plan; and, to foreclose a lien for labor, materials and taxes on public works, including an action involving a claim for delinquent contributions to a benefit plan.

 

ESSB 6789 (PASSED) A sales and use tax exemption provides for eligible server equipment and power infrastructure for eligible computer data centers in rural counties. The exemption expires on April 1, 2018. In order to qualify, a data center must: be located in a rural county; have at least 20,000 square feet dedicated to housing servers; and have commenced construction between April 1, 2010, and before July 1, 2011. Commencement of construction means the date that a building permit is issued under the building code for construction of a computer data center. Construction of a data center includes the expansion, renovation, or other improvements made to existing facilities, including leased or rented space. Eligible server equipment is the original server equipment installed in a data center after April 1, 2010, and replacement server equipment which replaces servers originally exempt under this law and is installed prior to April 1, 2018. Several companies have indicated that with the tax exemption provided in this legislation, data centers will be built in Washington (construction jobs and revenue that may have gone to other states).

SSB 6889 (PASSED) Allows the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle to operate as a Public Facilities District increasing financial autonomy from the current limitations with the Center account linked to the state budget. With increased financial authority, the Convention Center can move forward with expansion plans to attract much larger venues to the center and state, create thousands of construction jobs both directly and indirectly through future hotel development; and provide opportunity for other family waged occupations in Seattle. The new PFD is governed by a nine-member board of directors. Three members are appointed by the Governor, three by King County, and three by the City of Seattle. One of the city’s appointments must be a representative of organized labor. At least one of the Governor’s appointments and one of the county appointments must be a representative of the lodging industry. The initial board of the PFD is made up of the nine-member board of the Center. The Governor must designate which of the initial board members must serve two-year terms and which must serve four-year terms. Four of the initial nine board members must serve two-year terms of office. The new PFD is authorized to impose lodging taxes on hotels, motels, and similar facilities with at least 60 units; the rate is 7 percent in Seattle and 2.8 percent in the rest of King County. The new PFD may impose a 2 percent lodging tax in Seattle that credits against the state sales tax rate.

            EHB 2561 (PASSED) Advances a construction jobs referendum to the people of Washington to vote into law this November. If passed in November, over 30,000 construction jobs will be created through state funds for energy efficiency upgrade retrofits for public schools, state universities and other public facilities. If passed by the voters, the State Finance Committee is authorized to issue $505 million in general obligation bonds to create jobs by constructing capital improvements to public facilities for energy costs savings. The Department of Commerce, in consultation with the Department of General Administration and Washington State University's (WSU) Energy Program, must administer the Jobs Act. The GA must develop guidelines for the implementation of energy savings performance contracting projects by December 31, 2010. Related projects are projects that must be completed in order for the energy efficiency improvement to be effective. The Department of Commerce must consult with the GA and the WSU Energy Program to establish a competitive process and evaluate applications. The Department of Commerce determines the final grant awards.

ESSB 6468 (PASSED) Is a common sense expansion to address necessary structural repair needs based on last year’s residential weatherization law designed to save energy, lower resident energy bills, and provide local job and training opportunities. The Department of Commerce must prioritize weatherization and structural rehabilitation projects to facilitate funding from federal energy efficiency programs such as Weatherization Assistance, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants, residential energy efficiency aspects of the State Energy Program and the retrofit ramp-up program. Workers engaged in weatherization works that encounter structural deficiencies, including the presence of asbestos, lead and mold hazards in the course of their work to repair or otherwise solve the encountered problem. Service providers, not programs, that receive funding must report to the department at least quarterly the number of homes repaired, rehabilitated, and weatherized.

SSB 6712 (PASSED) Increases the application deadline for the six-year property tax and leasehold excise tax exemptions for new or expanded manufacturing facilities producing alternative fuels from December 31, 2009, to December 31, 2015. This extension will encourage the construction of additional manufacturing facilities in Washington.

HB 3181 (NOT PASSED) The proposed Clean Water Act of 2010 was supported by a wide coalition of labor, environmentalists, cities, counties and state agencies that would have provided construction jobs around the state to mitigate egregious locations where road polluted storm water runoff enters sensitive waterways and catch basins. We expect this issue will be reintroduced in 2011.  

 

SSB 6357 (PASSED) Will lead to policies that allow academic credit for a variety of “life experiences” including pre apprenticeship and apprenticeships. The College Board, in consultation with the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB), the Council of Presidents, the Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, representatives from Washington institutions of higher education, representatives from two- and four-year faculty, representatives from private career schools, and representatives from business and labor must develop policies for awarding academic credit for learning from work and military experience, military and law enforcement training, career college training, internships and externships, and apprenticeships. The policies must address issues regarding verification, accreditation, transfer of academic credit, licensing and professional recognition, and financial aid. Policies developed by the College Board, along with recommendations, are submitted to the appropriate committees of the Legislature by December 31, 2010.

            E2SHB 2630 (PASSED) Requires that colleges give priority in the use of Worker Retraining funds to programs in construction, aerospace, health care, long-term care, advanced manufacturing, renewable energy industries, and high-demand occupations in strategic industry clusters as identified by the state and local comprehensive workforce development plans developed by the Workforce Education and Training Coordinating Board and the local Workforce Development Councils. The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges is encouraged to develop a single website for the purpose of advertising the availability of funding for the Worker Retraining, Opportunity Grant, Opportunity Internship programs, training programs approved by the commissioner of the Employment Security Department, training programs prioritized by industry, and training programs administered by labor and management partnerships. The Opportunity Express Account is created and stipulates that funding may be used for certain training programs and administrative costs up to $88,844,000.

 

SSB 6524 (PASSED) Addresses unemployment insurance penalties and contribution rates for employers who are not “qualified employers.” Starting in 2011 the delinquent tax rate for employers without an approved agency deferred payment contract will be 1 percent higher than the rate would have been had the employer not been delinquent. If the employer is delinquent for a second or more consecutive year, the rate must be 2 percent higher than it would have been had the employer not been delinquent. If the delinquent employer enters an approved agency-deferred payment contract within 30 days of the date the Employment Security Department (ESD) sent its first tax rate notice, one-half of 1 percent must be deducted from the delinquent tax rate. Starting January 1, 2011, an employer that knowingly fails to register with ESD and obtain an employment security account number is subject to a quarterly penalty of $1,000 or two times the taxes due, whichever is greater. The penalty will not apply if the employer can prove that it had good cause to believe it was not required to register with ESD.

SHB 2649 (PASSED)  Corrects references to unemployment insurance statutes concerning employer experience rating accounts and contribution rates. Corrections are made to references of the Employment Security Act that were amended and restructured in 2009. Corrections are also made to references to a definition section that was alphabetized in 2009.

 

ESSB 6392 (PARTIAL VETO) Allows bond proceeds, backed by revenue generated from tolls on the SR 520 corridor, to be used for any project within the SR 520 bridge replacement and high occupancy vehicle (HOV) program, including projects beyond the replacement floating bridge. However, $200 million in bond proceeds must be used only to fund the west side of the corridor program, and may be used for effective connections for high occupancy vehicles and transit for SR 520. The corridor program must include the following elements, consistent with the (1) legislatively identified total project cost of $4.65B, (2) legislative intent to keep cost savings within the corridor, and (3) opening of the bridge to vehicular traffic in 2014:

ESSB 6499 (PASSED) addresses tolling authority and the use of tolling technology for the Department of Transportation.

The toll collection account uses are expanded to allow for operations that benefit multiple toll facilities cleared through this account. At least monthly, operating activities and interest earnings must be distributed to the appropriate toll facility

HB 1591 (PASSED) clarifies that a transportation improvement means, in addition to any project contained in the transportation plan of the state or regional transportation planning organization, any project contained in the transportation plan of a city, county, or any jurisdiction eligible to be included in a Transportation Benefit District (TBD). Transportation Benefit Districts are authorized to impose impact fees for transportation improvements within the district that are constructed by any entity, not only for those improvements constructed by the TBD itself. Transportation Benefit Districts that initially impose a voter-approved sales and use tax after July 1, 2010, are authorized to impose the sales and use tax beyond the 10-year limitation if the tax revenues are dedicated to the repayment of general obligation bonds.

 

SHB 2527 (PASSED) Expands the cite certification authority of the Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (a "one-stop" siting process for major energy facilities in Washington) and ultimately lays the groundwork for Washington nuclear energy expansion.

SB 6401 (PASSED)  Establishes an alternative process for selecting subcontractors for GC/CM projects. The process may only be used for the selection of a mechanical subcontractor, an electrical subcontractor, or both, and when the anticipated value of the subcontract will exceed $3 million. To use the process, the public agency and the GC/CM must determine that using the process is in the best interest of the public. A hearing must be conducted for the purpose of receiving comments and the hearing notice must be published in a legal newspaper at least 14 calendar days before the hearing. Notice of the public solicitation of proposals must be provided to the Office of Minority and Women's Business Enterprises. A public solicitation of subcontractor proposals must include a complete description of the project, including problematic, performance, and technical requirements and specifications; the reasons for using the alternative selection process; a description of the minimum qualifications of the firm; a description of the evaluation process; the form of the contract, including any preconstruction services; the estimated maximum allowable subcontract cost; and bid instructions for finalists. Evaluation factors include, but are not limited to:

A committee is formed to evaluate the proposals and must include at least one representative from the public body. Final proposals will be requested from the most qualified firms. The firm submitting the highest scored final proposal must be selected. If the GC/CM is unable to negotiate a satisfactory maximum allowable subcontract cost with the selected firm that is deemed to be fair, reasonable, and within available funds, negotiations with that firm must be formally terminated and negotiations will begin with the next highest scored firm. The GC/CM may contract with the selected firm to provide services during the design phase of a project. The maximum allowable subcontract cost must be used to establish a total subcontract cost for purposes of a performance and payment bond, and must be negotiated when the construction documents and specifications are at least 90 percent complete.

HB 2575 (VETOED)  Membership on the CPARB would have been expanded to 24 members. The additional member passed by the Legislature would have sat a regional transit authority representative as a local public owner.

The bills listed prior are the result of a diligent offensive strategy and collaboration between the Building Trades lobby team, the WSLC, and a variety of allies to promote legislation that align with our mission to protect and increase opportunity to earn fair wages, work safely and provide a quality life for Washington’s working men and women. Responding to harmful legislation detrimental to Building Trades Members, families and our contractors is equally important and often more difficult and time consuming as we work to advance our legislative agenda. The following bills are a small sample of harmful legislation that labor worked with Legislators to defeat.

SB 6438 Would have radically altered the calculation of prevailing wages for public works projects. The new equation would use an average rate calculation across a given craft and shift to using the entire county, rather than the most populated city in the county, for determining that average. This method would significantly decrease prevailing wages across the entire state.

HB 2879 Would have allowed private insurance companies to participate in Washington’s industrial insurance system and established a task force dedicated to eliminating our state-funded worker’s compensation system.

HB 3149 Attempted to comprehensively rewrite workers’ compensation law. In addition to more than a hundred pages of replacement statute language, the bill would take the industrial insurance fund from Labor and Industries and have it managed by the Office of the Insurance Commissioner.

SB 5462 Was a workers’ compensation bill that altered the calculation of benefits paid. The “simplification” proposed in the bill would have cut benefits for many recipients from now forward.

HB 2950/ SB 6638 Would have authorized voluntary medical provider networks and voluntary settlement agreements and stated that the workers' compensation system would only be responsible for costs due to workplace injuries.

HB 2920/SB 6587 Would have limited employer contribution rates for unemployment insurance with a maximum flat tax. The current UI system requires that employers’ payments into the UI fund be calculated based on a rating that factors in the amount of layoffs a given company has, this calculation was proposed by business during a previous session. Given the economic climate and wide proliferation of layoffs, now is the time to ensure that the UI fund is solid and not the time to allow business to back down from their commitment.

HB 3103 Was another bill introduced to reduce unemployment taxes for employers, that we did not support placing a strain on the UI trust fund when UI numbers are high over long periods of time and without increasing relief to the unemployed – for the BTs that would be to return the multiplier to 4.0 from 3.85.

SB 6585 Attempted to remove part six from the seven part test that defines an employer for Washington. The bill would remove the requirement that the “individual is maintaining a separate set of books or records that reflect all items of income and expenses of the business which the individual is conducting.”

HB 6376 Would have shifted oversight of contractor licensing from Labor and Industries to the Department of Licensing. A seven panel board of contractors would then be established to oversee and enforce all rules relating to contractor licensing.

SB 5021  Would have reduced or eliminated regulations relating to electrical work for all renewable energy construction projects.

HB 3077/SB 6573   Would have removed the sales tax exemption for coal used at coal-fired power plants. This legislation would have had dire consequences for the Centralia power plant and led to further unemployment in that already economically depressed region.

 

 

The 2011 Legislative Session is an important election cycle away. Off presidential election years experience a reduced turnout of voters. Don’t let this be the case for our Building Trades Affiliates and families! The November 2, 2011 ballot will have important issues and candidates for us. In particular, we know we’ll wage a ballot war to fight against private industrial insurance interests moving into Washington State. We will vote on the Jobs Act of 2011 to retrofit our public schools and structures to save energy and provide apprenticeship opportunities with local schools; more information will be transmitted on both issues as we move into the election cycle. Keep connected in your communities to speak to candidates running for office, ask them about their positions on misclassification of workers, and educate them about prevailing wages, and seek their support for our work to pass laws to that strengthen our Washington building and construction trades professionals and our signatory contractors who support and help educate our local communities.