With the first cutoff upon us, now is a good time to catch up on the status of the HR, labor, and pensions bills that we’ve tracked and written about this session. As you may remember, Monday, February 15 is the first policy committee cutoff. It is the deadline by which most bills must be voted out of the policy committee in their House of Origin and be sent either to the floor or a fiscal committee. Bills that remain in their first policy committee after February 15 are generally considered “dead” for the session (unless they are related to the budget).

Here is a quick rundown on the bills pertinent to cities:

Police discipline bills

SB 5055 requires police discipline disputes to go to arbitration using a roster of specialized law enforcement arbitrators at the Public Employee Relations Commission. We last wrote about the bill here. The bill was amended and passed out of the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee on a bipartisan vote, and is currently in the Rules Committee awaiting scheduling for a floor vote.

SB 5134 would have required police discipline disputes to be appealed to a civil service commission or administrative law judge instead of going to arbitration. It would have also prohibited a long list of practices from police collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). We first wrote about it here. It was heard on January 14 but was never scheduled for a committee vote and is likely dead for the session.

SB 5436 prevents the contents of police oversight ombuds reports from being excluded from police discipline cases by a law enforcement CBA. We wrote about the bill in this week’s Bulletin. It was heard last week and is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee on February 15.

Paid leave, unemployment insurance, & workers’ comp bills

HB 1073 expands eligibility for the Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) program to more workers during the pandemic. We last wrote about it here. The bill was amended and voted out of the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee and is now in the House Appropriations Committee. It must be scheduled for a hearing and committee vote by February 22, the first fiscal committee cutoff.

SB 5061 is the Governor’s unemployment insurance (UI) relief package that prevents a major spike in employers’ UI tax rates, increases benefits for claimants, and includes more flexibility in response to COVID-19. We last wrote about the bill here. The bill passed the legislature on bipartisan votes in late January and was signed into law by Governor Inslee on February 8.

SB 5102 changes rules for independent medical exams for workers’ comp claims, including allowing the recording of examinations and limiting the number of examinations. We wrote about the bill here. The bill was originally scheduled for a vote in the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee last week, but was rescheduled for a vote on February 15, likely due to negotiations on amendments.

SB 5137 suspends workers’ comp COLAs until 2022 and caps future COLAs at 3%. We wrote about the bill here. The bill is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee on February 15.

Pensions bills

SB 5021 holds public employees’ retirement contributions harmless for furloughs and work hours reductions due to the pandemic. We first wrote about the bill here. The bill passed out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee in late January and is now in the Senate Rules Committee waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote.

SB 5336 requires LEOFF 1 disability boards to provide documentation of covered medical services that members can use to demonstrate to providers which services are covered. We wrote about the bill here. It has yet to be scheduled for a hearing or committee vote but is currently in the Senate Ways & Means Committee. It has until February 22 (fiscal committee cutoff) to be sent to the floor.

SB 5352 would allow new public employees that are over age 60 to opt out of public retirement plans. We wrote up the bill here. It was heard last week and is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Ways & Means Committee on February 15.

SB 5367 requires the Department of Retirement Services to establish rules on identifying inactive retirement accounts, closing them, and refunding the contributions. We wrote up the bill here. It was heard last week and is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Ways & Means Committee on February 15.

COVID-19 and workplace safety bills

SB 5115 creates several new workplace standards during public health emergencies, including personal protective equipment (PPE) use, workplace infection presumptions in workers’ comp, PFML expansion, paid sick leave, and frontline hazard pay. We wrote about the bill here. It has been scheduled for a vote in the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee on February 15.

SB 5254 requires employers to accommodate an employee’s voluntary PPE use during a health emergency if it meets regulatory requirements from the Departments of Health or Labor & Industries. We first wrote about the bill here. The bill was amended and voted out of the Senate Labor, Commerce, & Tribal Affairs Committee last week and is in Senate Rules waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote.

HB 1206 increases protections and safety training requirements for employers and staffing agencies of temporary workers. We wrote about the bill here. It was amended and voted out of the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee in the first week of February and is now in the House Rules Committee waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote.

Other bills

HB 1076 creates a private right of action for plaintiffs to sue employers in the name of the state for alleged employment law violations (known as qui tam actions). We first wrote about the bill here. The bill was amended and voted out of the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee in the first week of February and is now in the House Appropriations Committee awaiting a hearing.

HB 1016 makes Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States, a state legal holiday. We wrote about the bill here. It was heard and voted out of the House Appropriations Committee in the first week of February and is now in the House Rules Committee waiting to be scheduled for a floor vote.