During the 2012 legislative session, 1,300 new bills were introduced and 279 new laws were enacted. Beginning with a special session last November, the Legislature’s primary objective has been to remedy a $1.0 billion shortfall in the $30.0 billion operating budget for 2011-2013. After completing its 60-day regular session in March without an agreement, it took another 31 days of special session to close the budget negotiations in the early-morning hours of April 11. Budget negotiations took a substantial shift by a rare procedural maneuver late in the regular session when three Democrats joined the Republicans in the Senate to create a philosophical majority in support of the Senate Republican version of the budget. This Republican-led coalition held together through the special session, forcing budget writers to consider a variety of reform bills before finally approving a bi-partisan supplemental budget.
The ABC government affairs team advocated on a variety of issues that fit within ABC’s mission to advance the principles of free enterprise and merit in the construction industry. Our lobbying efforts focus on issues related to union organizing, workers’ compensation reform, and public procurement restrictions such as apprenticeship and prevailing wage requirements.
Filing Affidavits on Behalf of a Subcontractor (SSB 6421 – PASSED)
ABC Position: Support
This bill allows a general contractor to file affidavit of prevailing wages paid on behalf of a subcontractor if the contractor had a contractual relationship with the subcontractor, and the subcontractor has ceased operations or failed to file an affidavit as required. An affidavit filed on behalf of a subcontractor may be filed no sooner than 31 days after the acceptance date of the public works project. A contractor filing on behalf of a subcontractor must accept responsibility for any unpaid wages owed by the nonresponsive subcontractor. This legislation allows the general contractor to recover their retainage on the project sooner and increase cash flow.
Prevailing Wage Reform (SB 6419, SB 6420, SB 6422, SB 6480 – DIED)
ABC Position: Support
A package of prevailing wage reform bills were introduced but failed to make it out of the Senate. These included: 1) SB 6419 would change from the average rate in the largest city in a county to county-wide averaging for determining prevailing wage rates; 2) SB 6420 would exempt the manufacturing of off-site prefabricated items from prevailing wage requirements; 3) SB 6422 would have limited the requirements to specific construction activities; and 4) SB 6480 proposed a safe-harbor from wage complaints under the Wage Payment Act for contractors who have received a prior written determination from the Department of Labor and Industries.
Establishing Apprenticeship Completion Rate Requirements (SB 6287 – DIED)
ABC Position: Oppose
This bill would have established minimum completion rate requirements for apprenticeship training programs as part of the state’s apprenticeship utilization requirements. As drafted, the bill would have put open shop contractors and their affiliated apprenticeship programs at a competitive disadvantage when competing for public works contracts.
Apprenticeship Hours on Certified Payroll (SB 6416 – DIED)
ABC Position: Oppose
This bill would have required contractors to report apprenticeship hours on certified payroll forms. Public owners would not be able to disburse any payment on a public contract without having received a certified payroll from the contractor and each and every subcontractor, which can create cash-flow problems and potentially delay projects. Apprenticeship hours are already reported on the affidavit of wages paid, so this is a duplicative effort increasing the administrative burden of contractors. Public owners would also be required to post the records, which contain personal information about employees, on a publicly accessible database.
Successor Liability for Prevailing Wage Violations (ESHB 2669 – DIED)
ABC Position: Oppose
This bill would have made a successor entity liable for any unpaid prevailing wages and for violations of prevailing wage requirements committed by a predecessor contractor, if the successor had actual notice of the violation at the time of the sale or conveyance. While the intent of this bill is reasonable, the language would cast a very large net, creating additional barriers for the sale and acquisition of business entities.
Increased Penalties for Metal Theft (ESHB 2570 – PASSED)
ABC Position: Support
Criminal statues are changed in regards to metal theft under this bill. The theft of metal wire from a public service company or a consumer owned utility constitutes theft in the first degree, a class B felony, if the costs of the damage to the company or property exceeds $5,000. Metal theft is a class C felony if the cost exceeds $750 but not $5,000. In addition, this bill creates a task force on commercial metal property theft. The task force, consisting of business owners, representatives of industries most affected by metal theft, municipal and county representatives, and state law enforcement agencies will release a preliminary report to the Legislature by Dec. 31, 2012.
Job Order Contracting Expansion (HB 2328 – PASSED)
ABC Position: Support
Job Order Contracting (JOC) was authorized as an alternative public works contracting procedure starting in 2003. Under a job order contract, a contractor agrees to perform an indefinite quantity of public works jobs, defined by individual work orders, over a fixed period of time. This bill eliminated the maximum of two work orders of $350,000 in a 12 month contract period. It also expands the list of public entities authorized to use JOC to include state regional universities, The Evergreen State College and Sound Transit. This bill goes into effect June 7, 2012.
WISHA Employee Protections (HB 2412 – DIED)
ABC Position: Oppose
This bill would have greatly increased civil and criminal penalties for violations under the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) without providing any additional funds or services to help reduce construction related injuries. It also would have increased the time to file a discrimination complaint from 30 days to 108 days. In some cases, violations that were previously misdemeanors are increased to a class C felony.
Collective Bargaining for L&I Language Access Providers (HB 2830 / SB 6634 - DIED)
ABC Position: Oppose
These bills were introduced late in the 2012 first special session to extend the Public Employees’ Collective Bargaining Act (PECBA) to language interpreters who provide services for the Department of Labor and Industries medical appointments. ABC joined other small business organizations in opposition on the grounds that this proposal would raise the cost of interpretive services that are required for many workers’ compensation claims, and that lower cost services are readily available.
Plumbing Contractors (SB 6476 – DIED)
ABC Position: Oppose
This bill would restrict how contractors advertise to provide plumbing services and would require contractors that may contract for plumbing and plumbing-related services in the course of other construction work to have a full-time journeyman plumber on staff.
Electrical Training Hours (SB 6133 – PASSED)
ABC Position: Concerns
SB 6133 increases the number of classroom hours required of electrical trainees before applying for a journeyman certificate. The minimum classroom hours now range between 24 to 96 hours depending on the number of work hours required for certification.
Capital Budget Package (ESB 6074 – PASSED) (ESB 5127 – PASSED)
ABC Position: Neutral
Washington Construction Industry Council (WCIC) Position: Neutral
The Legislature approved a supplemental capital budget and another bill to authorize general obligation bonds to increase capital infrastructure spending this biennium by $290 million and $1.1 billion, respectively. Though the initial bonding proposal included revenue bonds financed through fund transfers from the Public Works Trust Fund and other dedicated funds, budget negotiators settled on general obligation bonds to boost infrastructure spending.
If you have any questions, please contact Vice President of Government & Labor Affairs Aran Buchan.