HOTLINE 1/19/18

This is the Federation Hotline updated Jan. 19.

Finally! Capital Construction Budget passed, on way to governor’s desk

It took 287 days, but the state Capital Construction Budget is no longer a hostage.

It came on just Day 11 of the new Senate majority.

The state Legislature on Thursday night (Jan. 18) passed the long-stalled Capital Construction Budget (SSB 6090), 49-0 in the Senate, 95-1 in the House. It went to the governor to be signed into law.

It frees up billions of dollars for infrastructure and ends layoffs of state employees whose positions are funded by that budget.

This would not have happened without the efforts of AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE) members since last April with job actions, visits to legislators, Lobby Days, emails, phone calls and petitions. WFSE members’ actions have saved the day for taxpayers – once again.

Bill protects state employees' privacy

Sponsor of good privacy bill: Needed to protect state employees from “hackers, stalkers, crooks, other unsavory folks”; meanwhile, Freedom Foundation asks Supreme Court to give them access to your date of birth.

The sponsor of the humane Senate bill to keep state employees’ dates of birth private made a passionate plea for passage during today’s (Jan. 19) committee hearing.

Two AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE) members endorsed SB 6079, sponsored by Sen. Patty Kuderer of the 48th Dist.

SB 6079 would exempt public employee dates of birth from public disclosure requirements.

The issue is already in the courts. AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE) won before the state Court of Appeals in October where judges said state employees have a constitutional right to keep their dates of birth private.

Kuderer said SB 6079 is simple and sends a strong message to the Freedom Foundation types.

“It removes from public disclosure the birthdate of public employees so that hackers and stalkers and crooks and other unsavory folks can’t get it for illegitimate purposes,” Kuderer told the Senate State Government Committee.

The Freedom Foundation wants state employees’ dates of birth for who knows what reason. That anti-state employee foundation has appealed the Federation’s victory in the Court of Appeals to the state Supreme Court.

Kuderer said she became alarmed about this breach of state employees’ privacy after attending cybersecurity briefings in her role as a state senator.

“I learned that the birthdate is one of the most highly solicited and sought-after pieces of data because so much can be done with it, including building an alternative identity of you on what’s known as the ‘Dark Web.’

“So I started thinking about why we would risk that sort of thing with our public employees. What is the point of having their birthdate public?”

Kuderer acknowledged that some may say that information is needed for government transparency.

“But the truth is the public safety concerns far outweigh any” concerns critics may have, she said.

Local 443 members Antonio Garcia and Melissa Kover, who work at the DSHS Division of Child Support office in Tumwater, echoed Sen. Kuderer’s passion for their privacy.

“In my line of work, we get a lot of threats,” Garcia said.

He told the committee he gets three or four threats a month.

“Having birthdates accessible to the public is a risk to us – it’s a safety issue,” Garcia said.

“It’s really scary...to know they can get that information and potentially show up at my house,” Kover said.

No hearing date has been set on the Freedom Foundation’s appeal to the Supreme Court to get your date of birth.

The Senate State Government Committee has scheduled a vote on SB 6079 for Jan. 26.

Shared Leave bill moves out of committe

The Senate State Government Committee on Friday (Jan. 19) passed out our latest shared leave bill, SSB 5295, to expand the shared leave program for pregnancy or parental bonding. It now goes to the Senate Rules Committee to be scheduled for a vote of the full Senate.


What’s on tap for next week

Believe it or not, we’re just 13 days away from the first do-or-die date in this short, 60-day session. Feb. 1 is the deadline for most House bills to clear House committees and for most Senate bills to clear Senate committees. Fiscal-impact bills in such budget committees as Senate Ways and Means and House Appropriations have a little longer, until Feb. 5.

So the pace of this quick session is picking up now that those committee cut-off deadlines are in sight.

Schedules can change. Check for updates at wfse.org/leg-updates and at 1-800-562-6102.

And remember, every day is Lobby Day. RSVP https://wfse.org/lobby-days

Monday, Jan. 22

  • The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee has scheduled a vote on SB 6245, the interpreter services bill.
  • The House Appropriations Committee takes up HB 2511 on PERS 1 benefit increases.

Tuesday, Jan. 23

  • The House Judiciary Committee holds a hearing on one of our priority bills, the Affordable Housing Bill, HB 2583.
  • The House State Government takes up the House version of the bill (HB 2669) adding part-time workers to civil service. The Senate version (SB 6184) was heard Jan. 18 in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee.
  • The Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee has scheduled a vote on SB 6259, the bill to create the social work professional loan repayment program.
  • The Senate Ways and Means Committee takes up a number of retirement bills, including SB 6290 addressing cost-of-living adjustments for PERS 1 retirees.

Wednesday, Jan. 24

  • The Senate State Government Committee holds a public hearing on SB 6332 to re-establish the state Productivity Board and its popular Brainstorm Award employee suggestion program.
  • The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee takes up a number of good bills, including SB 5423 to address workplace bullying by making it an unfair practice to subject an employee to an abusive work environment.
  • The Senate Human Services and Corrections Committee has a work session on the Special Commitment Center.

Thursday, Jan. 25

Friday, Jan. 26

  • The Senate State Government Committee has scheduled votes on SB 6079 to keep state employee dates of birth private and SB 6332, the Productivity Board bill.

Shared leave requests:

IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Kristi Fehlig, a program coordinator with the Employment Security Department in Olympia and a member of Local 443, has been approved for shared leave because of an unexpected knee replacement. To help with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, please contact your human resource office.

STILL IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Dan Joy, a financial services specialist 3 with DSHS at the Spokane Maple CSO and a member of Local 1221, has been approved for shared leave for a serious medical condition. He is looking at surgery and being off the job six to eight weeks. To help with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, please contact your human resource office.

STILL IN NEED OF SHARED LEAVE: Harold “John” Barringer, a food service worker at Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake and a member of Local 782, has been approved for shared leave. He is requesting shared leave to cover the time he will be out of the office an undetermined time during lengthy recovery from his second round of chemotherapy. To help with a donation of eligible unused annual leave or sick leave or all or part of your personal holiday, contact Katie Gustafson at (509) 565-4461, or your human resource office.


That’s it for now.