This is the Federation Hotline updated Jan. 23.
Affordable housing bill needed for state employees because high rents “are making it difficult for them to survive”
AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE) members and our allies countered opponents and made a strong case today for our priority affordable housing bill as a matter of survival for many state employees.
“The price of housing in Seattle has skyrocketed and because of that it’s impacting a lot of state workers because their cost of living is not equal to wages,” Local 304 member Tommy Fuglestad testified on HB 2583 before the House Judiciary Committee this morning (Jan. 23).
The skyrocketing rents in King County and other high-cost areas of the state are “making it difficult for them to survive,” he said.
Fuglestad, who works at North Seattle College and is a member of the Federation’s Statewide Executive Board, was joined by members of Western State Hospital Local 793 in a show of support for the affordable housing bill.
High housing costs are forcing more and more state employees to move farther and farther away from their worksites with increasingly burdensome commute times, he said.
“And it’s more than just in Seattle,” Fuglestad said. “A lot of times many of them are forced to work more than one job to be able to make ends meet.”
HB 2583 would remove the state ban on rent control so local governments could have the option of regulating the amount of rent charged for single-family and multiple-unit residential rental structures.
“It gives cities the freedom to kind of look at all their different options and find local solutions to the housing crisis,” Local 304 President Alex Bacon said in an interview the night before on KOMO-TV.
Part-time employee bill boosted in House
Following last week’s Senate hearing on SB 6184, the House version got a good reception in the House State Government Committee Tuesday morning (Jan. 23).
HB 2669, like the Senate version, would leave no doubt and remove all exemptions that deprive civil service rights to part-time state employees.
AFSCME Council 28 (WFSE) Lobbyist Matt Zuvich said the bill is needed to ensure just cause rights to all part-time employees and stop the revolving door of part-timers going elsewhere for full-time jobs.
MORE:
- Our partners in the Retired Public Employees Council of Washington (RPEC/AFSCME) Monday (Jan. 22) urged the House Appropriations Committee to pass HB 2511 to provide a one-time cost-of-living adjustment for PERS 1 retirees. RPEC member Denny Johnston, a retired Federation member, said it’s been years since the last increase, retirees’ buying power has decreased and health care costs have increased. The modest July 1, 2018, increase is only fair, he said.
- The Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on Monday (Jan. 22) moved our priority Interpreter Services bill (SSB 6245) to the Senate Ways and Means Committee.
- Our latest shared leave bill (SHB 1434) took another step toward passage when the House Rules Committee on Monday (Jan. 22) moved the bill to the Third Reading Calendar; that’s the last step before a vote of the full House. The bill would expand the shared leave program for pregnancy or parental bonding.
- And the Senate Higher Education and Workforce Development Committee on Tuesday (Jan. 23) did not vote on our priority bill (SB 6259) that would create the social work professional loan repayment program. The committee wants to evaluate the fiscal note before taking a vote. We’ll keep you posted.
That’s it for now.
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