The 2019 legislative session ended up as an overall positive session. It began with a myriad of rather scary legislative ideas and agendas from Gov. Inslee, the Senate, and some House Democrats. Generally, the bad things died, and some good things passed. Here are the highlights:
Ag Slavery Bill (SB 5693): This bill caught the ire of farmers statewide. Supporters of SB 5693 accused farmers of slavery and human trafficking, something that we vigorously and aggressively argued against. The bill would have required certain Washington retailers and manufacturers of agricultural products to make annual disclosures on their websites’ homepages about their efforts with respect to their product supply chains to eradicate slavery and human trafficking and to ensure compliance with the employment laws. The bill died in the Senate.
Brand Inspections (SB 5959): This issue was a hard, painful slog. There is a two-page detailed summary for producers to review, since there are significant changes to the processes and fees associated with brand and livestock inspection. This bill passed both chambers and was signed into law.
Dairy Milk Assessment Fee (HB 1429): This bill extends until 2025 a dairy milk assessment fee that was due to expire next year. That fee, paid by milk processors, pays for the inspection services that are required for Washington milk to comply with the “Grade A” Interstate Pasteurized Milk Ordinance – the national standard for milk sanitization. The bill passed both chambers and was signed into law.
Environmental Justice (SB 5489): The bill would have created a task force at Department of Health to develop guidance for state agencies to use when adopting rules. This guidance would have included use of a cumulative impact analysis and application of the precautionary principle (i.e., the rejection of a project or action unless the proponent can prove no harm), providing another powerful tool for state agencies to use to deny permits. The bill passed the Senate but died in the House.
Farm Vehicle Weight Flexibility (SB 5883): authorizing vehicles carrying farm products to exceed total gross weight limits: This bill allows a vehicle or combination of vehicles carrying farm products from the field to exceed weight limits by up to 5 percent on public highways in Washington. Violations are tracked per driver, and each driver may receive up to two warnings each calendar year before a citation is issued. This bill passed both the Senate and House and was signed by Gov. Jay Inslee.
Graduated Real Estate Excise Tax (SB 5998): A new graduated real estate excise tax will replace the state’s current flat tax of 1.28 percent on all sales. Under the new structure, a 1.1 percent tax would apply to property sales up to $500,000, a 1.28 percent tax would apply to sales between $500,000 and $1.5 million, a 2.75 percent tax to sales between $1.5-3 million. Agricultural and timber lands are exempt from the tax rate increase and will continue to pay the current base rate of 1.28 percent. Business property not enrolled in a current use property tax program will be subject to the new graduated tax. This bill passed both chambers and was signed into law by the governor.
Gravel and Sediment Management (HB 1579): We were able to include in the Orca and Salmon bill (“Implementing recommendations of the southern resident killer whale task force related to increasing chinook abundance”) a provision to allow some experimentation in gravel and sediment management in three counties. While the bill passed both houses, unfortunately the governor vetoed this section. We continue to hear from producers impacted by rivers that are currently completely unmanaged for sediment and erosion. We will not stop trying to find solutions to allow us to intelligently manage rivers to prevent disastrous loss of farmland.
H-2A Fees (SB 5438): The original language in this bill would have required users of the federal H-2A program to pay additional application and per worker fees to the Employment Security Department for state administrative costs associated with the H-2A program. Users already pay federal fees to use the program. These inappropriate state fees were removed from the bill, and the amended bill establishes the office of Agricultural and Seasonal Workforce Services and an advisory committee to address labor issues in agriculture. The bill passed the Legislature and was signed by the governor.
Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program (HB 1087): The Legislature created a new long-term care insurance program to employees in Washington. Beginning on January 1, 2022, employers must begin collecting premiums for the new Long-Term Services and Supports Trust Program. Premiums will be paid entirely by employees through a 0.58% payroll tax remitted to the Employment Security Department. ESD will use the Paid Family and Medical Leave Program as a model to establish the Long-Term Services and Support Trust Program’s collection and reporting process. Benefits will begin for eligible employees on January 1, 2025. To become eligible, Washington residents will have to work three years within the previous six years or a total of 10 years with at least five years of uninterrupted work. In addition, a person will have to work at least 500 hours in a year for that year to count towards eligibility. To qualify for the benefit, an individual must need help with at least three daily living tasks, as determined by Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services. The maximum lifetime benefit will be $36,500 per person, with future increases tied to the consumer price index. Individuals who have purchased long-term care insurance can opt out of the program.
Pesticide Application Safety (SB 5550): This bill was a negotiated response to pesticide drift/notification bills from previous sessions. It creates a committee (similar to the old PIRT panel) that will meet at least three times each year and must provide an annual report to the Legislature. The first priority of the committee is to explore how state agencies collect and track pesticide incident data. An advisory work group is created to collect information and make recommendations to the full committee on topics requiring unique expertise and perspectives on issues within the jurisdiction of the committee. In addition to fund the committee, the budget granted WSDA $250,000 in one-time funding to expand training for pesticide handlers and air-blast sprayer operators. The bill passed the Legislature and was signed into law.
Qui Tam Whistleblowers (HB 1965): This bill would have allowed anyone to bring actions on behalf of the state for violations of workplace protections. The “qui tam” legal actions would mean that any individual could act when a state agency chooses to not move forward with an enforcement action against an employer. Opening this door would likely result in an increase in frivolous legal actions against employers. The bill died in the House.
Wage and Salary Information (HB 1696): This bill prohibits employers from seeking the wage or salary history of job applicants. It requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide job applicants the minimum wage or salary for the position upon request after an employment offer is made to the applicant. Also, employers with 15 or more employees are required to provide the wage scale or salary range of the new position when an employee is offered a transfer or promotion and requests the wage information. The bill passed both chambers and was signed into law.
Wage Liens (HB 1514): This bill would have created procedures for establishing, foreclosing, extinguishing, and prioritizing wage liens for claims on unpaid wages. These changes would have altered the priority of liens on real property even if the other parties holding a lien were not a party to the wage dispute. The bill died in the House.
Budget: There were several notable successes, usually a specific program or a regionally important win.
- Carbon and Conservation: A small budget note was inserted in the final budget that directs WSDA and the Conservation Commission to evaluate all existing needs for Conservation. This started as an attempt to push forward legislation (SB 5947) to establish a large farm carbon reduction program at WSDA. Our concern was that carbon reduction is good, but if it leaves other important Conservation activities without enough funding then farmers will get praised for reducing carbon and flogged for not doing enough to improve soil, water, and air quality. Efforts to improve water quality for shellfish farms, the Voluntary Stewardship Program, and salmon and wildlife habitat should be complementary and integrated rather than competing for scarce conservation incentive dollars and technical assistance funding for the Conservation Districts. The evaluation will be done this summer and should allow us to show what the real need is to implement all the existing conservation expectations as well as add carbon reduction activities to the mix.
- Chehalis Valley Habitat and Flood: The capital budget provided $79 million to continue the work in the Chehalis Valley to work on salmon habitat and to finish the permitting and final environmental evaluation of a flood control dam in the Upper Chehalis Valley. A flood control structure would prevent the catastrophic damages like those suffered by many of the 30 dairy farms in 2007. The fish recovery work will hopefully prevent a listing of the Spring Chinook salmon in the Chehalis Basin. (The Chehalis Basin is the only river in our state without an ESA listing.)
- Dairy Nutrient Innovation Grants: An additional $1 million was added to the $5 million in dairy nutrient innovation grants that were funded in the previous biennium. These funds should complete an advanced distillation system in Northwest Washington to process dairy manure into dry or very think slurry, approximately 13 million gallons of clean water per year and produce a new product from manure – an ammonia water product that has already been certified in Texas as an organic pure nitrogen fertilizer that looks like it will be of interest to organic grain, vegetable, and greenhouse farms.
- Environmental Justice: An Environment Justice Work Group will receive $390,000 to recommend strategies for incorporating environmental justice principles into how state agencies discharge their responsibilities. This language is vastly superior to the what was in the standalone bill (SB 5489), which died.
- Soil Health Initiative: WSU was allotted $500,000 for new soil health research and extension activities to develop, evaluate and incentivize best management practices for agricultural. Some activity must be conducted at the research and extension center in Mount Vernon.
- Wage and Hour Investigations: L&I received $1.26 million from workers’ comp dollars to initiate and conduct targeted, company-wide investigations where it appears (e.g. based on investigation of an individual worker complaint) other workers may not be receiving the wages, breaks, and/or paid sick leave they are owed.
- Yakima Integrated Plan: The capital budget provided $30 million for continued work on the Yakima Integrated Plan that will increase water storage to improve reliability and drought supply for the Yakima irrigation system.
