TOMORROW (THURSDAY 1/27) we need as many people as possible to sign in OPPOSED to HB 1766. This is the Clean Heat Bill that would force gas companies to start moving people away from gas appliances and prohibit any expansion of gas lines. It would directly impact the ability for natural gas to be provided across the state of Washington.

Click HERE to sign in to indicate your OPPOSITION.  Be sure to say your position is CON!

To kick off the session, Gov. Jay Inslee offered is annual State of the State address Jan. 12, where he urged legislators to take action on a number of crucial issues such as homelessness and housing, climate change and protection for salmon. Inslee offered his version of the supplemental state operating budget last month, which, if approved by the Legislature, the state’s two-year budget would top $62 billion in spending.

Republican leaders in the House and Senate encouraged the governor and majority party members to put tax relief for residents at the top of the 2022 legislative to-do list in light of rising inflation and higher consumer prices for family necessities such as home heating, gas and food.

In addition to the supplemental budget work, lawmakers are also grappling with fixes to public safety laws and delaying the long-term care tax that has created confusion among employers and residents. All bills up for consideration can be viewed online. Online comments on bills as well as remote committee testimony are available to residents across the state.

This year's session will be held in a largely virtual format, like the 2021 session, due to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

HB 1766/SB 5668 – Gas Companies: This bill establishes a clean heat standard and requires gas companies to begin moving customers away from using their product. In addition, it prohibits new natural gas infrastructure and prohibits gas companies from providing customer incentives to install gas fired appliances. The bill will increase the cost of both propane and natural gas.

HB 1767/SB 5666 – Targeted Electrification: This bill allows public utilities to use funds for targeted electrification programs. There are constitutional issues with this approach in addition to the concerns that in targeting customers to move solely to electric appliances, there is a good chance that they won’t be using the most efficient or cost effective appliances. In addition, if renewables are a better option, there is no provision to help the customer move back to that. The projects would be used to convince customers to move away from both gas and wood appliances without any consideration for back up or alternative heating in the event of power outages.

HB 1770/SB 5669 – Energy Codes: This bill significantly changes the goals in the current state energy codes to focus less on energy efficiency and instead move to greenhouse gas emission reductions – pushing electrification as the means to do that. Instead of focusing on energy reduction goals, it would move to a requirement focus approached. In addition, the bill creates a “reach” code that would allow local governments to adopt a stronger residential energy code than the state code (similar to what they are able to do for commercial construction now). This reach code would most likely include bans on new natural gas lines. 

HB 1774/SB 5722 – Clean Buildings Standard: This bill would move the state’s current Clean Building Performance Standard so that it applies to buildings with 20,000 square feet rather than the 50,000 square feet that it currently applies to. The law for the larger buildings just went into effect this summer and some confusion regarding reporting requirements. Of the four bills, this is the least egregious and the one that is currently under discussion to find amendments that are doable and can allow the bill to pass.

NWHPBA is working with a coalition of construction and utility businesses to oppose and modify these bills. The goal is to preserve the ability to utilize natural gas and to instead focus on energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emission reduction, rather than simply moving all buildings and houses to electricity. In addition, we are hoping to have more attention paid to the upfront costs of these bills and the pressure they put on already skyrocketing housing costs and labor shortages. We also are looking to preserve the ability for people to have hearth products (wood, gas and propane) as secondary heat sources - -necessary during power outages.

On Jan. 13, the U.S. Supreme Court on blocked the Biden administration from enforcing its vaccine-or-test requirements for large private companies with 100 or more employees. However, it allowed the vaccine mandate to stand for employees in medical facilities that take Medicare or Medicaid payments.

In the majority opinion, justices wrote: "Although Congress has indisputably given OSHA the power to regulate occupational dangers, it has not given that agency the power to regulate public health more broadly. Requiring the vaccination of 84 million Americans, selected simply because they work for employers with more than 100 employees, certainly falls in the latter category."

The OSHA mandate would have required workers to get vaccinated or submit a negative Covid test weekly to enter the workplace. Employers argued successfully that the agency did not have authority to impose the far-reaching regulations outside of congressional action.

The full brief on the ruling can be found here. NBC News has more on the ruling.

Flawed from the start, the Act has created confusion among residents and the employer community. In December, the governor and House majority leaders announced they would ask lawmakers to pass a bill to postpone the Act and its payroll tax collections until 2023.

Two bills under consideration are House bills 1732 and 1733. Both would push back the payroll tax collection for the program. Both bills have passed committee and moved to the House Rules Committee to await a full vote of the House, then be moved over to the Senate for consideration.

The Association of Washington Business (AWB) Jan. 10 released findings from their December employer survey, which shows a majority of employers think Washington state is on the wrong track.

According to the group’s press release, “The AWB poll found 50% of respondents said the United States was definitely headed in the wrong direction, while 20% said the country was probably headed in the wrong direction. For Washington state, 52% said the state was definitely headed in the wrong direction. Twenty-one percent said the state was probably headed in the wrong direction.”

Of the concerns by employers, regulations, taxes, workforce and the pandemic topped the list.

The results mirror a recent Crosscut/Elway poll.

The Tax Structure Work Group (TSWG), created by the Legislature 2017, is comprised of a bipartisan group of legislators, the governor’s office, the state Department of Revenue, the Association of Cities and Counties and the Association of Washington Cities.

The TSWG is tasked with “identifying options to make the Washington state tax code more fair, adequate, stable and transparent.”

One discussion of interest to employers is the group’s work to replace the state business and occupation (B&O) tax with a different tax. Employers are encouraged to offer their input on the proposals. The online survey is available in two versions – a short one that will take roughly 10 minutes, and the long version that will take roughly 45 minutes to complete. The survey will remain open until Jan. 31.

House Bill 1837, before the Legislature, would repeal Initiative 841 which prohibits the state Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) from engaging in rulemaking related to ergonomics requirements on employers.

I-841, headed by the employer community, was successfully passed in 2003 as L&I geared up to impose costly ergonomics rules on employers. The regulations would have prescribed an amount of time employees can do certain tasks, like use a power tool, in a day. The cost estimates for the ergonomics rules would add up to roughly $1.2 billion in today’s dollars.

Employers and business leaders can comment on HB 1837 online. - OPPOSE

Citing the legality of cannabis in Washington, a long-time Senator introduced Senate Bill 5517, which would limit an employer’s ability to terminate or refuse to hire workers based on positive drug tests for cannabis.

The sponsor claims the bill is needed because workers can test positive long after intoxication or other impairments have dissipated from recreational use outside of work.

Maintaining a safe workplace is an employer’s No. 1 priority. This bill would hamper their ability to ensure workers are not impaired on the job, which is critical to ensuring the safety of all workers and the public that interacts with them. -- OPPOSE

Senate Bill 5835 would eliminate the reference to marital status in the time loss and pension wage rate statutes, setting the floor for all workers without children at 65 percent. As written, the bill would:

·        Provide the same percentages of the worker's wages to be received by an injured worker for a permanent total disability whether a worker is married or unmarried; and,

·        Remove the requirement that an injured worker be married to receive an additional $10 per month when the worker is receiving the minimum monthly payments for a permanent or temporary total disability.

The change would create significant fiscal impact as the effective rate of pay across the system is approximately 63.3 percent. - OPPOSE

·        House Bill 1819 and House Joint Resolution 4208 would create a statute and amend the state constitution to increase the personal property tax exemption threshold to $100,000, which would be available to all businesses. -- SUPPORT

·        Senate Bill 5557 would raise B&O taxes on existing businesses to offset revenue losses from granting start-up businesses a two-year B&O tax exemption. -- OPPOSE

·        Senate Bill 5873 would reduce the social tax component of Unemployment Insurance premiums for 2022 and 2023 and cap the social tax modifier for businesses with less than 10 employees. In addition, the bill would reduce the worker’s portion of the Paid Family and Medical Leave premium, backfilling the program with state general fund dollars. - SUPPORT

The NWHPBA Communications Committee publishes the Hearth Insight monthly. If you have a story or article you would like to have shared, submit below to be included in our upcoming editions!!!