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For Washington State residents only
History of HB 2142 and SB 6622 in 2007-08
The WBI-LC anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill will be re-introduced in 2009-10.
Feb. 14, 2008 HB 2142 was killed by being referred to the House Appropriations committee at the latest possible date. The referral, an unexpected detour from the direct path from the Commerce and Labor committee to the House Floor vote, was triggered by state agencies that feared the bill. Two state agencies -- the Attorney General and the Office of Financial Management -- made assumptions about the bill without reading it carefully and fully or consulting with WBI. The key flawed assumption was that the state as employer would inevitably and uncontrollably be abusive and be sued. Wow! A corollary to that assumption was the ignorance of the state bureaucrats who failed to see the escape clause from liability included in the text of the bill (it was not fine print). Thus, the state was able to create worst-case scenarios and route the bill to the committee where it died.
The state workers named in the document called the Final Fiscal Note are responsible. We never got to challenge or refute their wild estimates because they were not prepared in time for committee consideration. They were submitted after the public hearing and even after the Commerce and Labor committee vote.
State workers tasked with reviewing legislation were able to effectively kill legislation that enjoyed unprecedented support among the legislators in both the House and Senate. We apologize to everyone who works for a living in the state of Washington.
Read the Final Fiscal Note with cost estimates which we were not able to challenge or refute
Feb. 12, 2008 Having failed to clear the House Appropriations Committee, SHB 2142 died for the 2007-08 biennium.
Feb. 8, 2008 Senate bill SB 6622 was tabled in the Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee and never voted out of committee. The bill died in committee on the last day to move out of committee, Feb. 8.
Feb. 7-11, 2008 SHB 2142 sat in House Appropriations without a scheduled hearing and executive session (vote).
Feb. 6, 2008 SHB 2142 was referred to House Appropriations. The referral seems to have been based on an estimated cost to the State of an indeterminate amount but greater than $50,000 per year submitted by the state agency -- Office of Financial Management (OFM) AFTER the bill was voted on by The House Commerce & Labor Committee. The estimate was not debated nor refuted ever in a public hearing.
Feb. 5, 2008 The House Commerce & Labor Committee passed HB 2142 with a 5 to 3 vote strictly along party lines -- 5 Democrats in favor, 3 Republicans opposed. They voted on SHB 2142 (Substitute House Bill) which deleted the state study mandate but added a section mandating the exhaustion of all internal administrative remedies before a lawsuit could be filed.
Feb. 1, 2008 Public hearing for an amended version of HB 2142 was held by House Commerce & Labor Committee. Testifiers numbered 17, all in favor of the bill. The substitute bill limits employers and employees to State workers only and added a section mandating a study conducted by the State which may carry fiscal impact and thus route the bill to the Appropriations committee. All bills must clear committees by Feb. 8 or die.
Jan. 22, 2008 Public hearing for SB 6622 was held by the Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee. An amended version was announced limiting employers and employees covered to all levels of government.
Jan. 18, 2008 Senate companion bill to HB 2142 was assigned number SB 6622
Jan. 17, 2008
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- Lobbying Day. House and Senate member offices were blitzed by 6 WBI-LC volunteers alerting members to upcoming bills and hearings.
- Senate companion bill signatures gathered: Franklin (prime sponsor), Spanel, Keiser, Fariley, McAuliffe, Regala (Kohl-Welles added later).
- House Commerce & Labor Committee began HB 2142 amendment process to apply only to public sector employees -- public hearing date not yet set
On Nov. 30, 2007, Rep. Conway, Chair of the House Commerce & Labor Committee convened a 40 min. Work Session on Workplace Bullying to prepare the committee for a promised January, 2008 public hearing. You can listen here to the audio captured by TVW, the state broadcast service. The bullying segment opens the session.
- Testimony was invited from the Workplace Bullying Institute, Labor representatives (Labor Council, CWA, WFSE) who supported the bill, and Business lobbyists (AWB, WRA) who, naturally, opposed the bill without acknowledging the freedom from liability the bill gives conscientious employers who do not abuse employees.
HB 2142 was referred to the House Commerce & Labor Committee. The 2007 legislative session ended with no action on the bill. It carried over automatically into 2008.
On Feb. 9, 2007, Rep. Kelli Linville (D-42) and Rep. Steve Conway (introduced the complete version of the Healthy Workplace Bill, naming it: "AN ACT Relating to providing legal redress for targets of workplace bullying, abuse, and harassment"
In 2008 HB 2142/SB 6622, the WBI-LC anti-bullying bills, were endorsed by these organizations
Help WBI-LC make Washington the first state to PASS the bill into law!
Help WBI-LC make Washington the first state to PASS the bill into law!