House lawmakers introduce new collective bargaining proposal for legislative assistants
A new bill that would expand collective bargaining rights for certain legislative staff members was given a public hearing Thursday, a week after a similar bill failed to pass an important cutoff date.
Last Wednesday more than 100 Democratic legislative staff members held a sick-out to protest the failure of that bill.
Although critics of the new bill said it is not as strong as the prior legislation, some believe it is still a step forward.
Several former legislative staff members testified on House Bill 2124 before the House Appropriations Committee.
Kacie Masten, a former House legislative assistant, said the bill isn’t just about workplace equity, it’s about valuing the lives of the legislative staff who keep the legislature running. She testified that most of her time at the legislature was spent “fighting against” a person who was sexually harassing her, and that she was “isolated” from getting her basic needs met.
“This place not only changed my career, but it changed my entire life,” Masten said. “How I interact with the world and take care of myself has changed because of the trauma I faced as an LA.”
She told the committee that passing HB 2124 would prevent more staff from going through what she did, but also noted that some changes should be made to the bill as it stands now. She said the bill could be “proof” that legislators care about their employees.
“Quite frankly, staff are hurting,” she said. “They’ve been hurting and they need to see that the legislators they assist on a daily basis understand what working in this atmosphere does to a person.”
As it stands now, the legislation would not allow collective bargaining negotiations to begin until May 1, 2024. The bill that failed to pass the deadline would have allowed negotiations to begin on June 1, 2023.
While the previous version of the legislation spelled out who collective bargaining would apply to, the new legislation does not get into specifics. It also does not amend the Personnel System Reform Act, unlike the other version of the bill. This means that protections under the PRSA would not apply for legislative staff. Instead, there is no specificity for what could potentially be bargained for in the proposed legislation.
Rep. Marcus Riccelli, D-Spokane, is the prime sponsor of both bills. The latest legislation was also co-sponsored by 44 other House Democrats.
Another former legislative staff member, Nikkole Hughes, tweeted on Wednesday that she signed in to support the bill, even though she doesn’t believe it is acceptable in its current form.
“It can and must be amended in committee and moved from there,” Hughes said. “We cannot waste this momentum.”
This story was originally published February 25, 2022 at 3:47 PM with the headline "House lawmakers introduce new collective bargaining proposal for legislative assistants."
