Washington Legislature considers collective bargaining for legislative staff

Washington Legislature considers collective bargaining for legislative staff

A new bill that would give state legislative staff the right to bargain collectively was introduced in the Washington House of Representatives after two similar bills missed the cutoff to be passed to the opposite chamber last week. Around 100 legislative staffers called in sick after the bills did not advance.

The first set of bills

Forty Democratic representatives sponsored House Bill 1806, which would have given state legislative branch employees the right to bargain collectively. Two committees passed versions of the bill: the House Labor & Workplace Standards Committee on Feb. 1 and the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 7. 

The Senate companion to the House bill, SB 5773, passed the Senate Labor, Commerce & Tribal Affairs Committee on Jan. 27 and was referred to the Senate Ways & Means Committee on Jan. 28. Eighteen Democrats sponsored that bill. 

Feb. 15 was the last day a bill could be passed in its chamber of origin, a date the legislature agreed upon at the beginning of the session. According to The Hill’s Reid Wilson, the fact that the bills were not passed by that date “effectively [killed] their chances of passage this year.” 

According to Northwest News Network’s Austin Jenkins, “[S]cores of Democratic staffers in the Washington Legislature staged a ‘sick-out’ [on Feb. 16] … An estimated 80 to 100 or more Democratic staffers, including legislative assistants who work directly for state lawmakers, participated in the work stoppage.” 

According to Jenkins, “[Speaker of the House Laurie Jinkins (D) said] she was confident that with some additional revisions the bill could pass the Legislature next year.” 

The House bill’s lead sponsor, Rep. Marcus Riccelli (D), said, “I am committed to still bringing forward meaningful steps to address staff needs and concerns this session, and also set legislation up for success next year.” 

A similar bill was first introduced in 2011. According to The Spokesman-Review’s Laurel Demkovich, “[Riccelli said the proposal] has come up other times since, but has never made it out of Appropriations like it did this session.”

The new bill

On Feb. 23, a group of 45 Democratic representatives, again led by Riccelli, introduced House Bill 2124, which would allow legislative staffers to begin collective bargaining negotiations after May 1, 2024, for agreements taking effect after July 1, 2025. In the meantime, the bill would create an office of state legislative labor relations to “[e]xamine issues related to collective bargaining for employees of the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies” and to “develop best practices and options for the legislature to consider in implementing and administering collective bargaining.” A final report would be due to the legislature by Oct. 1, 2023. Unlike HB 1806, this bill would not amend Revised Code of Washington Title 41. 

On Feb. 24, the House Appropriations Committee held a virtual public hearing that included a briefing on HB 2124 from committee staff and public testimony from five former legislative staffers, Matt Zuvich from the Washington Federation of State Employees, Maxford Nelsen from the Freedom Foundation, and Seamus Petrie from the Washington Public Employees Association. The discussion of this bill begins around the 18:30 mark.

Additional context

Democrats have a 29-20 majority in the state Senate and a 57-41 majority in the House, and have held trifecta control of Washington state government since 2017.  

We’re also tracking bills dealing with legislative staff collective bargaining in California, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. To view a list of all the bills we’re tracking, click here. 

At least five states currently allow certain legislative staff to unionize. 

What we’re reading

• Augusta Free Press, “Senate committee kills bill to repeal collective bargaining for public service workers,” Feb. 22, 2022
• AP News, “Wisconsin union membership dipped sharply over two decades,” Feb. 22, 2022
• CPR News, “Polis, Democratic lawmakers and local governments are all squaring off over public bargaining rights,” Feb. 18, 2022 

The big picture

Number of relevant bills by state

We are currently tracking 117 pieces of legislation dealing with public-sector employee union policy. On the map below, a darker shade of green indicates a greater number of relevant bills. Click here for a complete list of all the bills we’re tracking. 

Number of relevant bills by current legislative status

Number of relevant bills by partisan status of sponsor(s) 

Recent legislative actions

Below is a complete list of relevant legislative actions taken since our last issue.

• California AB2497: This bill would require state higher education employers to distribute union membership authorization forms to new employees during the orientation process and return completed forms to the exclusive representative.
  • Democratic sponsorship.
  • Introduced Feb. 17. May be heard in committee March 20. 
• California AB2556: This bill would change the time frame for a local public agency employer to implement a final offer after a factfinders’ recommendation has been submitted in the case of a dispute between the employer and employee organization.
  • Democratic sponsorship.
  • Introduced Feb. 17. May be heard in committee March 20. 
• California SB1313: This bill would prohibit Los Angeles County from discriminating against union members by limiting employee health benefits. 
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • Introduced, read first time, sent to Senate Rules Committee for assignment Feb. 18.
• California SB1406: This bill would allow unions representing excluded state employees to request arbitration with the Department of Human Resources in certain circumstances.  
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • Introduced, read first time, sent to Senate Rules Committee for assignment Feb. 18.
• Connecticut SB00209: This bill would recognize probate court employees as state employees for collective bargaining purposes. 
  • Introduced by Senate Labor and Public Employees Committee. 
  • Referred to Joint Labor and Public Employees Committee Feb. 24. Public hearing March 3.
• Illinois HB4960: This bill would apply the definitions of “confidential employee,” “managerial employee,” and “supervisor” in the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act to all public employees. It would prevent any public employee position from being excluded from a bargaining unit before the position is filled.  
  • Democratic sponsorship.
  • Re-referred to House Rules Committee Feb. 18. 
• Illinois HB5009: This bill would provide that terminations or more than 30-day suspensions of peace officers resulting from arbitration are subject to judicial review. It would set certain conditions of enforceability for written agreements about grievance procedures between law enforcement agencies and peace officer bargaining units. It would require the Illinois Labor Relations Board to adopt certain rules for law enforcement officers.
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • Re-referred to House Rules Committee Feb. 18. 
• Indiana SB0297: This bill would amend the language of the authorization form school employees must sign before union dues may be deducted from their pay.
  • Republican sponsorship. 
  • House passed 58-31 on Feb. 23 and returned to the Senate without amendments on Feb. 24.  
• Kansas HB2354: This bill would establish that public employees may revoke authorization for employers to withhold union dues from their wages by submitting a written or emailed request to the employer, and employers must immediately cease withholding dues. The bill requires public employers to provide an annual written notification of rights and a request form to employees. The bill also requires public employees to annually renew their dues withholding authorization by signing a form with language stipulated by the bill. Employers must confirm the authorization by email before withholding dues. 
  • Sponsored by the K-12 Education Budget Committee. 
  • Withdrawn from the House Commerce, Labor, and Economic Development Committee and referred to the House Appropriations Committee on Feb. 23. 
• Kentucky HB537: This bill would establish the right of Kentucky’s executive, legislative, and judicial branch employees to bargain collectively through an exclusive representative. It would repeal a prohibition on public employee strikes.
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • Introduced, referred to House Committee on Committees Feb. 17. 
• Maryland HB504: This bill would authorize school employees to strike.
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • Withdrawn by sponsor Feb. 21.
• Maryland HB1432: This bill would repeal parts of the law that authorize or require unions to charge fees to nonmembers.
  • Republican sponsorship. 
  • First reading, referred to House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee Feb. 22. 
• Michigan HB5806: This bill would amend the public employment relations law to remove school principals and assistant principals from the definition of “public school administrator” and repeal part of the law allowing public school administrators to not be considered public employees in certain circumstances.
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • Introduced, read first time, referred to House Education Committee Feb. 23.
• Michigan HB5809: This bill would repeal a prohibition on public school employers using school resources to assist unions in collecting dues or fees. 
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • Introduced, read first time, referred to House Education Committee Feb. 23. 
• Michigan HB5815: This bill would prohibit a public employer from ceasing or subcontracting its operations within the first year after employees certify a bargaining representative. 
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • Introduced, read first time, referred to House Workforce, Trades, And Talent Committee Feb. 23.
• Michigan HB5826: This bill would prohibit employers, including public employers, from requiring employees to attend a meeting with the primary purpose of discouraging unionization and collective bargaining.
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • Introduced, read first time, referred to House Commerce and Tourism Committee Feb. 23.
• Minnesota HF2005: This bill would require public employers to provide certain personnel data to unions. It would require public employers to give unions access to employees, including through worksite meetings, new employee orientations, and email. It would require public employers to rely on information from unions about authorization and cancellation of deductions rather than requests from individual employees. It would also stipulate that unions are not liable for fees collected under state law before Janus.
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • House Labor, Industry, Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committee hearing scheduled for March 1.
• Minnesota SF3241: This bill would prevent unions representing law enforcement officers from using pattern bargaining. 
  • Republican sponsorship. 
  • Senate State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee reports “to pass,” second reading on Feb. 24.
• New Hampshire HB1472: This bill would prohibit employers from taking certain actions against employees involved in legal strikes or collective bargaining preceding a legal strike. It would also prohibit employers from “[engaging] in anti-union training of any kind.” 
  • Democratic sponsorship. 
  • House Labor, Industrial and Rehabilitative Services Committee executive session held Feb. 24.
• Virginia HB336: This bill would require a 51% vote by public employees in a collective bargaining unit to certify a bargaining representative in localities that have authorized collective bargaining. 
  • Republican sponsorship. 
  • Passed by indefinitely in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Feb. 21.
• Virginia HB337: This bill would prohibit collective bargaining agreements from having a public employer provide compensation or compensated leave time for union activities. It would require unions to compensate public employers if union activities infringe upon their time or resources. 
  • Republican sponsorship. 
  • Passed by indefinitely in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Feb. 21.
• Virginia HB341: This bill would give public employees the right to resign from a union and stop paying dues at any time. It would require public employees to give written consent before employers may deduct union dues from their pay, and it would prescribe the wording of the authorization form. The bill would require annual reconfirmation of consent for union membership and dues deductions. The bill would also require employers to annually notify employees they have the right to resign from a union and provide an average of the dues they would pay.
  • Republican sponsorship. 
  • Passed by indefinitely in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Feb. 21.
• Virginia HB883: This bill would repeal provisions allowing local governments to bargain collectively with their employees upon adopting an authorizing ordinance or resolution.
  • Republican sponsorship. 
  • Passed by indefinitely in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Feb. 21.
• Washington HB2124: This bill, which would give state legislative branch employees the right to bargain collectively, would create an office of state legislative labor relations to “[e]xamine issues related to collective bargaining for employees of the house of representatives, the senate, and legislative agencies” and to “develop best practices and options for the legislature to consider in implementing and administering collective bargaining.” A final report would be due to the legislature by October 1, 2023. No collective bargaining agreement could take effect until July 1, 2025. Employees would not be allowed to strike. 
  • Democratic sponsorship.
  • House Appropriations Committee public hearing held Feb. 24.

Learn More