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Report from Olympia | Feb. 13, 2015
Dear
Friends and Neighbors,
We have
just wrapped up week 5 of the legislative session, and things continue to move
at a frenzied pace. Bills are still being introduced and brought before
committees for public testimony, but many more bills have now moved further
along in the process and are coming up for a full vote of the Senate.
Much
of the work is in anticipation of an important deadline that is coming up in
the Legislature. Policy bills have until Feb. 20 to move to the next stage –
either a fiscal committee or the Rules committee, which acts as the gatekeeper
for bills. After this date, we’ll be able to update you more on which bills are
still “alive” this session, and which are unlikely to advance this year.
Reps.
Matt Shea and Bob McCaslin will join me in a telephone town hall later this
month. (You can learn more about it below.) This will be another good
opportunity to learn about the progress of bills and share your views on
important issues.
Thank
you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your state senator.
Best
Regards,
Senator
Mike Padden
From the district…
It was a busy week for visitors to
Olympia
One of the best parts of being a state legislator is getting
to meet with folks from back home and hear their concerns and ideas for
legislation.
On Monday, I had the opportunity to meet with several nurses
from our district, who were in Olympia as part of the Washington State Nurses
Association’s RNs for Patient Safety Day at the Capitol. We discussed patient
safety, RN staffing and other health care concerns. It was clearly evident how
much they truly care for the patients and each other.
In addition to meeting with local nurses, our office also welcomed
three constituents here for the statewide meeting of the Building Owners and Managers
Association. Constituent Cly Evans stopped by the office to discuss the death
penalty. Jeff Thomas with the Spokane Behavioral Health also paid us a visit,
and on Thursday we met with Tom Henkel, president of the Spokane County United
Way, to discuss the organization’s priorities for the session.
If you have plans to visit Olympia, please let us
know. We would love to hear from you directly about the issues impacting you
and your family.
Bill to help new small businesses clears committee
On Wednesday, my
bill to provide tax relief for Washington’s new small businesses was approved
by the Senate Trade and Economic Development Committee.
We know that the
first three years are the most critical to a small business being able to
survive. Reforming the business-and-occupation tax is crucial to helping
entrepreneurs through those difficult first years.
Senate Bill 5339 would create a deferral
from the B&O tax for new small businesses. Under the bill, a qualifying new
business would receive a tax deferral on 100 percent of its revenue in its
first two years, and a deferral on 50 percent of its revenue in its third year.
Repayment of the deferred taxes would begin in the fifth year of operation.
Washington is
producing fewer new businesses, and more of those businesses are failing, due
in large part to the onerous burden created by the B&O tax, which a
business has to pay even if it never sees a net profit.
A temporary
deferral in that tax burden would increase the odds of a new business being
successful.
SB 5339 now moves to the Senate Ways and Means
Committee.
Measure to keep low-income housing
affordable
to get hearing Monday
On Monday, the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee will hold a hearing on my
bill to help keep the cost of residential construction low and housing more
affordable.
Senate
Bill 5759 requires that distinct “prevailing wage” rates be calculated and
paid to workers employed in residential construction.
Employers on public-works projects must pay “prevailing” wages – meaning the
hourly wage, usual benefits, and overtime paid to the majority of workers in
the same occupation in the largest city of the county where the work is being
performed. Residential prevailing-wage rates exist for a number of trades and
occupations, and are generally lower than the corresponding commercial rate.
SB 5759 emerged after a conversation with a local constituent who was
constructing a low-income housing project: only 11 percent of the space was
commercial, but he ended up having to pay the commercial prevailing-wage rates
on the entire project.
This drove up the cost of construction and put the whole project at risk.
SB 5759 would fix this problem and help bring certainty and consistency to
prevailing-wage jobs. The end result would make it easier for our construction
industry to produce more affordable housing for those in need.
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Hot Topics Survey Results
Thanks to those who took part in last week’s Hot Topics
Survey. It’s always interesting to see how you feel about issues in the news.
Save the Date:
You’re invited to a
4th District telephone town hall
Remote
testimony is one way we are working to make sure you have an opportunity to be
heard in the Legislature. Another useful tool we have is the telephone town
hall.
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, 4th District
Representatives Matt Shea and Bob McCaslin will join me for a telephone town
hall. The call will last for one hour and start at 6:30pm.
You
should be receiving a call that evening, inviting you to join in; if by chance
you don’t, you can still take part in this community conversation using this
information.
Inbound
Listener Line (no PIN needed): (509) 703-4657
Constituent
Web Login: listen.townhallinteractive.com
Web Listener PIN: 317261
As always, I value hearing directly from you, and
you don’t have to wait for a telephone town hall to be heard.
If
you would like to contact me please write, phone, e-mail, or stop by if you’re
in the Olympia area during the session. It remains my honor to serve you in the
Washington State Senate.
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