The Legislature hit the ground running and has not stopped. At the halfway mark over 2,000 bills had been introduced and a third of them made it past the first major hurdle—getting out of their house of origin. There are a lot of bills on housing, health care, employment, and climate change. Some of these bills have an impact on SMACNA contractors.
The housing bills provide more revenue and directions to build affordable housing, including multi-family. The condominium sector could improve if bills on warranty-based lawsuits pass. SB 5334 says warranty law suits would have to be based on the building codes in place at the time of construction, and that actual damage would have to be demonstrated. Senator Jamie Pedersen is the prime sponsor. HB 1576 would ensure that each construction professional against whom the action is proposed be notified and that all of a condominium’s owners would be allowed to vote on whether to bring a construction defect action. Both bills have passed out of their house of origin and are awaiting hearing in the opposite house.
Last year the Legislature passed a bill that required prevailing wage be set using collective bargaining agreements (CBA) rates. Among the groups complaining about increased rates were the affordable housing groups. HB 1743 would set prevailing wages for residential construction by using the wage and survey method instead of a CBA. The bill applies to affordable housing, weatherization, and home re-habilitation for low-income, and homeless and domestic violence shelters. SB 5035 would increase fines for prevailing wage violations, doubles the time to file a complaint, and require contractors to retain payroll records and submit certified payroll records at least once a month. Both bills have passed out of their house of origin and are awaiting a hearing in the opposite house.
In the employment arena there were several wage bills that would have required new liens and liability for unpaid wages. HB 1395 would have made a contractor liable for one of his/her subcontractor’s unpaid employee wages. This would have applied to both general and subcontractors. HB 1965 would have allowed law suits to be filed by third parties on a variety of employment issues, including wages. HB 1514 would have established a statutory wage lien for claims on unpaid wages. All of these bills failed to move out of the House by the deadline, but the legislative interest in this issue will continue.
Governor Inslee introduced a package of bills dealing with climate change. HB 1257 and SB 5293 would require owners of larger buildings to do energy performance audits and upgrade their buildings according to energy standards that the Building Code Council would write. The state would provide some incentive money. By 2026 non-compliance could result in a penalty. These bills also would require natural gas utilities to do energy conservation programs. SMACNA is generally supportive of these bills. Another climate change bill, HB 1112, would phase out use of hydrofluorocarbons in refrigerant systems. SMACNA supports this bill but would like the time frames in this bill to be extended to allow more time for the manufacturers to produce alternatives. SB 5116 would require electric utilities to transition to non-emitting and renewable energy by 2030 resulting in an increased demand for conservation measures and the use of solar power.
In the construction arena, SB 5457 would have required the naming of all subcontractors on bids when they are submitted. Currently only the three major subcontractors—HVAC, plumbing, and electrical—have to be listed with submitted bids. The bill did not pass the Senate. There have been a plethora of bills that increase bid limits for local governments. SMACNA is working with other construction groups to contain them.
Senator Hobbs, Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, is proposing a 10-year transportation package. Half of the funding would come from a tax on fossil fuel, including natural gas and electricity. Overall it would increase the price of gas by about 20 cents a gallon. It is not clear if there is interest in moving a transportation package this year, especially one that relies on a carbon tax that has failed two times at the ballot.
As we enter the second half of session, budget preparation has begun. The majority Democrats have signaled that the need for additional revenue. As reported earlier, the likely targets are increased B&O taxes for some categories of taxpayers and a capital gains tax. SMACNA has concerns with the capital gains tax since it would include income from the sale of a business. We will have to wait to see what the majority party proposes. Session is supposed to end April 28, assuming the budgets are done and the major issues are resolved.
By Kathleen Collins
SMACNA Legislative Consultant
