SO how'd #waleg do in 2022?
The 2022 WA legislative session is over, and let’s be real: legislators failed to take bold action this year to protect our rights, invest in an equitable recovery, and build towards economic and racial justice.
The legislature simply didn’t show up for workers with the urgency this crisis requires. For that, we give them just 2 out of 5 stars. Here’s our recap of what went down, and where we go from here.
Income support
Legislators failed to advance our bill to create a permanent income support system for undocumented people who lose work (SB 5438). Undocumented workers are excluded from unemployment insurance and federal stimulus programs. This bill had a hearing in the Senate Labor Committee, but then it “died” (aka: legislators chose not to move it forward.)
Legislators did not take action to address the ongoing crisis in our state’s broken unemployment system. They did not move forward with a proposal to ensure unemployment benefits cover people who can’t work because they must serve as a caregiver for a relative (HB 1492). They also failed to make concrete commitments to expand access to benefits overall, and did nothing to intervene as ESD tries to take back millions in unemployment benefits from people who lost work.
Workers' rights
A bill to establish statewide rules for Uber and Lyft ridehail drivers passed the state legislature this year (HB 2076). The legislation was negotiated with Uber and Lyft and generated some controversy, but was supported by the Teamsters Local 117 Drivers Union. The bill does not impact other gig workers on apps like DoorDash, Instacart, and TaskRabbit, who are leading our Pay Up campaign to win new labor standards in Seattle.
We defended farmworkers' rights. With our allies, we stopped the agriculture lobby as they tried to advance a bill that would have rolled back overtime pay for farmworkers. Last year, farmworkers finally won the right to receive overtime pay when they work overtime hours, reversing a decades-long racist exclusion in our labor laws.
State budget
The final state budget includes a major investment of $720 million for affordable housing and programs to lift people out of homelessness, including $240 million to rapidly re-house people who are homeless, $115 million to build affordable housing, and $68 million for rental assistance. It's real money, and it’ll make a real difference for those of us who are struggling to pay rent and stay in our homes.
For the second straight year, legislators didn't move to tax the wealth hoarded by WA billionaires (SB 5426). They failed to build on last year’s victory, when we came together to pass a tax on extraordinary profits from the sale of stocks and bonds, which is set to redistribute $500+ million annually back into the community. That was an important step, but billionaires in WA have gotten $151 billion richer during the pandemic. We need to see far bolder action to address this runaway wealth inequality.
Where we go from here
Making change in Olympia takes time—especially when we’re up against big business lobbyists and their corporate money.
We're already planning our strategy for next session to make sure state leaders truly deliver for workers. That means winning new rights, improving workplace conditions, enforcing the rights we already have, demanding the wealthiest humans in our state pay more in taxes, and making sure our voices are shaping decisions about our lives.