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Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Thousands of Washington state workers lose out on wage hikes
Members of the Washington Public Employees Association will go without a wage hike for a year. They turned down a contract last fall. They eventually ratified a new deal in March, lawmakers chose not to fund it in the budget. (Jerry Cornfield/Washington State Standard) Nearly 5,300 state government and community college employees in Washington won't be getting a 3% pay raise in July when most other state workers will. That's because those members of the Washington Public Employees Association did not ratify a new two-year contract until April 3, long past a statutory deadline and too tardy to be cribbed into the next state budget. 'It came very, very late in the process and it would have been quite difficult to respond to,' said Sen. Derek Stanford, D-Bothell, one of the Democratic lawmakers who pieced together the final budget agreement. 'We need these groups to get their work done by the deadline.' Amanda Hacker, the association president, said not getting the cost-of-living adjustment this year means the workers will 'fall even further behind not just the private sector, but other state employees.' 'We are devastated. This amounts to punishing our members for asserting their rights in the bargaining process,' she said. 'We're looking at all our options to mitigate the immediate harm to our members.' Meanwhile, the budget does fund the first-ever collective bargaining agreements with legislative employees in the state House and Senate. They contain the pay hikes provided in agreements with other state worker unions. It wasn't a certainty, however. Two of the four affected employee units did not approve their contracts until December. Lawmakers had the entire session to write them into the final deal. By law, public sector unions in Washington must approve a new contract by Oct. 1 to be considered by a governor for funding in the ensuing two-year budget. The spending plan approved by the Legislature on Sunday funds multiple contracts containing general pay hikes of 3% on July 1, 2025 and 2% a year later. These agreements also raise the starting wage for state workers to $18 an hour. Members of the Washington Public Employees Association not receiving those increases work at 14 community colleges and in nine state agencies. Among them are the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Revenue, the Liquor and Cannabis Board and Department of Agriculture. Their members overwhelmingly voted down a tentative agreement on Sept. 30 with the pay hikes. Association negotiators derided the proposal as a pay cut, saying it would not allow worker salaries to keep pace with rising costs. They initially sought a 30% hike. Union leaders told employees then that rejecting the accord would put them in 'uncharted territory.' Hacker said they hoped to keep bargaining. But the Office of Financial Management, which represents the state, wouldn't, she said. The union sued to try to force a resumption of talks. Negotiations restarted in December. The two sides reached a tentative agreement in March and union members ratified it April 3. It has 3% and 2% increases, the same as the other contracts. The estimated cost was $55.8 million for the 2025-27 biennium, of which $18.1 million would come from the state general fund. The Office of Financial Management provided the figures to lawmakers in March. Stanford said he would expect the state agency and union to request money next year to provide wage hikes to the affected employees. Hacker said there may be other avenues to secure funding for the pay increases. If not, the union will seek to begin talks immediately on a contract to submit to lawmakers in 2026. 'We're no way near done. Our members are mad. The budget isn't signed,' Hacker said. Any agreement would need to be approved by the union by Oct. 1. In the meantime, the agreements with legislative staff of the Republican and Democratic caucuses in the House and Senate will provide the same wage hikes offered to other state employee unions — 5% pay hikes spread over two fiscal years. Legislative assistants in the GOP caucuses unanimously approved contract language by the Oct. 1 deadline. Democratic staff did not, overwhelmingly rejecting proposed contracts with their employers, which are the chief clerk of the House and secretary of the Senate. Three months later, in late December, legislative assistants, policy analysts and communications staff in the House Democratic Caucus and legislative assistants in the Senate Democratic Caucus ratified their respective agreements. A 2022 law cleared the way for partisan legislative staff to unionize and negotiate terms and conditions for the workplace. Employees of the Democratic and Republican caucuses in each chamber had to be in separate units unless a majority of each caucus voted to be in the same unit. All four units negotiated collectively on economic issues, like wages and benefits, and separately on workplace-related issues.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
State budget expected Saturday as WA legislative session enters final days
The Brief With Sunday's end to the legislative session nearing, budget leaders said they have agreed on a proposal after negotiations to settle differences between the House and Senate. Democrats said they stuck to their values while having to make "significant cuts," but Republicans say they were cut out of the process. OLYMPIA, Wash. - Lawmakers have reached a deal for a two-year operating budget, though crucial elements of the proposal are still being worked out in these final days of the legislative session. "We're pretty much coming to the end of the budget process," said Sen. Derek Stanford, D-Bothell. What they're saying The Senate Ways and Means vice chair said the final budget will be released on Saturday, with votes to follow throughout the weekend. This comes after the House and Senate passed their own versions earlier this month, and went into the conference committee process to settle their differences. While he would not go into specific details about the negotiated budget, Stanford said there have been substantive changes from the Senate's initial $78.5 billion proposal – including "significant cuts" because the state will be bringing in less revenue than budget writers originally proposed. "But we want to stick to our values and put people first, and try to focus especially on funding public schools and housing," he said. "But it has been a difficult process with the budget situation." The budget will depend on various revenue proposals like increases on business, capital gains and sales taxes. The bills introduced last week are still going through the legislative process in these final days of the session, including votes in Senate Ways and Means on Friday. Though Stanford feels good about their prospects. "We don't want to have to reopen things and make major changes, but it looks like there's a path forward from where we are now," he said. The other side On the other side, legislative Republicans continue to criticize the budget and tax proposals fundamentally and procedurally. "Legislators are being asked to raise taxes without understanding the necessity for doing so," said House Minority Leader Drew Stokesbary at a press conference Wednesday. "Nobody has seen the final conference budget yet. Legislators have no idea how necessary these taxes are, how many cuts they're going to stave off and how many cuts are going to be made," he added. Senate Republican budget leader Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup, said he has been shut out of conference negotiations, frustrated with substantive changes being made behind closed doors and tax bills being rushed through the legislative process. "It's a disservice to the people of Washington state to introduce a bill on a Wednesday–a series of bills on a Wednesday, pass them out of the Senate on a Saturday," he said about the tax proposals. "With that limited amount of public input, time for public input, I think it's a travesty, it's an injustice to the people of Washington state." In terms of meeting Sunday's deadline for the legislative session to end, Stanford said it is his "expectation that we will finish on time." The Source Information in this story is from Albert James, a television reporter covering state government as part of the Murrow News Fellowship program – a collaborative effort between news outlets statewide and Washington State University. Othello, WA woman's arrest sparks national debate on immigration enforcement Passenger removed from Seattle plane after making 'inappropriate comment' Jeffrey Zizz charged in kidnapping, murder of WA grandmother How to watch, stream 2025 NFL Draft WA caregiver charged with sexually assaulting disabled teen 'Assault of any kind is disturbing': Seattle bar brawl suspect arraigned To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.
Yahoo
05-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Are hiking, camping and fishing trips about to get more expensive in Washington?
This story was originally published on It may soon become more expensive to visit Washington state parks. Senate Bill 5390 would boost the cost of an annual Discover Pass from $30 to $45. State Sen. Derek Stanford is sponsoring the bill. He says the cost of the pass hasn't gone up for a long time and needs to be adjusted for inflation. The Discover Pass allows annual, unlimited access to millions of acres of state-managed parks and lands. More from MyNorthwest: Rejoice! Washington celebrates first 6:00 p.m. sunset of 2025 'The Discover Pass fees have not been raised to account for inflation in quite a while,' Stanford said at a public hearing on the bill in January. 'This bill will provide better funding for supporting our parks.' Jeff Pack, with the group Washington Citizens Against Unfair Taxes, says lawmakers need to explain what people will get for their money in cases like this. 'Instead, it's just 'we need more money.' Well, guess what? I need more money too,' Pack said. 'I'm not an ATM where you just push a button and money comes out.' Right now, there is no Senate floor vote scheduled for this bill, and it would also need to make it through the House.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Washington may raise Discover Pass price to $45
A campground at Paradise Point State Park. (Washington State Parks) Washington's state parks and other natural sites may soon become more expensive to visit as lawmakers are looking to increase the price of the Discover Pass. The pass allows visitors to access state-managed lands, such as parks, campgrounds, trails, and water access points. Federal lands, including national parks, are subject to different access fees. Currently, an annual Discover Pass costs $30 and can be used in up to two vehicles. A day-use state parks permit is $10. Senate Bill 5390 proposes to increase the annual Discover Pass fee to $45. It would be the first price hike since the pass was introduced about 14 years ago. The way the bill is written, the increase would take effect in late July. 'The purpose of the bill is to essentially adjust the fees for inflation,' said its sponsor, Sen. Derek Stanford, D-Bothell. 'That will provide better funding for supporting our parks.' Earlier versions of the legislation included an increase to the day-use permit fee from $10 to $15 but State Parks recommended against it to help protect access for lower-income visitors. The Discover Pass was created in 2011 by the Legislature to fund state parks and recreation areas that were losing state funding due to budget cuts from the 2008 recession. With the multibillion-dollar deficit the state is currently facing, the proposed increase would help protect state parks from having to make drastic cuts, said Mark Brown, a former state park commissioner. According to Brown, it took more than 10 years to bring staffing back up to pre-recession levels after the downturn in the early 2000s, but parks are still struggling with staffing, especially with increases in visitation in recent years. Anyone who drives a motor vehicle into designated state recreation sites or public lands is required to have a pass. This allows visitors to access more than 100 state parks, 350 recreational sites, and 700 water-access points. Revenue from pass sales goes to Washington State Parks, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Department of Natural Resources. Collections are split among the three agencies, with state parks receiving 84% and the other departments receiving 8% each. Estimates attached to the bill indicate that the price increase to $45 could push down the number of annual Discover Pass purchases in the next couple of years by about 137,000 — from roughly 916,200 to around 778,800. Dollar figures for how much the latest version of the bill — without the day pass price increase — would raise for the state were not available as of Tuesday. Discover Pass revenue has been around $30 million annually in recent years. Senate Bill 5390 is awaiting a Senate floor vote and after that would still need House approval.
